With 53 career goals, Notre Dame’s Melissa Henderson is one of collegiate soccer’s premier offensive forces.
But not even she could break through North Carolina’s shutdown defense this weekend.
When the All-American forward left Fetzer Field on Friday without a single goal to her name, UNC head coach Anson Dorrance took it as a sign that his young defense is beginning to cash in on its raw talent.
“I don’t think we gave her too many looks, and I credit an excellent defensive effort,” Dorrance said. “And you know what, we can build on that. We alternate a very fast defense for a very tall defense, and once we get those pieces jiving a bit better, I think it’s going to be hard to score against us.”
Of the shots that No. 1 Notre Dame took in the 2-1 Tar Heel win, most were handled by UNC’s Hannah Daly. The junior goalkeeper set a career high with seven saves, six of which came during the first half.
In the second half, though, it was the shot she didn’t get to that almost rendered her performance irrelevant.
In the 71st minute, Notre Dame defender Jazmin Hall slipped a rain-soaked ball over the leaping Daly’s fingertips, knotting the score at one and seemingly shifting the momentum toward the Irish.
But in the 86th minute, Daly was able to redeem herself, snuffing out a Notre Dame rally deep in the Tar Heel box. Stabbing at the ball with her left hand, Daly managed to deflect Adriana Leon’s vicious strike and, in doing so, set up Courtney Jones’ game-winning shot in overtime.
“Some people are going to make mistakes, and their goal was one of them,” Jones said. “But (Daly) fights back so hard, and she saved our butts on almost every shot they had.”
