GoHeels Exclusive: Learning From Losses

By Pat James, GoHeels.com

CARY, N.C. — When scheduling the final two games of his team's 2018 non-conference slate, North Carolina women's soccer coach Anson Dorrance could've gone a different route.

He could've chosen to play two more home games. Both could've been against teams inferior to the Tar Heels. But instead, Dorrance decided to challenge his team with a pair of away games at Santa Clara and Stanford, the latter the reigning national champion.

The Broncos and Cardinal, perhaps more than any other teams, could show Dorrance the areas his squad needed to improve in the most. And they did. UNC dropped both games by one goal. During that trip in September, though, Dorrance switched up personnel in the 4-3-3 system the Tar Heels have utilized since about two thirds of the way through the 2017 campaign, when several season-ending injuries forced the Tar Heels to make some adjustments.

Heading into the 2018 campaign, Dorrance knew his team had an abundance of talent in central midfield roles but not necessarily the talent on the flank midfield to play a 3-4-3 system he'd employed primarily from 1996-2017. On the trip to California, Taylor Otto and Brianna Pinto changed permanently to central midfield roles where they joined senior Dorian Bailey. Both had previously been starting at forward.

Fullbacks Julia Ashley and Emily Fox were subsequently given more freedom with those changes. Because of Carolina's use of three central midfielders, Ashley and Fox could join the attack as much as possible from right back and left back, respectively.

That change helped Carolina to where it was Friday, facing Georgetown in an NCAA College Cup semifinal match at WakeMed Soccer Park. And because of a run-of-play that started with Fox and ended with a game-winning goal by Ashley in double overtime, the Tar Heels beat the Hoyas 1-0 and will play for their 23rd national title Sunday.

Fox set up Ashley's goal, chasing down a ball that had been saved by Brooke Bingham near the end line to hold off a Georgetown attack late in the second period of extra time. She dribbled down the field, then passed to Ashley in the midfield. The counterattack was on.

Ashley fed the ball to Pinto, who returned it to Ashley, who distributed it to Rachael Dorwart. Dorwart then centered the ball back to Ashley. This time, though, Ashley took the return pass and slotted a low shot past Georgetown goalkeeper Lauren Gallagher, sending the crowd of 10,439 fans into a frenzy as Ashley's teammates swarmed her.

"I can't say I planned that one," said Ashley of the goal, her third of the NCAA Tournament and sixth of the season.

But it's not as if any of Friday's match could've been scripted.

The early minutes of the first meeting between the Hoyas and UNC primarily took place in Carolina's final third, with Georgetown looking to exploit the space behind Ashley and Fox. The Hoyas tallied three shots in the first 25 minutes. But none were on frame.

As the first half progressed, the Tar Heels started controlling the pace and possession. Still, at halftime, the Hoyas held a 5-4 edge in shots and a 6-5 advantage in corner kicks.

"In the first half, we didn't play very well," Dorrance said. "We've seen our team play at a much higher level. The whole discussion at halftime was, 'Can we play better?" The response in the room was, 'Yes, we can."

And they did.

UNC attacked relentlessly in the second half, recording seven of the first nine shots. The seventh, attempted by Dorian Bailey, was blocked by the Georgetown defense. The ball then began rolling out of bounds. But the seemingly mundane play led to a momentum swing, as Hoya goalkeeper Arielle Schechtman sustained an injury trying to corral the ball and prevent a corner kick.

Gallagher subsequently replaced the United Soccer Coaches first-team All-America keeper. And it didn't take long for Carolina to test her.

Less than two minutes after Gallagher entered the game, Madison Schultz earned a penalty kick after being taken down in the penalty box. Otto stepped up to the 12-yard spot for the kick. But Gallagher leaped into the air and deflected the shot over the crossbar.

"After that happened, you just have to tell yourself, 'My team's got my back,'" Otto said. "I wasn't going to allow myself to let these girls lose this game, and I wasn't going to go out on that."

Otto nearly redeemed herself near the end of the first 10-minute overtime period after beating Gallagher to a loose ball in the box. But her shot sailed just wide.

Entering the second period of extra time, the Tar Heels had outshot Georgetown 11-4 since halftime. They'd also registered all eight corners since then. But despite the mounting missed opportunities, UNC remained confident.

"Right before we went into the second overtime," Ashley recalled, "I said to my team, 'Someone's going to finish this off for us in the next 10 minutes. Who's it going to be?'"

Ashley ultimately answered that question herself. And now, Carolina will have an opportunity to avenge its only loss since its West Coast swing.

The Tar Heels will face Florida State in Sunday's national championship game, their first against an ACC opponent since their 9-1 win over Duke in 1992. UNC defeated the Seminoles 1-0 in Tallahassee, Fla., during the regular season. It then lost 3-2 in the ACC Tournament championship game on Nov. 4 at Sahlen's Stadium, the site of Sunday's contest.

Carolina made enough corrections after the losses to Santa Clara and Stanford to put itself in this position. It'll now look to do the same against Florida State, with hopes of any new wrinkles that've been added since Nov. 4 being enough to overcome the Seminoles.

"We look forward to playing them again," Otto said, "and we want to show that we've grown."

Players Mentioned

Julia Ashley

Dorian Bailey

Brooke Bingham

Rachael Dorwart

Emily Fox

Taylor Otto

Brianna Pinto

Madison Schultz

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