University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Weber State
Newfield Scores Twice As Tar Heels Open With Win
August 22, 2015 | Women's Soccer
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The seventh-ranked University of North Carolina women's soccer team opened its 2015 season with a 3-0 shutout victory over Weber State Friday night before 3,088 fans at Fetzer Field.
Alexa Newfield tallied a pair of goals, her first in a Tar Heel uniform, and Chapel Hill native Alex Kimball added a goal on a header late in the game to power Carolina past the Wildcats in the second matchup of the Carolina Nike Classic on Friday evening. Duke beat Fresno State 5-0 in the first game.
Newfield, who transferred to Carolina in 2013 from Georgia, has been plagued by injuries over the past three seasons of her career but she broke out in a big way in Friday's win. She opened the scoring just 54 seconds into the match when she took a pass from Jessie Scarpa and blasted a shot from distance that Weber State goalkeeper Sydnie Brough got her hands on but was unable to hold. Hit with pace, the ball handcuffed Brough and settled into the goal behind her as UNC went up 1-0.
The Tar Heels went on to launch another 17 shots in the first half but were unable to get a second goal before intermission. Freshman Kate Morris had the best chance to make it 2-0 for the Tar Heels when her shot from 25 yards out rang off the crossbar and ricocheted back to the top of the box.
Just 2:16 into the second half Weber State's Brecken Holbrook was issued a yellow card after taking down Scarpa in the penalty area. The Atlanta native Newfield then stepped calmly to the penalty spot and struck her penalty kick past Nikki Pittman, who came on at halftime in goal for WSU.
UNC continued to pressure the goal and earned a third goal at 73:54 when Chapel Hill native Alex Kimball headed a corner kick by Annie Kingman past Pittman for a 3-0 Tar Heel lead. It was the ninth corner kick of the game for the Tar Heels and practice made perfect as Kimball finished her opportunity for her second career goal. She also scored as a freshman in a win at Duke.
For the game UNC outshot the Wildcats 35-2 and had a 9-1 edge in corner kicks. The Tar Heels struggled to put shots on frame. However, as only 13 of their attempts were on target. Brough played the first half for the Wildcats and made five saves while Pittman made five saves in the second half. Bryane Heaberlin and Lindsey Harris combined on the shutout for UNC. UNC's keepers were forced to make only one save on a Weber State shot by Morgan Quarnberg in the 44th minute that Heaberlin stopped easily.
The Carolina Nike Classic will continue Sunday at Fetzer Field with Duke playing Weber State at 11 a.m. and UNC meeting Fresno State at 1 p.m.
