Ashley & Dorwart Power Tar Heels Past Jayhawks In NCAA Second Round

Friday, November 16

Cary, N.C. (WakeMed Soccer Park)

5 p.m.

North Carolina

19-3-1

Kansas

12-6-3

Kansas

North Carolina

Annie Kingman heads home UNC's second goal

Photo by: Andy Mead

Ashley & Dorwart Power Tar Heels Past Jayhawks In NCAA Second Round

November 16, 2018 | Women's Soccer

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Heels advance to NCAA third round to play Virginia Tech

By: Dave Lohse

CARY, N.C. – Julia Ashley had a career-high three assists and Rachael Dorwart recorded the first multi-goal game of her career as the third-ranked University of North Carolina women's soccer team defeated Kansas 4-1 in the NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament second round Friday night at WakeMed Soccer Park's Koka Booth Stadium.

With the victory, the Tar Heels improved to 19-3-1 on the season and they will play Virginia Tech for the third time this season on Sunday in the NCAA Tournament third round at 1 p.m. at WakeMed Soccer Park. Kansas saw its season come to an end Friday with a mark of 12-6-3.

The Tar Heels opened the scoring in the 12^th minute and then broke the game open with two goals just 2:22 apart late in the first half en route to the victory. Ashley had never had more than a single assist in any game in her career prior to Friday before notching three assists against the Jayhawks. She is the second player to have three assists in a game this year for Carolina, joining Brianna Pinto, who had three at Syracuse on October 7.

Dorwart scored the third and fourth goals of the game for the Tar Heels on Friday night, giving her five goals on the season and four goals in the past four contests. After scoring in the season opener against Illinois on August 16, she did not score again until notching the game-winner against Clemson in the ACC Tournament semifinals on November 2. She also scored against Howard in the NCAA Tournament first round before scoring twice on Friday.

UNC outshot the Jayhawks 18-7 in the game and it had an 8-2 edge in corner kicks. The foul-filled game featured 15 fouls against the Jayhawks and 10 infractions against Carolina.

UNC almost took an early lead on a shot by Madison Schultz at the 2:56 mark which skimmed off the cross bar. The Tar Heels then opened the scoring at 11:13 on Brianna Pinto's fifth goal of the season. Pinto headed home a cross from Julia Ashley from the right side, finding the lower right portion of the goal past Kansas goalkeeper Sarah Peters.

Carolina almost doubled its lead at the 30-minute mark when Dorian Bailey's direct free kick from distance was denied by the left post. Peters made three first-half saves for the Jayhawks, keeping their deficit at a single goal before the Tar Heels broke through with a pair of goals in the first half. UNC scored at 41:10 on a header by Annie Kingman, her first goal of the season. Lotte Wubben-Moy's corner kick from the right side of the pitch found Julia Ashley in the box and the senior defender redirected the ball across the frame to Kingman who was positioned just inside the right post for the put-away.

It took the Tar Heels just over two minutes to make their lead 3-0. At 43:32, Brianna Pinto intercepted a pass in the midfield and threaded a ball through the Kansas defense to Dorwart who found herself 1v1 against Peters, producing a clean finish for a 3-0 Tar Heel advantage.

Carolina made the score 4-0 at 65:26 on Dorwart's second goal of the game as she finished from inside the six-yard line into the left corner. Julia Ashley made a deep run into the right corner and served a ball into the box that Ru Mucherera knocked down, feeding Dorwart for the tally.

Kansas got on the board at the 81:48 mark on Katie McClure's 11^th goal of the season. She scored on a breakaway after taking a pass from Grace Hagan with McClure finishing with a low shot to the right of UNC goalkeeper Claudia Dickey who played the final 17:42 in goal in relief of starter Samantha Leshnak.

In the first game Friday, Virginia Tech defeated Arkansas 1-0 in double overtime. The Hokies scored the game-winning goal at 106:43 on a header by Jordan Hemmen off a corner kick by Emily Gray. Virginia Tech improved to 11-7-3 with the win while Arkansas saw its season end at 14-5-4.

UNC will face the Hokies Sunday for the third time this season. Carolina beat the Hokies 2-0 in the regular season meeting in Blacksburg and downed Virginia Tech 2-0 in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals in Cary.