Tar Heels Blank Irish To Advance To ACC Semifinal

Sunday, November 3

7 p.m.

North Carolina

Notre Dame

Lotte Wubben-Moy

Photo by: Rebecca Lawson

November 3, 2019 | Women's Soccer

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Carolina will play NC State Friday in Cary

By: Dave Lohse

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Lotte Wubben-Moy scored a pair of goals and Ru Mucherera gave the Tar Heels separation in the second half as the third-ranked University of North Carolina women's soccer team defeated Notre Dame 3-0 in the 2019 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament quarterfinals before 875 fans at Dorrance Field Sunday night.

The Tar Heels advance to the ACC semifinals next Friday at Sahlen's Stadium in Cary, N.C. where they will meet NC State at 5 p.m. on the ACC Network. The first semifinal game Friday will feature Virginia versus Florida State at 2:30 p.m., also on the ACC Network. The winners of Friday's semifinals will advance to the ACC Tournament final next Sunday at 12 noon in a game to be televised on ESPNU.

After a scoreless first half on Sunday, Carolina exploded for three second-half goals to ensure its quarterfinal win. This marked the second 3-0 victory by the Tar Heels over the Fighting Irish at Dorrance Field this season. UNC also beat Notre Dame by the same score in the regular season on September 29 on Dorrance Field Dedication Day.

UNC outshot the Fighting Irish 15-4 in the match and had an 8-2 edge in corner kicks. Brooke Littman played all 90 minutes in goal for the Fighting Irish and made four saves while allowing three goals. Claudia Dickey went all 90 minutes for UNC and made two saves. It was her third solo shutout of season. She also had solo shutouts versus UNLV and Wake Forest.

Carolina opened the scoring at the 51:16 mark on a goal by defender Lotte Wubben-Moy, the first goal she has scored in her career in the run of play. Wubben-Moy came forward on attack, slipping the ball to her right to Brianna Pinto just outside the box. Pinto sent it on to Emily Fox whose pass threaded the defensive wall and found Wubben-Moy inside the box 15 yards out. She sent her shot to the far post where Littman got her right hand on the ball but the shot was hit with enough pace to find the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.

The Tar Heels extended their lead to 2-0 on a goal off a corner kick at 73:10. Lois Joel sent the corner kick from the right side where it was headed on by Maycee Bell to the far post where Ru Mucherera was well positioned to drive a hard strike into the upper left 90 of the goal. It was Mucherera's fourth of the season and Joel retook the team lead in assists with seven.

UNC finished the scoring at 84:04 after Emily Fox was taken down in the box on the right side by a Notre Dame defender. Wubben-Moy stepped to the 12-yard spot and drove the ball confidently into the lower left corner of the frame for her fifth goal of the season and second goal from the penalty spot against the Irish this season. Four of her five goals this year have been on penalty kicks.

GAME NOTES
• Carolina improved to 67-6-5 all-time in the ACC Tournament. UNC has won five ACC Tournament quarterfinal games in a row.
• The Tar Heels are now 19-7-3 all-time against the Fighting Irish. UNC has won three straight games against the Fighting Irish it is 4-0-1 against Notre Dame in the last five meetings between the two teams.
• Between 2011 and 2018, the teams played eight times with seven meetings being decided by one goal and one ending in a tie. Carolina emerged with a pair of three-goal victories in 2019 in the series.
• Ru Mucherera scored her fourth goal of the season. Previous to 2019, she had scored just three goals in her career.
• Maycee Bell had her first career assist on Mucherera's goal.
• Lotte Wubben-Moy has scored five career goals, all this season. She is tied with Bridgette Andrzejewski for third on the team in goals scored.
• Lois Joel recorded her team-leading seventh assist on Mucherera's goal.