The North Carolina women's soccer team waited almost eight months to begin its pursuit for a 23rd national title.
But as soon as the Tar Heels took Fetzer Field on Friday for their season opener against Weber State, they didn't waste any time getting on the scoreboard.
Fifty-four seconds into Friday's match, senior forward Alexa Newfield slammed the ball through the outstretched hands of Weber State’s goalkeeper to score the first of UNC's goals in a 3-0 shutout of the Wildcats.
The Tar Heels (1-0) kept the Weber State goalkeeper busy in the first half, tallying 17 more shots after Newfield's goal. Although many of those were not on target, they dwarfed Weber State’s two shots, as UNC dominated play despite the stagnant scoreboard.
The Wildcats (0-1) substituted goalkeepers at halftime, but Newfield was not deterred. Taking a penalty kick in the 47th minute, the senior drilled it into the lower left corner, putting the Tar Heels up 2-0.
UNC did not relent. Twenty-six minutes later, sophomore midfielder Alex Kimball executed a flawless header on a corner kick by Annie Kingman to increase the Tar Heels' lead to 3-0.
In the remaining minutes, UNC continued to control possession and keep the ball on the Wildcats' half of the field, as the Tar Heels ran out the clock on their first victory of the season.
Quotable
“It’s not like it requires a rocket scientist to diagnose that when you are shooting the ball at an 8-yard-by-8-feet goal, if it goes over by 40 yards, you’ve made a mistake.” - UNC coach Anson Dorrance on his team’s 37 percent shooting percentage on Friday.
