UNC women's soccer team moves past first loss of season

It was just the 13th home loss in the program’s 32-year history, but when the top-ranked North Carolina women’s soccer team fell to then-No. 4 Boston College last week, coach Anson Dorrance wanted to make sure his team didn’t forget the rare but sinking feeling.

“After the game Anson made us stand there and watch them celebrate on our home field, the first game of ACC play,” redshirt sophomore Rachel Wood said. “Nobody felt good about that.”

The 3-2 loss to the Eagles (9-0-1, 2-0 ACC) was UNC’s first in 20 games and the first time the Tar Heels (9-1-1, 1-1) have fallen in the ACC opener since a 2002 matchup against N.C. State.

Both UNC and Boston College came out of the gate flat last Thursday, and the two teams went into intermission scoreless. The Eagles responded to UNC’s two second-half goals with a trio of goals in a 16-minute span, knocking out the Tar Heels and marking the first time in 11 years a team scored three goals in a single half against UNC.

The defeat was an unfamiliar blow to the defending national champions, but Dorrance said it was not one his team should bear alone.

“The more people that can take responsibility for winning and losing in the organization, the stronger team you’re going to have,” Dorrance said. “(The coaching staff doesn’t) want them to feel like they’re alone out there, because we’re as much a part of the losses.”

Now ranked No. 3 behind Stanford and Boston College after a 2-1 rebound win Sunday against Virginia Tech, UNC will have to pick up the broken pieces of an undefeated season and focus on a challenging conference schedule ahead.

And there isn’t any time for the disappointed Tar Heels to sulk.

Starting Friday with a match against the Wolfpack, UNC will finish the regular season with eight straight ACC opponents — and five of them are ranked in the top 25.

The vulnerable squad will no doubt be tested during the next month, but for Dorrance, the tough schedule is a blessing in disguise.

“We certainly don’t approach competition with nervousness. We approach it with respect,” he said. “One of the reasons we’ve had so much success over the years is because our conference is so tough.”

Having allowed a quarter of the total goals given up in the 2009 season in a single half against the Eagles, the Tar Heels are focusing on improving their defensive presence.

The young North Carolina team has already seen its share of challenges just 11 games into the season, and the Tar Heels aren’t expecting it to get any easier.

For Wood, the heartbreak of last week’s fall is enough motivation to put North Carolina back to the top.

“We don’t ever want to feel like that again,” she said.

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.