GoHeels Exclusive: Leshnak's Penalty Kick Heroics

Samantha Leshnak was the hero as UNC won for only the third time in history on penalty kicks.

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

November 26, 2018 | Women's Soccer, Featured Writers

In a rare occurrence for UNC soccer, Carolina heads to the College Cup on PKs

By: Pat James

By Pat James, GoHeels.com

CARY, N.C. — Samantha Leshnak stood between the goalposts, the same ones she'd been defending when the North Carolina women's soccer team's season ended abruptly last year.

Through 110 minutes Saturday, third-ranked UNC and fourth-ranked UCLA had battled to a two-all tie in their NCAA Tournament quarterfinal match at WakeMed Soccer Park's Koka Booth Stadium. Penalty kicks would determine the victor. But as inherently unfair as those might be for goalkeepers, Leshnak never stopped believing her team would win.

She surely thought the same a year ago.

Facing Princeton in the 2017 NCAA third round, the Tar Heels trailed 1-0 early. They later scored, and seemed in control as the contest went to overtime. Late in the first period of extra time, though, the Tigers tallied the game-winner after Leshnak came off her line to try to squelch the scoring chance. Other miscues plagued Carolina in that defeat. But Leshnak blamed herself.

Such a loss could've crippled her confidence entering her senior season. But her classmates supported her. She leaned on her faith in God, too. Because of both, she was ready when her chance for redemption finally arrived Saturday.

And she delivered.

Leshnak saved UCLA's final two shots during the penalty kick shootout, becoming only the third goalkeeper in UNC history to prevail in penalty kicks. Most importantly, though, her outstanding effort secured the Tar Heels' 28th trip to the College Cup.

"We were the better team," said Leshnak, who matched her career high with six saves before the shootout. "Nobody is the same as us, nobody trains as hard, nobody is as close.

"It was the least, honestly, I could do for my team."

Carolina will face Georgetown on Friday in the national semifinals, held at Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park. Florida State and Stanford will meet on the other side of the bracket in the first College Cup to feature all four No. 1 seeds since 2011. But none passed a stiffer quarterfinal test than UNC.

The Bruins entered Saturday as the hottest team in the country, having not lost since September 27. Led by five players who have earned full national team call-ups, they'd outscored opponents 15-0 in their first three NCAA Tournament games.

Despite all that, Julia Ashley said she and her teammates knew they weren't going to lose. She took the first step to ensure that.

With multiple members of the crowd of 904 still trickling into the stadium less than 2 1/2 minutes into the game, Lotte Wubben-Moy sent a perfect corner into the center of the box. Ashley promptly headed the ball in for a 1-0 advantage. The goal was her second in four NCAA Tournament games. She's also recorded five assists in that stretch.

"I think it's just really starting to hit me that it's my senior year and every game is about to be my last," said Ashley, a wing back, of her recent offensive success.

Dorian Bailey, also a senior, later scored just over seven minutes into the second half, when she drove a shot from 18 yards out into the lower right 90 of the frame. The goal pushed the Tar Heels' lead to 2-0. But it proved fleeting.

Four minutes later, the Bruins' Hailie Mace, who has three caps with the U.S. senior national team, scored twice in 53 seconds, negating all the momentum Carolina had built.

Yet UNC seemed unperturbed, even as the already-frantic pace increased.

"What I thought our kids did very well was we pressed well, we made it hard for them to play through the lines, we made it a challenge for them," Anson Dorrance said. "And even though it did go penalty kicks, we were on the ascendance the longer the game wore on."

With three second-half saves after Mace's last goal, Leshnak helped the Tar Heels get to overtime, where they outshot UCLA 7-1. Carolina couldn't capitalize on any of those chances, though, so the teams advanced to the penalty kick shootout.

UNC's first two shooters, Annie Kingman and Taylor Otto, made their penalty kicks, but were matched by Mace and Sunny Dunphy. Rachel Jones then converted her kick to open the third round. But when Leshnak dove left and deflected Julia Hernandez's effort, the Tar Heels placed the pressure on the Bruins.

That became even more palpable when Claudia Dickey buried her kick. Leshnak's long-awaited moment followed, as she extended to her right and knocked away Jessie Fleming's shot, clinching Carolina's 4-2 shootout win.

Initially, Leshnak stepped away from the goal and started to prepare for another kick. But when she looked up and saw her teammates charging toward her, she sprinted to them before disappearing into a navy blue mosh pit near the center of the box.

"Protocol, I don't know," said Leshnak when asked about her delayed reaction. "Five rounds, it took me a minute to do the math."

Almost the same place on the field where UNC celebrated, Princeton dog-piled last year. Leshnak watched then. After handshakes and a speech from Dorrance, she retreated to the far side of the adjacent field, where she spent some time alone grappling with the loss.

Saturday's post-game scene couldn't have been more different.

Upon making it through the handshake line, Leshnak embraced Rachael Dorwart. The goalkeeper, exhausted both mentally and physically, then collapsed. Wubben-Moy immediately knelt down beside Leshnak, though, and wrapped her arms around her for several seconds. Both might've stayed on the ground longer. But to avoid being trounced by the large group of players jumping and cheering beside them, they were helped to their feet. The hugs continued.

"Sam won us that game," said Ashley of her best friend. "To save two PKs is pretty unbelievable. They were solid, quality PKs, too. It wasn't like they were giveaways. Sam is just a beast in the goal. When she walks in there, she knows how good she is and what she's going to do. And that was just amazing to watch."

Because of Leshnak's performance, the Tar Heels will make their fourth appearance in a College Cup hosted at WakeMed Soccer Park, where they've played a majority of their home matches the last two seasons due to the ongoing construction of a new on-campus facility.

They've won the national title game the previous three times they've played it there.

"There's a reason why the national championship is here this year," Ashley said. "It's for us."