University of North Carolina Athletics
Saturday, September 21
Louisville, Ky.
7:30 p.m.
North Carolina
3
at
0
Louisville
Marz Josephson (#17) made three saves in the first half, including one on a Louisville penalty kick.
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
Tar Heels Open ACC Season With Road Win At #20 Louisville
September 21, 2019 | Women's Soccer
Russo's two-goal effort leads Tar Heels past Cardinals
LOUISVILLE, KY. – A brace by Alessia Russo and a penalty kick save by freshman goalkeeper Marz Josephson paced the fourth-ranked University of North Carolina women's soccer team to a 3-0 victory over 20th-ranked Louisville Saturday night at Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Soccer Stadium.
The game was the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams. UNC improved to 8-1 on the season and 1-0 in the ACC while Louisville fell for the first time on the campaign and is now 7-1 overall and 0-1 in the ACC.
Junior Alessia Russo had her third brace of the season and the fifth of her career to lead the Tar Heels to the victory. She also recorded her second game-winning goal of the season and the 12th game-winning goal of her career. Phenomenally, 12 of Russo's 21 career goals have been game-winners. UNC also benefitted from freshman Alexis Stickland's third goal of the season, a goal which provided separation midway in the second half en route to the shutout victory.
Freshman goalkeeper Marz Josephson played the best game of her young career, making three saves in the first half, including one on a penalty kick which kept the game scoreless. Within two minutes of Josephson's stop on the penalty kick, Russo scored to put the Tar Heels ahead 1-0 and Carolina tacked on two more goals in the second half.
At 19:46 of the match, UNC's Emily Fox was whistled for a foul in the penalty box. Louisville's Emina Ekic stepped to the 12-yard spot but her shot was deflected by Josephson off the cross bar and Carolina defender Morgan Goff swept in to head the ball away. But the Tar Heels were not out of danger yet. At 20:15, the Cardinals' Brooklyn Rivers found herself unmarked and rifled a shot off the top woodwork, denying Louisville a second time. Then 12 seconds later, Allison Whitfield of Louisville sent a shot from the left side of the box that Josephson saved, maintaining the tie score.
It did not take long for Carolina to capitalize on the other end. Brianna Pinto slipped a nifty through ball to Russo who dribbled past defenders to give herself space and then finished from about 14 yards out in the right side of the box into the lower left corner. The goal came at 21:32 of the match.
Josephson made her third save of the half at 24:03, denying Niamh Nelson. Carolina did not allow another shot in the first half as the game went to halftime with the Tar Heels up 1-0.
In the second 45 minutes, Carolina almost went up two goals at 50:04 but Bridgette Andrzejewski's shot from close range off a cross by Rachel Jones was tipped over the cross bar by Louisville goalkeeper Gabrielle Kouzelos. Meanwhile, Claudia Dickey had come on to play the second half in goal for Carolina and she saved a shot by Ekic at 58:09 to keep the Tar Heels in front.
Eight minutes later, Carolina doubled its lead on Alexis Strickland's third goal of the season. Senior Ru Mucherera sent a low cross from the left side through the penalty box and Stickland pounced on it at the far post and put the shot away for a 2-0 lead at 66:04 of the match.
Carolina's third goal came at the 80:52 mark as Russo scored her second of the match and sixth of the season off a corner kick by junior Lois Joel. The goal came off a corner kick from the right side by Joel that went over a whole host of players to the left side of the box where Russo gathered it in and sent a low shot through considerable traffic past Kouzelos for a 3-0 lead.
UNC finished with a 10-7 edge in shots and a 7-4 edge in shots on goal. UNC had nine corner kicks in the game while Louisville had one. Carolina was charged with eight fouls compared to five for Louisville. UNC was whistled for all eight offside infractions in the game.
Josephson played the first half for Carolina and made three saves and Claudia Dickey made one save in the second half as the two goalkeepers combined on the clean sheet. Gabrielle Kouzelos made four saves and allowed three goals for the Cardinals.
UNC will return home this week for a pair of ACC matches. The Tar Heels will host NC State Thursday at 7 p.m. at the UNC Soccer & Lacrosse Stadium in a match to be televised nationally on the ACC Network. UNC will also host Notre Dame next Sunday at 1 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.
GAME NOTES
• Alessia Russo had her fifth career two-goal game.
• Alessia Russo scored her 12th career game-winning goal. Of her 21 career goals, 12 have been game-winning tallies.
• Lois Joel's assist on Russo's second goal was her team-leading fifth.
• Ru Mucherera recorded her fourth assist of the season. Coming into this season she had recorded four assists in her career.
• Alexis Strickland tallied the third goal of her freshman season. That ties her for third on the team with Bridgette Andrzejewski. Brianna Pinto and Alessia Russo share the team lead with six goals each.
• The clean sheet was the 603rd in Tar Heel history in 970 games in Tar Heel history. UNC has seven shutouts this season in nine games.
• Carolina improved to 43-5-5 in its last 53 ACC regular season games. Carolina has not lost an ACC regular season game since October 14, 2016, a 1-0 loss at Notre Dame. UNC has an 11-game ACC regular-season winning streak dating to a 1-1 tie versus Notre Dame on October 26, 2017.
