Cavaliers Fall to North Carolina in Penalty Kicks

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LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. The 10th ranked Virginia women’s soccer team was eliminated in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament with a 4-2 penalty kick shootout loss to fourth ranked North Carolina following a 1-1 draw. With the tie, Virginia is now 11-3-6 on the season, while the Tar Heels move to 16-3-1.

“This was a great game, especially for the fans,” said head coach Steve Swanson. “It was competitive and had a lot of energy and a lot of passion. Carolina is a hard team to play against and I am proud of our players. The difference in the game was the first half. Up 1-0, we had a couple chances to go up by more. Against a team like UNC, those are the chances you need to capitalize on.”

Virginia took a 1-0 lead in the 23rd minute of play. Shannon Foley’s (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) corner kick was headed by Becky Sauerbrunn (St. Louis, Mo.) to Meghan Lenczyk (McLean, Va.), who sent a shot inside the far post for her sixth goal of the season. The Cavaliers held the 1-0 lead at halftime.

In the second half, North Carolina drew even in the 53rd minute. Nikki Washington drew a penalty kick and then converted the attempt to tie the game.

The game remained even after 110 minutes and for the second consecutive game in the tournament the Cavaliers went to a penalty kick shootout. In the shootout, the Tar Heels converted each of their first four attempts while Virginia had one hit the post and one saved to give UNC the 4-2 shootout victory.

The Cavaliers will await the NCAA Tournament draw on Monday. The 64-team bracket will be announced between 8:00-8:30 p.m. on ESPNews.

#4 North Carolina 1, #10 Virginia 1

#10 Virginia (11-3-6) 1 0 0 0 1 (2)
#4 North Carolina (16-3-1) 0 1 0 0 1 (4)

Scoring Summary
1. VA. Lenczyk, 6 (Sauerbrunn, 2; Foley, 9) 23’
2. UNC. Washington, 4 (penalty kick) 53’

UVa UNC
Shots: 9 16
Corners: 8 9
Saves: 4 2
Fouls: 9 12

Cautions: YC: UVa (Jones 53’)