University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Kentucky
Nogueira Scores Twice As UNC Bounces Back Into Win Column
September 7, 2008 | Women's Soccer
Sept. 7, 2008
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.--Third-ranked North Carolina bounced back from a Friday night loss to fifth-ranked Notre Dame by scoring two goals in each half in a 4-0 win over Kentucky before 1,242 fans at Fetzer Field Sunday afternoon in the final game of the 2008 Nike Carolina Classic. Junior forward Casey Nogueira scored twice for the Tar Heels and freshman forward Merritt Mathias and junior midfielder Tobin Heath each had their first goals of the year for UNC.
Carolina improved to 4-1 on the season with the victory while Kentucky fell to 1-3 on the campaign. Coach Anson Dorrance cleared his bench and used all 27 healthy Tar Heel players in the match.
The Tar Heels jumped on the Wildcats early, tallying two goals in the opening 10 minutes of the match. The scoring opened at 3:46 when Merritt Mathias fought for and won a ball from the defense in the penalty area and then drove a curving shot into the upper left corner past UK goalkeeper Sydney Hiance, who finished the day with nine saves while allowing the four Tar Heel goals.
Less than six minutes later, the Tar Heels padded their lead to 2-0 on Nogueira's first goal of the match and her third of the season. Senior midfielder Yael Averbuch fed a ball down the right side of the field to speedy junior forward Nikki Washington who then sent a cross along the ground to a streaking Nogueira in the center of the penalty area. Nogueira slotted her shot into the lower left corner and suddenly UNC was up 2-0 less than 10 minutes into the game.
Carolina went on to score two more times in the second half. Nogueira earned her fourth goal of the year at 52:56 when she slotted a ball into the lower right hand corner of the frame past Hiance. Yael Averbuch sent a ball from 30 yards out that Heath pushed on at the top of the box to Nogueira who was one-on-one with the Kentucky goalie after getting behind the last of the defensive line. Carolina finished the scoring at 65:39 as Tobin Heath finished her chance into the lower right corner after freshman Emmalie Pfankuch won a ball in a cluttered area at the top of the box and pushed it on to Heath's foot for the finish.
UNC ended with a 24-2 edge in shots and a 10-0 advantage in corner kicks. Four different Tar Heel goalkeepers saw action in pitching the shutout with starter Anna Rodenbough having to make the only save of the match for the Tar Heels.
Notre Dame defeated Duke 3-1 in the first match of the day, giving the Fighting Irish a 5-0 record overall and a 2-0 mark in the Nike Carolina Classic. UNC and Duke each went 1-1 in the tournament and Kentucky finished with a mark of 0-2.
The Tar Heels will now travel to Palo Alto, Calif., next weekend to play a pair of nationally-ranked teams in the Stanford Invitational. On Friday, the Heels will meet seventh-ranked Stanford (5-0) at 10 p.m. EDT. On Sunday, the Tar Heels will take the pitch against 16th-ranked Santa Clara (2-2 heading into Sunday's match at Cal State Fullerton) at 3 p.m. EDT.
