UNC women's soccer team dominates Miami Hurricanes

Correction: Due to a reporting error, an earlier version of the story said UNC ran a 3-5-3 formation. The Tar Heels run a 3-4-3 formation. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.

The North Carolina women’s soccer team gave Miami a clinic on how to play collegiate soccer Sunday.

UNC beat the Hurricanes 5-0 in a textbook show of goals, strong offensive formations and composed defense.

UNC (13-1-1, 5-1 ACC) had 21 shots during the game and held the Hurricanes to only three.

“I know the defense wanted to hold them to a shutout so we feel really successful,” redshirt sophomore defender Rachel Wood said.

The Tar Heels also played a clean game, committing only seven fouls in 90 minutes.

UNC began the match in a 3-5-2 formation. This put the emphasis on the midfield and left only two attackers up front.

After 10 minutes and just one shot, UNC coach Anson Dorrance switched the Tar Heels back to their signature 3-4-3 formation. The quality of play improved dramatically, and eight minutes later, Kealia Ohai had the first Tar Heel goal.

“We had Kealia in midfield,” Dorrance said. “She is an extraordinary player, and that is not a player you want to keep far from goals, so we decided to make the change and get Kealia up top, which sure enough pays dividends immediately.”

The first goal was scored off an assist from sophomore goalkeeper Hannah Daly. Her long punt up the field was brought under control by Ohai, who finished the ball into the left side of Miami’s goal.

“Hannah’s amazing,” Ohai said. “Her kick was so far, and I just beat my player and shot it.”

Eleven minutes later, Amber Brooks scored the Tar Heels’ second goal off a corner kick, assisted by Kelly McFarlane and Courtney Jones.

Jones had a goal of her own in the 39th minute of play. From the top of the box, Jones lofted the ball over the hands of Miami’s keeper. It dipped just below the crossbar, and UNC tacked on its third goal.

Despite their three-goal lead, the Tar Heels kept up the aggression in the second half.

“Coming out in the second half, the 3-4-3 was so much better, we stayed with that,” Dorrance said. “It allowed us to get breathing room and play our roster.”

The aggression paid off, and UNC netted two more goals, also by Brooks and Ohai.

“Every time we play Miami, it had been a really tough game and they have beaten us a lot of times, so we knew that no matter what we had to come out and play intensely the whole game, “ Ohai said.

Controlling balls out of the air and winning one-on-one jousts were instrumental to North Carolina’s victory. The Tar Heels controlled the ball at their feet and anticipated movement from their teammates.

“We have been able to play the system and play the shape and learn to trust the shape and it has helped us tremendously,” Wood said.

“I think we all came out and brought it today. We all wanted to come out and play really tough against a combative Miami team.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.