University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Notre Dame
Notre Dame Shuts Out Tar Heels 1-0
September 5, 2008 | Women's Soccer
Sept. 5, 2008
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - A goal by Brittany Bock in the 51st minute was all the scoring in the match as No. 5 Notre Dame held off No. 3 North Carolina Friday night at the Nike Carolina Classic in Chapel Hill before a crowd of 2,085 fans on a rain-soaked night.
Bock scored from 30 yards out on a long curving shot into the upper left corner of the goal at 50:21 of match. UNC goalkeeper Anna Rodenbough had to come out of her penalty area to clear a ball on what was quickly becoming a Fighting Irish breakaway. Bock recovered the ball on the far sideline from the grandstand, took a couple of dribbles and launched a shot that hit the upper left 90 of the frame. Rodenbough had quickly retreated to her line but there would have been little she could have done with a shot hit with such precision.
Notre Dame had dominated play up to that point in the game and only some point blank saves by Rodenbough had kept the game scoreless. In the first half she made a save on a one-one-one situation with Melissa Henderson at 19:19, getting her fingertips on a shot and sending the ball wide of the frame for a corner kick. At 39:02, Rebecca Mendoza had another point blank attempt at Rodenbough that she snuffed out.
Meanwhile, Notre Dame's defense was hard to penetrate in the first and the Tar Heels were limited to only four shots in the first 45 minutes, all from long range.
In the second half, Notre Dame came out strong and possessed the ball in the Tar Heel end for the first several minutes of the half. Rodenbough made a diving save against the Fighting Irish's Kerri Hanks at 47:49 after she was found herself unmarked at the top of the penalty area. Less than three minutes later it was Bock who struck for the only goal of the game.
Carolina fought back and had its best offensive thrusts in the final 35 minutes of the game, outshooting the Irish 6-2 after Bock's goal. At 70:56, Nikki Washington had a shot fly just to the right of the frame that could have provided an equalizer. Hanks hit the cross bar on Notre Dame's last shot of the game at 77:11 in an effort that came close to salting the game away for the Irish.
Meghan Klingenberg had a header at 87:17 that just missed the upper right 90. Carolina continued to put on the pressure, earning corner kicks at 88:55 and 89:14 before Casey Nogueira's final shot with 22 seconds left missed wide right.
UNC ended with 10 shots to Notre Dame's nine. Kelsey Lysander made three saves for Notre Dame and earned the shutout while Rodenbough had five saves for Carolina. That equaled the second most number of saves she has had in her Tar Heel career and was three short of her career high of eight against Texas A&M in 2006.
Notre Dame improves to 4-0 on the season and has now beaten the Tar Heels in back-to-back games, including the third round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament. UNC falls to 3-1. The Carolina Nike Classic continues on Sunday with Notre Dame facing No. 12 Duke (4-0) at 1 p.m. and UNC meeting Kentucky (1-2) at 3 p.m. The Blue Devils beat the Wildcats 3-1 in the first match Friday night.
