RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State women’s soccer team went up against the red-hot No. 1 Virginia Cavaliers Thursday night, falling by a final score of 5-0 at Dail Soccer Field.

Virginia (15-0-0, 9-0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) entered the match with the highest-scoring offense in the country. Despite being limited to just eight total shots on goal, the Cavaliers recorded a balanced scoring effort which saw four student-athletes find the back of the net. Brittany Ratcliffe led the way with two goals while Morgan Brian contributed in a big way with three assists.

State (6-10-0, 1-9-0 ACC) recorded seven total shots, four of which were on target. Kaley Shlaes led the way offensively with two attempts.

“We were able to hold their shot total down, but Virginia is so efficient in front of goal,” said head coach Tim Santoro. “That’s why they are the best team in the country.

“There are a lot of positives we can take from tonight,” Santoro added. “We could have just sat back and defended the whole time like everyone does (against Virginia) but we reversed it in training with an attacking formation. The girls did a lot of good things attacking-wise: we missed a couple of good chances in the first half and had a few breaks in the second half. I’m proud of them. They came at them (Virginia) and didn’t back down.”

Virginia came out attacking right from the start, scoring goals in the fourth and 20th minutes to leap out to a 2-0 lead. The Cavaliers were able to double this advantage in a quick span of time just a few minutes later, finding the back of the net in the 30th and 31st minutes to take a 4-0 advantage into the halftime break.

Shortly after a Rachel Cox shot which was saved by Danielle DeLisle, Virginia scored the final goal of the match when Mary Morgan scored from an Alexis Shaffer setup.

NC State will next be in action on Sunday, Oct. 20 at home vs. Syracuse. The Wolfpack and Orange will kick off from Dail Soccer Field at 12 p.m. Sunday’s match will be broadcast live on Fox Sports South and will also be streamed live on ESPN3.

#GoPack

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