University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heel Women's Soccer Team Advances To NCAA Championship Match
December 5, 2003 | Women's Soccer
Dec. 5, 2003
Box Score| Quotes| Photo Gallery
CARY, N.C. - The top-ranked North Carolina women's soccer team got the game-winning goal from sophomore defender Kendall Fletcher in her hometown and outshot second-ranked UCLA 22-5 en route to a 3-0 victory over the Bruins in the semifinals of the 2003 NCAA College Cup before 8,267 fans at SAS Stadium Friday afternoon. With the win, Coach Anson Dorrance's Tar Heels (26-0-0) advanced to the NCAA championship match where they will play Connecticut (15-5-3) on Sunday at 2 p.m. for the 2003 NCAA title. The Huskies upset No. 11 seed Florida State 2-0 in the first semifinal game Friday.
The Tar Heels, who had beaten UCLA 5-2 in the regular season despite being ousthot by the Bruins 16-11 in that match, came out strong and pressured the UCLA goal throughout the first half to gain a 2-0 lead by intermission. The Tar Heels outshot the Bruins 13-2 in the first 45 minutes and had six corner kicks to zero for the Bruins.
UNC eventually got on the scoreboard at the 23:34 mark when senior forward Alyssa Ramsey sent a corner kick from the left side to the far post where Fletcher, a Cary native, ran onto it and bodied the ball into the the empty net. Ramsey's assist was the 70th of her career which is just two assists short of Mia Hamm's (1989-1993) school record.
Just over five minutes later the Tar Heels made the score 2-0 on a freakish play as Heather O'Reilly pressured UCLA defender Kathryn Lee on the left side of the pitch. Lee sent a back pass toward UCLA freshman goalkeeper Arianna Criscione who whiffed on her clearance kick and the ball rolled into the goal for an own goal.
UCLA picked up the pressure in the latter stages of the first half and opening minutes of the second stanza but was still only able to put one shot on frame during the entire game. Aly Winget continued her shutout string in the NCAA Tournament and she has not allowed a goal since the first half of UNC's ACC Tournament win over Florida State on November 9.
The Tar Heels began to control the pace again in the final 20 minutes of play as UCLA tired and the pressure resulted in a final goal at the 85:32 mark. Freshman forward Heather O'Reilly pounced on a loose ball on the left side of the penalty area and sent a scorcher inside the right post from 17 yards past Criscione. UNC ended with a 22-5 shot margin and 10-3 corner kick edge. UCLA had 11 total saves, including eight by Criscione and three by UCLA defenders.
The championship match on Sunday will be the fourth between UNC and UConn. The two teams also met in the championship match in 1984, 1990 and 1997.
No. 2 UCLA 0 0--0
No. 1 North Carolina 2 1--3
Scoring Summary
23:34--UNC--Kendall Fletcher, 4th (Alyssa Ramsey)
28:48--UNC--Own Goal
85:32--UNC--Heather O'Reilly, 14th
Shots: UCLA 5, UNC 22
Saves: Arianna Criscione (UCLA) 8, Aly Winget (UNC) 1
Corner Kicks: UCLA 3, UNC 10
Fouls: UCLA 11, UNC 6
Offsides: UCLA 9, UNC 2
Referee: Sandra Hunt; Assistant Referees: Brian Kirkley, Corey Dean; Alternate Official: Cory Rockwell
Attendance: 8,267
Records: UCLA 20-2-3, UNC 26-0-0
