GoHeels Exclusive: Boyles Completes Comeback

CARY, N.C. – From the time she was 9 years old until she graduated from Raleigh's Jesse O. Sanderson High School in 2013, Joanna Boyles called the fields at WakeMed Soccer Park her soccer home.

It was there that Boyles honed her craft in the Capital Area Soccer League. And it was there on Friday night, with several friends and family members in attendance, that she triumphantly returned from two ACL tears that sidelined her for nearly two years.

Boyles scored a first-half goal and later registered an assist on Jessie Scarpa's game-winning header in the 94th minute, helping lead the sixth-ranked North Carolina women's soccer team to a 2-1 overtime win over 12th-ranked Duke in its season opener.

Friday's contest at Koka Booth Stadium – the site of UNC's five home games in 2017 as a new Fetzer Field is built on campus – marked Boyles' first non-exhibition match since Nov. 6, 2015, three days before she tore the ACL in her left knee.

But in her return, she never became overcome with emotion.

"I was lucky enough to get on the field in the spring," Boyles said. "So I was able to kind of get all of those injury emotions out of the way so that I could really be fresh for the season, be locked in on the season and have all of that emotion kind of in the past. This emotion was just in-the-game, raw emotion."

And early on, it mostly consisted of frustration.

The Blue Devils opened the game with three shots before the Tar Heels registered their first. Then, after Boyles turned the ball over in midfield, Duke seized a 1-0 lead on a goal by Taylor Racioppi in the 25th minute.

Boyles said she felt responsible for the goal. Thus, she embarked on quickly rectifying her mistake.

She lined up for a free kick moments later, but it sailed just above the crossbar. However, within four minutes, she found herself in a seemingly identical situation from about 20 yards out. This time, Scarpa knew Boyles wouldn't miss.

"Her first free kick was close," Scarpa said. "It went a little over. The second one, it was in a little bit different of a position on the field, but I knew she was taking the time in her mind to recalibrate and fix what she did on the first one."

That paid off. Boyles whipped the ball past Duke's defensive wall and goalkeeper. It then struck the bottom of the crossbar and settled in the back of the net to tie the game at 1.

The goal, which came at the 31:40 mark, was Boyles' first since she scored against Notre Dame on Oct. 22, 2015. As she stomped her feet and her hands balled into fists, she screamed in celebration as her teammates swarmed her.

At that point, Anson Dorrance said Boyles was beginning to tire and sweat profusely in the heat. So he opted to take her off the field. When she reached the sideline, they embraced.

"Everything is wet from here on down," said Dorrance postgame, taking a step back to show reporters his damp white shirt, which he attributed to the hug. "But it was worth it just to bring her back."

If that wasn't enough, Boyles' late-match heroics certainly were.

Less than three minutes into overtime, Boyles sent a corner kick into the box. The Blue Devils knocked the ball out, but Dorian Bailey recovered it and passed it back to Boyles near the right corner. Boyles then fired the ball back into the box, where Scarpa headed it inside the left post to hand UNC its first win over Duke since 2014.

At this same point last year, Boyles knew she'd redshirt the 2016 season to ensure a full recovery from her first ACL tear. However, on Aug. 31, 2016, she was dealt a devastating blow when she tore the ACL in her right knee.

Doubts about the future of her soccer career could have crept in. Instead, Boyles said she came back even more motivated.

"After my second one, there was no doubt that I would be even better than I was before," Boyles said. "That was kind of the way I approached my rehab and approached everything getting back on the field."

And because of that approach, her comeback is now complete.

Players Mentioned

Dorian Bailey

Joanna Boyles

Jessie Scarpa

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