Despite playing an aggressive Clemson team that made it difficult for the North Carolina women’s soccer team to play its typical possession-centered style, the No. 5 Tar Heels put on a dominant offensive display Thursday night and captured a 2-0 victory.
“In one year, that’s about as improved as I’ve ever seen an ACC team,” coach Anson Dorrance said in reference to Clemson. “For us, we like to keep the ball and knock it around a bit. But Clemson just plays you tough and it wasn’t easy to keep possession against them.
“They just made it very difficult for us to win the game. They’re a very difficult team to play against.”
The Tar Heels handled the physicality of the Tigers well, coming out strong in the first half and scoring an early goal in the seventh minute.
A pass from senior Crystal Dunn found freshman Amber Munerlyn right outside the box, just 19 seconds after Munerlyn entered the game. Munerlyn delivered a crisp pass to sophomore Summer Green at the 6-yard mark, where Green expertly placed the ball into the corner of the net for her sixth goal of the season.
After their early goal, the Tar Heels continued their offensive pressure, recording 22 shots to Clemson’s seven. But the team had difficulty finding the back of the net again as Clemson became even more aggressive.
“(In the second half) I think they just came out and decided, you know what, ‘We’ve got nothing to lose — let’s go out there and fight like Tigers,’” Dorrance said. “(Clemson) played really, really tough and with grit and hard work. It was a very difficult second half for us.”
Clemson and North Carolina both tallied 10 fouls in the game and each saw a player receive a yellow card .
“It was definitely a more physical game than we’re used to,” defender Megan Brigman said. “They were out there putting bodies on us the whole game.”
