University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
California
Buckingham's Late Goal Earns Tar Heels Draw 1-1
September 5, 2015 | Women's Soccer
DURHAM, N.C. – Megan Buckingham's return from injury was well-timed for the third-ranked North Carolina women's soccer team as her goal with less than three minutes remaining allowed the Tar Heels to tie 25th-ranked California Friday night 1-1 in the Duke Nike Classic at Koskinen Stadium.
Buckingham, who missed the first four games of the season while recovering from a broken collarbone suffered this past summer while training with the U.S. U19 National Team, took a pass from freshman midfielder Dorian Bailey at the top of the 18-yard box and sent a blast off the hands of Cal goalkeeper Emily Boyd into the back of the net with just 2:52 left in regulation time. Altogether, the 2014 ACC Freshman of the Year saw 36 minutes of action in Friday's game.
The Tar Heels had trailed for more than 72 minutes in the game before Buckingham got the tying goal. In the 15th minute the Golden Bears went ahead 1-0 on Arielle Ship's fourth goal of the season. Kelly Fitzgerald of the Bears sent a pass from 35 yards out that split UNC defenders Julia Ashley and Paige Nielsen. Ship ran onto the ball and chipped it over Tar Heel goalkeeper Bryane Heaberlin from 15 yards out.
With the tie, UNC is now 4-0-1 on the season while the Golden Bears are 2-1-1. UNC will match up Sunday with 13th-ranked Southern California at 11 a.m. in the Duke Nike Classic. The Trojans played the host Blue Devils in Friday's second match.
UNC outshot the Golden Bears 18-10 in the game but Cal had an edge in shots on goal, 7-6. UNC had eight corner kicks to just one for Cal. Emily Boyd finished with five saves for the Golden Bears. Heaberlin made one save in the first half for UNC while Lindsey Harris played the final 65 minutes of the game and made five saves.
Carolina's best chance to score in the first half came at 13:31 when Jessie Scarpa's shot from distance was knocked down by Boyd and Sarah Ashley Firstenberg's rebound went wide left. Just over a minute later, the Bears would take the lead on Ship's goal. The two teams combined for only three shots in the remainder of the half, including none in the last 16 minutes. Alex Kimball had a chance at a tying tally in the 27th minute but a Cal defender blocked her header over the end line for a corner kick.
UNC outshot the Golden Bears 10-6 in the second half, getting the tying goal in the 88th minute. However, before Buckingham's goal, Cal had several chances to get a second goal but could not finish past Harris.
Harris made a point blank save on a shot by Celeste Boureille in the 66th minute before Buckingham's shot from distance was saved by Boyd six minutes later. Harris twice smothered excellent scoring chances by Ifeoma Onumonu to keep the deficit at one, stopping one-on-one opportunities in the penalty area at 81:50 and again at 84:33.
Eventually the Tar Heels took advantage of the Bears' largesse after Alex Kimball was fouled on the edge of the penalty box with less than four minutes to play. Dorian Bailey pushed the free kick to Summer Green whose shot from the right side of the box was blocked. Bailey retrieved the loose ball and found Buckingham across the top of the 18-yard box for the tying goal.
Both teams forced saves by the opposing goalkeepers in the final 1:15 of regulation time but saves by Boyd for Cal and Harris for Carolina sent the match to overtime.
Each team had one shot on goal in the first overtime period. Harris made her fifth save of the game on a shot by Ship in the 94th minute. The territorial advantage in the second overtime definitely belonged to Carolina and the Tar Heels had good looks at the goal from Jessie Scarpa, Cameron Castleberry and Abby Elinsky. Boyd saved Elinsky's shot with 34 seconds to play and the clock then ran out on both teams.
