Seventeen seconds. That’s all it took for Maryland to take the lead against North Carolina in Sunday’s game at Fetzer Field. And though the Tar Heels eventually won 3-1, after 17 seconds it looked like Maryland would add to its three-year streak of success against UNC.
The No. 6 Tar Heels (10-2-0, 4-2-0 ACC) are notorious for coming out flat, but this was a historically slow start, even for them. Maryland’s goal was the second fastest an opponent has ever scored against UNC. The fastest came 16 seconds into the 2008 national championship game against Notre Dame.
“They scored on us pretty quickly and that wasn’t a good feeling,” senior Crystal Dunn said, “But I think right then and there we bounced back.”
UNC is also known for doing just that — bouncing back, and the game against Maryland was no different.
“Since we never come into the game with the ambition of tying 0-0, a one-goal advantage shouldn’t basically discourage us in the least,” coach Anson Dorrance said.
In UNC’s three-goal rally, the team scored in a variety of ways. In the 21st minute UNC earned a penalty kick after a Maryland defender was called for a handball in the box. Sophomore Summer Green took the penalty kick, and fired a shot that ricocheted off the bottom of the left post past the keeper’s fingertips to tie the game.
Dunn and Kealia Ohai linked up on the game winner in the 58th minute, when Dunn stole the ball and dribbled into the box before passing to Ohai, who fired the ball into the net.
Not only has UNC struggled with early-game intensity, but it has struggled to score on corner kicks, scoring only once this season. But that was one Tar Heel trend that didn’t hold true against the Terrapins.
When the Tar Heels earned a corner in the 73rd minute, sophomore Paige Nielsen stepped in and delivered. Her kick found junior Satara Murray, who headed in her second career goal.
