Women's Soccer Advances Past Towson In NCAA First Round

Friday, November 10

Chapel Hill, N.C.

6 p.m. ET

North Carolina

11-1-8, 5-0-5

Towson

15-3-2, 9-1-2

Towson

North Carolina

Photo by: AINSLEY E. FAUTH

November 10, 2023 | Women's Soccer

Box Score Final Box (PDF)

By: UNC Athletics Communications

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – UNC overcame an early 1-0 deficit to defeat the Towson Tigers 3-1 in Friday's first round of the 2023 NCAA Women's Soccer Championship at Dorrance Field.

With the victory, third-seeded North Carolina advances to the second round to face sixth-seeded Alabama on Friday, Nov. 17, in Lubbock, Texas. The Tar Heels and Crimson Tide played to a 1-1 tie in Tuscalossa, Ala., earlier this season.

Following the win, the Tar Heels improved to 11-1-8 overall and advanced to the NCAA Second Round for the 41st time in program history. The Tigers, who earned their first-ever NCAA Tournament berth, conclude the season at 15-3-2.

How It Happened
● Towson's Jasmine Hamid scored the match's opening goal as her deflected shot sailed over the goalkeeper Emmie Allen's outstretched arm from above the penalty arc (24:48).
● UNC tied the score in the 43rd minute, as Bella Sember found the back of the net from 25 yards out for her second goal of the season.
● Ally Sentnor put the Tar Heels ahead with a left-footed goal just below the 18' in the 60th minute.
● Avery Patterson made it 3-1 with a header off Sentnor's corner kick in the 84th minute.

Inside the Box Score
● UNC fell behind 0-1 in the first half for the fourth time this season but scored the equalizer before halftime in three of those matches (Arkansas, Florida State, Towson).
● The Tar Heels were outshot 9-8 in the first half, marking just the fifth time an opponent took more shots than UNC in a half this season. Carolina outshot Towson 6-3 in the final 37 minutes of the first half.
● UNC outshot Towson 13-0 in the second half. It was the seventh time this season that the Tar Heels held an opponent without a shot during a single half of play.
● Ally Sentnor scored her sixth career NCAA Tournament goal. She scored five goals in six matches during the 2022 NCAA Tournament. She also added an assist to bring her NCAA Championship point total to 13.
● Avery Patterson scored her fourth career NCAA Tournament goal. She had two in the championship game against UCLA last season and one in the opener versus Old Dominion.

NCAA Tournament Tidbits
● UNC improved to 145-17-5 in the NCAA Tournament.
● The Tar Heels are 24-1 in the NCAA First Round, out-scoring its first-round opponents 102-6.
● Carolina improved to 2-1 as a No. 3 seed since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1998.
● This was the first time the Tar Heels have come from behind to win in an NCAA tournament game since a 2-1 victory against Washington State in the 2019 semifinals.
● UNC is the only team to appear in all 42 NCAA Tournaments.
● Carolina has won 21 of 41 NCAA titles (plus the 1981 AIAW title for 22 national championships).
● The Tar Heels have appeared in 31 College Cups, including four of the last five.
● Carolina has advanced to the national title game 27 times (including three of the last five). It has finished as the runner-up six times overall.

The complete NCAA bracket can be found here.

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