University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Wake Forest
Captains Engen & Hawkins Lead UNC Past No. 7 Wake Forest
September 27, 2009 | Women's Soccer
Sept. 27, 2009
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Captains Whitney Engen (Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.) and Ali Hawkins (Encinitas, Calif.) led the way for No. 1-ranked North Carolina Sunday evening as the Tar Heels blanked No. 7 Wake Forest in women's soccer action 4-0 before a crowd of 2,698 at Fetzer Field and a national television audience on the Fox Soccer Channel. Engen and Hawkins each had a goal and an assist to lead the Tar Heel offense and the Carolina defense stood tall once again, posting its eighth shutout in 10 games and limiting the nation's No. 7 team to only one shot on goal in 90 minutes.
After not scoring a goal prior to the 67th minute in each of its five previous games, the Tar Heels came out with intensity against the Deacons, who were playing on eight days rest since winning at UAB 1-0 on September 19. The Tar Heels had played two overtime games since then but in the early going the Heels seemed to be the fresher team, putting pressure on the Wake Forest defense from the get go and putting two goals on the scoreboard before the game was 22 minutes old.
Carolina improved to 9-0-1 on the season with the win and the Tar Heels are now 2-0 in the ACC. Wake Forest lost for only the second time this season. The Deacons are now 8-2 overall and 0-1 in the ACC.
Head coach Anson Dorrance juggled his lineup again as he searched for the right combination with Nikki Washington out for the season with a knee injury and Tobin Heath and Ashlyn Harris training this week with the U.S. National Team in Carson, Calif. Freshman Hannah Daly (Stateline, Nev.) started her second straight game in goal for the Heels and freshman Amber Brooks (New Hope, Pa.) and redshirt sophomore Maria Lubrano (High Point, N.C.) started in the midfield in lieu of Heath and Washington. Dorrance also juggled his lineup up top as redshirt senior Sterling Smith (Chapel Hill, N.C.) started in place of senior Casey Nogueira (Raleigh, N.C.) at one of the forward spots.
Junior Jessica McDonald (Glendale, Ariz.) almost capitalized on a golden opportunity less than two minutes into the match as the junior striker redirected a cross from point blank range but Demon Deacon defender Amanda Howell was there to knock it out of harm's way just as it was about to cross the goal line. Nogueira came on for Smith in the 10th minute and less than two minutes later the Tar Heels were able to get on the board, scoring their first first-half goal since the Notre Dame game on September 4.
Carolina earned a corner kick on the right side that Engen took. Her corner kick found the head of Amber Brooks at the near post and the freshman flicked it on to the far post where Hawkins buried her second goal of the season on a header just inside the left post past Wake Forest goalkeeper Laura Morse. The goal came at 11:21.
After the initial goal, the Tar Heels continued to apply the pressure. Freshman Lucy Bronze (Northumberland, England), who just rejoined the Tar Heels Friday after missing three matches while competing with the U.K.'s U20 National Team in European qualifying, had a point blank shot at Morse from the left side of the box in the 14th minute but was denied by the Wake keeper. Carolina's sustained offensive pressure paid off in the 22nd minute as Casey Nogueira served a perfect ball from the right side end line into the box where Jessica McDonald went to her knees to head the cross home for her fifth goal of the season, beating the keeper inside the left post.
Wake Forest's best scoring opportunity of the day came in the 31st minute when Jill Hutchinson had her shot blocked in the penalty area only to see Kaley Fountain pounce on the rebound and send a laser that just missed the right post.
Carolina outshot the Demon Deacons 9-3 in the first half and had eight corner kicks to zero for the Deacs.
In the second half, the Tar Heels had two brilliant opportunities to increase their lead to 3-0 but Morse made two big saves, one against Bronze on a one-on-one opportunity at 51:02 and one against Jessica McDonald at 56:37 where Morse laid out to her left to smother a shot that was headed towards the back of the net.
Dorrance made five substitutions in the 61st minute and shortly afterwards the Heels capitalized as Engen scored her first goal of the season on a splendid header off an assist by Hawkins. After a foul by the Deacons in the left corner near the end line, Hawkins served a perfect ball that Engen redirected with a flick of her head into the upper left corner at 61:26 of the match. It was Engen's first goal since November 18, 2007 against UNC Greensboro when she was near the end of her second season as a UNC starting forward. Engen has played at the starting center back position for the Tar Heels as a junior and senior.
Sophomore forward Brittani Bartok (Union, N.J.) sent a shot just wide of the right post at 67:04 as the Tar Heels sought another goal to salt the game away. Bartok's near goal came just a few minutes after Amanda Barasha came on in relief of Morse in the cage for the Deacs.
Carolina finished off the scoring at 69:56 as Engen blocked a Wake Forest entry pass and headed it on to redshirt sophomore midfielder Erin Mikula (New Richmond, Ohio). Mikula sent the ball forward to sophomore forward Merritt Mathias (Birmingham, Ala.) who split her defenders to make a run up the middle of the pitch. Just seconds later, Mathias found freshman Alyssa Rich (Cincinnati, Ohio) on the right side, sending the ball on the ground to Rich. The freshman, who scored the game-winner this past Thursday in overtime against Duke, took the pass in stride and finished inside the right post past Barasha's left. It was Rich's third goal of the campaign.
UNC finished the game with an 18-8 shot advantage. Daly made her only save of the game on a shot by Wake Forest's Amanda Howell at the 73:48 mark. The Tar Heels outshot the Deacons 9-5 overall in the second half.
All 26 players in uniform for the Tar Heels got in the game with Daly and juniors Amanda Tucker (Seminole, Fla.) and Monica Welsh-Loveman (Wellesley, Mass.) combining on the shutout. Daly played 83 plus minutes while Tucker was in goal for close to six minutes and Welsh-Loveman played the final minute. Morse and Barasha combined for four goalkeeper saves in their 90 minutes in the goal for the Demon Deacons in addition to the team save made by Howell. Each of the 23 field players who got in the game for UNC played at least six minutes.
The Tar Heel defense, led by starters Kristi Eveland, Whitney Engen and Rachel Givan, has now posted eight shutouts in 10 games and has allowed only three goals all season and only one since the season opener against UCLA on August 22.
UNC will now go on the road for its next two games with Heath and Harris returning to the team for Carolina's matchup with No. 6-ranked Boston College Thursday at 7 p.m. in Chestnut Hill, Mass. The Eagles (9-1, ACC 1-1) lost their first match of the season Sunday, losing to fifth-ranked Florida State 3-2 in Tallahasse, Fla.
Carolina will also meet Virginia Tech (8-2, ACC 2-0) next Sunday at 5 p.m. in Blacksburg, Va.
