Women's Soccer Opens Season With Win Over Tennessee

Thursday, August 18

Chapel Hill

7 p.m.

North Carolina

1-0-0, 0-0-0

Tennessee

0-1-0, 0-0-0

Tennessee

North Carolina

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

August 18, 2022 | Women's Soccer

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By: Jody Jones

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Aleigh Gambone scored in the first half, Avery Patterson and defender Tori Hansen added second half scores and No. 10 North Carolina defeated No. 11 Tennessee, 3-0, in the women's soccer season opener for both teams at Dorrance Field on Thursday.

The triumph was Carolina's eighth consecutive season- and home-opening victory, as it improved to 37-5-2 in its first game of the season and 39-2-3 in home openers.

"This was a signature win," UNC head coach Anson Dorrance said. "That's the sort of win that helps you get a high seed in the NCAA Tournament because [Tennessee] is an excellent team, and they're going to beat some very good teams.

Gambone's first career goal gave UNC (1-0) the early advantage and all the support goalkeepers Emmie Allen and Marz Josephson needed to combine for the program's first combined shutout since Josephson combined with former goalkeeper Claudia Dickey to blank Belmont on Nov. 16, 2019.

Allen, who made her first career start, and Josephson recorded four saves each.

"Marz made a world-class save when it was 1-0 to keep the momentum with us," Dorrance stated. "If that goes in it's a completely different game. I want to credit both kids. It was a great shutout."

Gambone's goal came when the senior captain collected Ruby Grant's header off the crossbar and deposited it in the back of the net, seven minutes before halftime.

The Tar Heels stretched their lead to two goals in the 66th minute when Hansen slipped into the heart of the defense and Sam Meza's cross was placed perfectly in the center of the box. Patterson added the capper in the 78th minute to seal the win.

"Sam played a beautiful ball, and I just tapped it in," Hansen said.

Carolina took twice as many shots as the Lady Vols, out-shooting them 24-12, with 11 players taking at least one shot.

"In the second half we got a little bit of separation, and I thought the chances we created throughout the game were the margin of victory," Dorrance said. "We created a lot of chance beyond the three we scored, so that's encouraging because the biggest issue we had was scoring goals."

The victory continued a run of success for the Tar Heels over their neighbors to the west. UNC has won six straight over the Lady Vols and owns a record of 12-0-1 against them with a 7-0 record in Chapel Hill.

Carolina returns to the pitch on Sunday, Aug. 21, against UNCW at 1 p.m. on Dorrance Field. The game will be streamed on the ACC Network Extra.

SEASON TICKETS
Season tickets are on sale at goheels.com, starting at $64 for general admission and $80 for reserved seating. Special rates are available for UNC faculty and staff members who wish to purchase reserved seats by contacting the UNC Athletics Ticket Office. Season ticket holders receive access to the McCaskill Building to get an up-close view of Carolina Soccer's historic excellence and achievements and will also be invited to join host Freddie Kiger as he speaks to legendary head coach Anson Dorrance on this year's team, previous seasons, and his journey leading Carolina Soccer.