South Raleigh News

NC State women's soccer will conclude its opening weekend against East Carolina on Sunday night. The match at Dail Soccer Stadium is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra.

The Wolfpack plans to honor its four seniors before the in-state matchup against the Pirates, with ceremonies beginning at 6:30 p.m.

NC State and East Carolina are set to face off for the 10th time. The Wolfpack holds a 4-3-2 record against ECU in the all-time series and is 3-1-1 in the past five meetings since 2010. Head coach Tim Santoro has a record of 3-0-1 against East Carolina, with NC State scoring multiple goals in each of those wins. In their most recent meeting on September 18, 2019, NC State defeated ECU 5-2 in Greenville. Tziarra King scored twice as NC State built a substantial lead early in the match.

East Carolina begins its 2024 season on Sunday after finishing the previous season with a record of 9-5-5 (4-2-3). The Pirates secured second place in the American Athletic Conference's East Division last year. Eight of their nine wins came via shutouts, including all four conference victories. Three ECU players—defender/forward Annabelle Abbott, goalkeeper Maeve English, and forward Samantha Moxie—were named to the 2024 American Athletic Conference Women's Soccer Watch List. ECU was predicted to finish third in the conference's preseason coaches poll.

NC State will recognize seniors Brianna Weber, Annika Wohner, Fernanda Soto, and Eliza Rich prior to Sunday's match.

Jaiden Thomas returned to play for NC State after missing the entire previous season due to a preseason injury. Thomas made her return during Thursday's season opener against App State, playing as a substitute for 39 minutes.

Four of NC State's first five games this season are against teams from North Carolina. Despite not facing Tobacco Road rivals Duke and North Carolina in ACC play this year, NC State will compete against five in-state teams during the regular season: App State, East Carolina, Campbell, Charlotte, and Wake Forest.

Former NC State forward Leyah Hall-Robinson signed a professional contract with Norwegian club FK Haugesund on August 7. Hall-Robinson played in 86 career games for NC State, recording eight goals and ten assists. Another former Wolfpack forward, Alexis Strickland, signed with Valadares Gaia FC in Portugal shortly thereafter. Strickland started all 36 games during her career at NC State.