University of North Carolina Athletics
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Virginia
Eight-Minute Surge Powers UNC Past Virginia
October 24, 2008 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 24, 2008
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. - In its final regular-season road game of the 2008 season, the second-ranked North Carolina women's soccer team broke open a close contest with four goals in a span of only 8:04 late in the second half en route to a 5-1 victory over No. 7 Virginia at Klockner Stadium. The game was played before a large crowd of 1,918 fans on a rainy night with temperatures in the low 50s.
Carolina's three starting forwards - junior Casey Nogueira, sophomore Jessica McDonald and freshman Courtney Jones - led the Tar Heels offensively with 12 points combined and the Tar Heel defense limited Virginia to only four shots on the night.
UNC improves to 15-1-1 on the season with its 11th straight win. The Tar Heels also remain unbeaten in the Atlantic Coast Conference at 8-0 with its 16th straight ACC regular-season win. Virginia fell to 12-3-1 overall and 6-2 in the ACC.
The five goals by Carolina give the Tar Heels 34 tallies in eight conference games as UNC is now averaging 4.25 goals per game in conference play.
The first half was a war of attrition between the two teams in the midfield with neither team being able to get a foothold offensively. UNC outshot the Cavaliers 2-1 in the first half and the Wahoos had two corners to one for Carolina in the opening 45 minutes. There was only one shot on goal in the half, taken by Virginia and turned away by Tar Heel starting keeper Anna Rodenbough.
The game opened up offensively in the second half, most clearly to Carolina's advantage. The Tar Heels outshot the Cavaliers 8-3 after halftime and the Heels had all three corner kicks of the second half. Most amazingly, six of UNC's eight second-half shots were on frame and five crossed the goal line for a gaudy shooting percentage of 50 percent overall on the night.
UNC was able to seize the lead 5:25 into the second half of play as sophomore forward Jessica McDonald scored on a tap-in from the one-yard line off assists by freshman forward Courtney Jones and junior forward Casey Nogueira. Nogueira fed a ball to Jones in the left side of the box who crossed to an open McDonald for the final tap in. The goal was McDonald's third of the season and it staked UNC to a 1-0 lead at 50:25.
The game was still very much in doubt until the 72nd minute when Casey Nogueira's ACC-leading 18th goal of the season put the Tar Heels up 2-0 and sparked a run of four Tar Heel goals in only eight minutes and four seconds. Nogueira scored as she often does by dribbling into the left of the box, deking a couple of defenders and finding the space to send a shot far post for the score.
Just 50 seconds after Nogueira scored, the Tar Heels increased their lead to 3-0 on Courtney Jones' eighth goal of the season. Sterling Smith lofted a ball from the left side of the pitch that Jones ran on to and went top shelf from 20 yards out.
The Tar Heels made it 4-0 at 77:25 on another goal by Jones, her ninth of the season as she tapped in a cross from Jessica McDonald. McDonald had stolen the ball just outside the box, dribbled to the end line then tapped the ball back to Jones to finished to the right of a sliding Miles.
By now the goals were coming fast and furious with two more tallies, one for each team, chalked up in a span of 53 seconds in the 80th and 81st minutes. At 79:40, UNC freshman Emmalie Pfankuch garnered her first-ever collegiate goal on a pure breakaway after a combination of pass in the midfield by the Tar Heels. Then at 80:33, the Cavaliers were able to dent the scoreboard on the 11th goal of the season by Meghan Lenczyk as her blast to the far post from 20 yards out found the back of the net. Lauren Alwine assisted on the Cavalier goal.
Altogether, the two teams combined for eight shots on goal in the game and six resulted in scores.
With its road schedule now done, the Tar Heels will finish up with a pair of home games next week. On Thursday at 7 p.m., the Tar Heels will welcome sixth-ranked Florida State (13-2-1 overall, 7-1 in the ACC) to Fetzer Field. UNC will finish the regular season at home on Sunday, November 2 against Miami (8-6-3, ACC 1-4-2) with a 1 p.m. start at Fetzer Field.
