University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Wake Forest
Deacons Advance Past Tar Heels On Penalty Kicks
November 5, 2010 | Women's Soccer
Nov. 5, 2010
CARY, N.C. - Wake Forest and third-ranked North Carolina battled to the very end Friday night with the Demon Deacons advancing to the finals of the 2010 ACC Women's Soccer Tournament at WakeMed Soccer Park on penalty kicks (5-4) after the two teams played to a 1-1 tie after 110 minutes. The game goes down officially as a tie as Carolina is now 17-2-2 on the season and 58-0-4 all-time in ACC Tournament play.
This marks the first year the Tar Heels will not play in the ACC Tournament championship dating back to the first tournament in 1988. UNC is now 1-3 in penalty kick shootouts in ACC Tournament play, having fallen in championship matches previously in 1988 to NC State and in 2004 to Virginia. The Tar Heels defeated Virginia in a semifinal PK shootout in 2007.
Wake Forest will face fourth-ranked Maryland in the ACC Tournament championship match. Maryland defeated Boston College 1-0 in overtime in Friday night's second semifinal match.
Jackie McSally scored early in the second half for the Demon Deacons (12-7-2) and Meghan Klingenberg tied it for the Tar Heels with less than three minutes to play in regulation. Overall the Tar Heels outshot the Deacons 9-6 and had an enormous lead in corner kicks 10-1 but were unable to take advantage of that large margin.
Both teams came into the match banged up. Coach Anson Dorrance's team was missing leading scorer Courtney Jones and ACC Defensive Player of the Year Crystal Dunn who were both injured in the quarterfinal game Wednesday versus Virginia Tech. Six Tar Heels and nine Demon Deacons went the entire 110 minutes on the chilly night.
Although the Tar Heels outshot Wake Forest 5-3 in the first half, it was the Demon Deacons who had the best scoring chances of the period. Hannah Daly saved a point blank opportunity by ACC Freshman of the Year Katie Stengel in the sixth minute of play. Stengel had a golden opportunity in the 43rd minute as she was on a breakaway behind the Tar Heel defense. Daly retreated to her line just enough at the last second to cut down on Stengel's angle and the Deacon forward pushed it just slightly to the left of the far post from 12 yards away.
Wake Forest did not let its next chance get away from it. The Deacons scored at 49:59 as Jackie McSally scored her third goals of the season assisted by Marisa Park. It was Park who beat the Tar Heels down the right side where she dribbled into the box and sent a cross to the middle of the four-yard line where McSally redirected it over the goal line.
Carolina almost tied the game seconds after the ensuing kickoff but Alyssa Rich's shot went just wide at 50:23. That would be one of only two shots the Tar Heels had in the second half of the game as the Demon Deacons' defense clamped down. Meanwhile, the Deacs had two more brilliant chances to extend their lead. Daly made a stop on a shot by Park at 78:22 and then Stengel had another breakaway chance in the 83rd minute but she sent her shot high.
That miss allowed the Tar Heels to have life and UNC pounced for the tying goal at 87:14. Kelly McFarlane served a ball from the right side that senior Ali Hawkins flicked on to Meghan Klingenberg, who deftly finished it near post for her fifth goal of the season. The best scoring chance of overtime came in the 104th minute as Hawkins was unmarked at the 15-yard line after taking a pass from the right wing. Hawkins one-timed the ball toward the near post but Wake Forest goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe dove to her left and made the save.
The match ended in a stalemate and proceeded to penalty kicks where the Demon Deacons secured their spot in the championship game 5-4. With the tie the all-time series between Wake Forest and North Carolina now stands 25-1-1 in the Tar Heels' favor.
UNC will await its NCAA Tournament fate. Carolina was ranked third in this week's NCAA RPI and has a great shot to earn a Top 4 seed in the tournament and the chance to host games leading up to the NCAA College Cup the first weekend of December in Cary, N.C. Bids, pairings and host sites for first and second round games will be announced Monday on ESPNU at 4:30 p.m.
