PHILADELPHIA – A third-minute goal from North Carolina State plagued the University of Pennsylvania women's soccer team as the Quakers suffered its first loss of the season 1-0 to the 13th-ranked Wolfpack on Friday evening at Rhodes Field.

N.C. State, who arrived in University City fresh off a win over No. 10 South Carolina, took advantage of an early opportunity when Kristina Schuster whipped a ball
in to Tziarra King for the game's only goal. King, a MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List member, tallied her fourth of the season.

NOTES
*The Wolfpack's 16 shots – and six on goal – are more than Penn allowed in its first two games combined.

*Penn's shutout streak finished at 182 minutes to begin the season.

*Kitty Qu made five saves on the night, the most she's made this year.

*Sasha Stephens led the way for Penn with a pair of shots, one just missing the crossbar.

*Penn was able scoreless for the first time in 2018.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The contest was underway for less than three minutes when Ricarda Walkling played Schuster down the wing and King got on the end of her cross to flick it past Qu. After suffering the early blow, Penn took the next 15 minutes or so to settle into the game. The Wolfpack attack is a relentless one, having unleashed 70 shots in their first four games of the season, and provided issues for the Quakers, especially during the early portions of the game.

The Quakers were stifled in the early going, but seemed to become more comfortable at each passing minute. After the halftime break, they looked a more composed squad. Around the hour mark, momentum really started to slide Penn's way when Kelsey Andrews pulled a left-footed attempt just wide, but you could feel the energy coming from the Quaker bench.

Just three minutes later, Stephens cut inside on her right foot and hammered a shot that beat the keeper but flew just high of the bar.

In the meantime, the Pack still created chances, but Penn's back four and Qu were able to limit them to just the early goal from King.

It marks the first loss of the season for Penn, who started with 5-0 and 1-0 wins over Mount St. Mary's and Army West Point, respectively, and also the first time the Quakers didn't find the back of the net.

UP NEXT
Penn is off until Friday, when it travels to Annapolis, Md. to take on Delaware and then Navy on Sunday.