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CHARLOTTESVILLE The No. 7 Virginia women’s soccer team suffered its first home loss in two seasons, falling to No. 5 North Carolina 5-1 Friday night in front of 1,918 fans at Klckner Stadium. All the scoring was in the second half as the Tar Heels scored four goals in a 10-minute span to pull away for the win.
“I I don’t think anyone who saw this game was say the final score was indicative of the game,” said head coach Steve Swanson. “We had a stretch in the second half where we made some mistakes and good teams punish you for those errors. I thought we did a lot of things well in this game too, and there is a lot we can learn from.”
The teams played a scoreless first half where there was just three total shots and neither team had a serious scoring threat. In the second half, the Tar Heels were able to take a 1-0 lead as Jessica McDonald tapped in a loose ball in the box for her third goal of the season. The score remained 1-0 until a North Carolina flourish between the 70th and 80th minutes extended the lead to 5-0. Casey Nogueira, Courtney Jones (two), and Emmalie Pfankuch scored for the Tar Heels during that stretch. The Cavaliers answered with a goal in the 81st minute as Meghan Lenczyk (McLean, Va.) scored on Lauren Alwine’s (Elizabethtown, Pa.) ACC-leading 13th assist of the season.
“I can’t remember a time when a Virginia team gave up four goals in a 10-minute span,” said Swanson. “We played 45 to 50 minutes well and we were where we wanted to be. I didn’t think we responded well to the first goal but we were still in the game. These are the things we need to learn from.”
The Tar Heels outshot the Cavaliers 10-4 in the game and had a 4-2 corner kick advantage. Celeste Miles (Garland, Texas) made one save for Virginia, while Anna Rodenbough made one save for North Carolina.
The Cavaliers will return to action on Thursday, October 30 as they host Duke. Game time at Klckner Stadium is set for 7 p.m.
NORTH CAROLINA 5, VIRGINIA 1
#5 North Carolina (15-1-1, 8-0-0) 0 5 – 5
#7 Virginia (12-3-1, 6-2-0) 0 1 – 1
Scoring:
UNC Jessica McDonald 3 (Courtney Jones 3, Yael Averbuch 7) 51’
UNC Casey Nogueira 18 (unassisted) 72’
UNC Courtney Jones 8 (Tobin Heath 6) 73’
UNC Courtney Jones 9 (Jessica McDonald 7) 78’
UNC Emmalie Pfankuch 1 (Casey Nogueira 6) 80’
UVa Meghan Lenczyk 11 (Lauren Alwine 13) 81’
Cautions:
none
Shots: UVa 4, UNC 10
Corners: UVa 2, UNC 4
Saves: UVa 1 (Miles 1), UNC 1 (Rodenbough 1, Harris 0)
Fouls: UVa 4, UNC 9
Weather: 52 degrees, light rain
Attendance: 1918