University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Maryland
Tar Heels Run Past Maryland Behind Hat Trick By Jones
September 28, 2008 | Women's Soccer
Sept. 28, 2008
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Freshman forward Courtney Jones scored a pair of goals in the opening nine minutes of the match and then finished off her hat trick in the 60th minute as the No. 3-ranked University of North Carolina women's soccer team blanked the University of Maryland 5-0 Sunday afternoon before a crowd of 1,528 at Fetzer Field. It marked the second straight match in which a Tar Heel player recorded a hat trick as junior midfielder Tobin Heath scored three goals in Carolina 5-2 win at Clemson this past Thursday night.
Two other Tar Heel forwards also got into the scoring act Sunday with junior Casey Nogueira and freshman Merritt Mathias tallying a goal in each half. Junior forward Jessica McDonald had a pair of assists for the Tar Heels and for the second straight Sunday a Tar Heel goalkeeper assisted on a goal.
UNC improved to 9-1-1 overall on the season and 2-0 in the ACC heading into Thursday night's matchup at 10th-ranked Duke at 8 p.m. The game at Koskinen Stadium will be televised nationally on the Fox Soccer Channel live. Maryland fell to 4-5-1 overall and 0-2 in the ACC.
Carolina blew the match open with three goals in the opening 17 minutes of the game. The first goal came at 4:56 as Jones tallied her fourth of the year off assists by Jessica McDonald and Anna Rodenbough. It marked UNC's second goalkeeper assist of the season as Ashlyn Harris had one against Fordham last Sunday. Rodenbough served a long punt that McDonald pushed on to Jones who scored on a breakaway, slotting her shot on the ground to Maryland goalkeeper Yewande Balogun's left. The assist marked the first career point for Rodenbough.
It did not take long for Jones to strike again as she got her second goal of the game at 8:43 of the match off an assist by Casey Nogueira. Jones went one-on-one with the Maryland keeper, who deflected the shot only to see it roll into the goal behind her.
Nogueira then added a goal of her own at 16:37, her seventh tally of the season. The junior striker dribbled around her defender in the right side of the box and sent a tough angle shot that deflected off Balogun and rolled inside the left post.
Jones completed her hat trick at 59:13 of the match as McDonald fed her for another breakaway behind the Maryland defense. Jones went one-on-one with the keeper and slotted her shot under Balogun and inside the right post.
The Tar Heels finished off the scoring at 66:38 on Merritt Mathias' third goal of the year as she sent a curving shot into the right corner for a 5-0 Tar Heel lead. She was assisted on the play by freshman forward Brittani Bartok and junior midfielder Tobin Heath.
Maryland had two great chances to score but could not come up with a result on either one, allowing the Tar Heels to post their sixth shutout of the campaign in 11 games. At 67:47, Amy Sullivan took a long range shot that was denied by the crossbar and Jasmyne Spencer's follow-up was pushed just wide left. At 85:41, Maryland's Danielle Schulmann found herself all alone in the penalty area behind the defense but her shot sailed high over the cross bar.
