No. 1 Virginia Falls In Overtime To No. 3 North Carolina In ACC Finals

CARY, N.C. – For the sixth time this season and the second consecutive match the Cavaliers went to overtime, but this time had a different ending as No. 3 North Carolina (19-1-1) grabbed a 2-1 victory over No. 1 Virginia (16-1-3) on a golden goal in the finals of the ACC Championships on Sunday (Nov. 10) at WakeMed Park.

In the 102nd minute, North Carolina’s Emily Fox played a long ball ahead to Alessia Russo with one defender between her and the goal. Russo picked up the ball in stride and made a move to separate from the defender for the shot that slipped to the right of the keeper for the golden goal.

The loss was the first of the season for Virginia who has spent the last eight weeks at the top of the rankings and was one of only two undefeated teams in the nation at the start of the day. 

Virginia had four players selected to the All-Tournament team with Ordonez, Alexa Spaanstra (Brighton, Mich.), Zoe Morse (East Lansing, Mich.) and Rebecca Jarrett (Washington Township, N.J.) earning spots on the 11-player team.

After North Carolina got a first-half goal, the Cavaliers equalized off the foot of freshman Diana Ordonez (Prosper, Texas) in the 68th minute. Virginia had to turn to its bench in the 85th minute when starting keeper Laurel Ivory (Surfside, Fla.) went down in a collision as she came off her line to make a save and a North Carolina player went in for a header. Sophomore keeper Michaela Moran (Greeley, Colo.) closed out the final 17 minutes of action and came up with a save and a big clearance down the stretch to help send the match to overtime.

“First of all, congrats to North Carolina. They are an excellent, hard-working team and a worthy champion,” said Virginia head coach Steve Swanson. “I thought our team battled all day, and all weekend for that matter, and we are really proud of the effort they put in today. There’s not much separating these two teams and I think the winners were the fans who got to see a very hard and well-played game. We are looking forward to the rest of the postseason and I am confident we will take this experience and use it to our advantage.”

North Carolina struck first, scoring in the sixth minute when Maycee Bell got on the end of a Lotte Wubben-Moy corner kick with a header. The service went to Bell at the top of the six and she put it in to the upper right of the keeper. 

Virginia got a chance in the 23rd minute when Jarrett slipped a through ball into the box for Meghan McCool (Glenside, Pa.). McCool, who had made her run in behind the defense, took the shot but it was saved by North Carolina keeper Claudia Dickey. 

The advantage held at the half as the Cavaliers trailed for the first time on the season.

The Cavaliers equalized in the 68th minute when Ordonez got on the end of a failed clearance following a free kick from Talia Staude (Atlanta, Ga.). A foul on the Tar Heels as Jarrett regained possession along the right touch line set up the free kick 30 yards out. Staude served the ball into the box where a North Carolina player headed it back in an attempt to clear it. The ball dropped in front of Ordonez outside the six and she sent it in past the far post.

Virginia got a chance in the 95th minute when Jarrett’s shot was blocked and caromed off the right post for a Cavalier corner kick. The corner was turned away by the Tar Heels and the game remained deadlocked at a goal each. 
 
North Carolina got behind the Virginia defense on a counter in the 98th minute, but the Cavaliers recovered and a sliding tackle knocked the ball clear for a corner. Virginia turned away the ensuing attack and the match moved into a second overtime period.

Two minutes into the second overtime period, the Tar Heels found the golden goal as Fox connected with Russo to claim the championship.

Virginia will now await the announcement of seedings and brackets for the NCAA Tournament on Monday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.