Conference title run ends for UNC women's soccer

At its best, head coach Anson Dorrance said, the North Carolina women’s soccer team is a threat to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament in two weeks.

But No. 8 UNC’s performance against No. 10 Virginia (14-4-1, 6-3-1 ACC) in the ACC quarterfinals Sunday — “most average,” Dorrance called it — was far from its best.

UNC (10-5-2, 6-3-1) fell to UVa. 1-0, ending the Tar Heels’ ACC Tournament much earlier than they had hoped.

“We have to be sharper, technically and tactically,” Dorrance said. “We’ve got to be fitter. We have to be psychologically harder. I thought we were out-competed today.”

Just more than 10 minutes into the game, UVa. forward Caroline Miller received a perfectly weighted through-ball from midfielder Morgan Brian. She distanced herself from UNC goalie Adelaide Gay with a touch and passed the ball into an empty net.

The goal proved to be the game winner.

“We came out flat,” said Gay, who nearly beat Miller to the ball and made a running save. “I felt the goal coming before it came, because it was clear we didn’t come out like we should have.”

The Tar Heels appeared a step too slow in the first 45 minutes, and their searching long balls never seemed to find the right target. They ended the half with just one shot.

“Our movement was a little slow today, which didn’t create any chances for us,” junior Crystal Dunn said. “We just need to work off and on the ball a little bit better.”

But at the start of the second half, the first-half sluggishness vanished. UNC controlled possession and created a number of chances, and Dunn was at the center of the offensive turnaround.

After a clever series of one-touch passes starting in UNC’s defensive third, Dunn found herself sprinting, ball at her feet, into the Cavaliers’ 18-yard box. After a couple forward touches, she let fly a shot. It was blocked.

“We sort of dominated play for a little bit, for the first 20 minutes or so,” Dorrance said, “and then we stalled. And it was basically a stall for the rest of the game.”

But UNC hopes its offense won’t stall on Nov. 10 — the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Dorrance knows there’s at least one thing his team can surely fix before then.

“You can certainly commit yourself to competing more aggressively,” he said. “So we’ve got to make that decision. Hopefully every girl made it before she left the field.”

Contact the desk editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.