• UNC is now 27-4-1 all-time in ACC regular-season openers.
• Carolina improved to 2-1-1 all-time against Louisville and it has won two in a row over the Cardinals.
The game was the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams. UNC improved to 8-1 on the season and 1-0 in the ACC while Louisville fell for the first time on the campaign and is now 7-1 overall and 0-1 in the ACC.
Junior Alessia Russo had her third brace of the season and the fifth of her career to lead the Tar Heels to the victory. She also recorded her second game-winning goal of the season and the 12th game-winning goal of her career. Phenomenally, 12 of Russo's 21 career goals have been game-winners. UNC also benefitted from freshman Alexis Stickland's third goal of the season, a goal which provided separation midway in the second half en route to the shutout victory.
Freshman goalkeeper Marz Josephson played the best game of her young career, making three saves in the first half, including one on a penalty kick which kept the game scoreless. Within two minutes of Josephson's stop on the penalty kick, Russo scored to put the Tar Heels ahead 1-0 and Carolina tacked on two more goals in the second half.
At 19:46 of the match, UNC's Emily Fox was whistled for a foul in the penalty box. Louisville's Emina Ekic stepped to the 12-yard spot but her shot was deflected by Josephson off the cross bar and Carolina defender Morgan Goff swept in to head the ball away. But the Tar Heels were not out of danger yet. At 20:15, the Cardinals' Brooklyn Rivers found herself unmarked and rifled a shot off the top woodwork, denying Louisville a second time. Then 12 seconds later, Allison Whitfield of Louisville sent a shot from the left side of the box that Josephson saved, maintaining the tie score.
It did not take long for Carolina to capitalize on the other end. Brianna Pinto slipped a nifty through ball to Russo who dribbled past defenders to give herself space and then finished from about 14 yards out in the right side of the box into the lower left corner. The goal came at 21:32 of the match.
Josephson made her third save of the half at 24:03, denying Niamh Nelson. Carolina did not allow another shot in the first half as the game went to halftime with the Tar Heels up 1-0.
In the second 45 minutes, Carolina almost went up two goals at 50:04 but Bridgette Andrzejewski's shot from close range off a cross by Rachel Jones was tipped over the cross bar by Louisville goalkeeper Gabrielle Kouzelos. Meanwhile, Claudia Dickey had come on to play the second half in goal for Carolina and she saved a shot by Ekic at 58:09 to keep the Tar Heels in front.
Eight minutes later, Carolina doubled its lead on Alexis Strickland's third goal of the season. Senior Ru Mucherera sent a low cross from the left side through the penalty box and Stickland pounced on it at the far post and put the shot away for a 2-0 lead at 66:04 of the match.
Carolina's third goal came at the 80:52 mark as Russo scored her second of the match and sixth of the season off a corner kick by junior Lois Joel. The goal came off a corner kick from the right side by Joel that went over a whole host of players to the left side of the box where Russo gathered it in and sent a low shot through considerable traffic past Kouzelos for a 3-0 lead.
UNC finished with a 10-7 edge in shots and a 7-4 edge in shots on goal. UNC had nine corner kicks in the game while Louisville had one. Carolina was charged with eight fouls compared to five for Louisville. UNC was whistled for all eight offside infractions in the game.
Josephson played the first half for Carolina and made three saves and Claudia Dickey made one save in the second half as the two goalkeepers combined on the clean sheet. Gabrielle Kouzelos made four saves and allowed three goals for the Cardinals.
UNC will return home this week for a pair of ACC matches. The Tar Heels will host NC State Thursday at 7 p.m. at the UNC Soccer & Lacrosse Stadium in a match to be televised nationally on the ACC Network. UNC will also host Notre Dame next Sunday at 1 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.
GAME NOTES
• Alessia Russo had her fifth career two-goal game.
• Alessia Russo scored her 12th career game-winning goal. Of her 21 career goals, 12 have been game-winning tallies.
• Lois Joel's assist on Russo's second goal was her team-leading fifth.
• Ru Mucherera recorded her fourth assist of the season. Coming into this season she had recorded four assists in her career.
• Alexis Strickland tallied the third goal of her freshman season. That ties her for third on the team with Bridgette Andrzejewski. Brianna Pinto and Alessia Russo share the team lead with six goals each.
• The clean sheet was the 603rd in Tar Heel history in 970 games in Tar Heel history. UNC has seven shutouts this season in nine games.
• Carolina improved to 43-5-5 in its last 53 ACC regular season games. Carolina has not lost an ACC regular season game since October 14, 2016, a 1-0 loss at Notre Dame. UNC has an 11-game ACC regular-season winning streak dating to a 1-1 tie versus Notre Dame on October 26, 2017.
• UNC is now 27-4-1 all-time in ACC regular-season openers.
• Carolina improved to 2-1-1 all-time against Louisville and it has won two in a row over the Cardinals.
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Women's Soccer
Goalkeeper
/ Women's Soccer
Defender/Midfielder
/ Women's Soccer
Forward/Midfielder
/ Women's Soccer
Goalkeeper
/ Women's Soccer
Forward
/ Women's Soccer
Midfielder
/ Women's Soccer
Forward
/ Women's Soccer
Forward
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