The No. 9 North Carolina women's soccer team came into its game on Sunday afternoon against Clemson needing a win to keep its ACC Tournament hopes alive. On senior day, the team needed someone to step up and lead it to victory.
And in UNC’s 1-0 win over No. 6 Clemson, sophomore Jessie Scarpa was the one to do that.
During the first half of the game, the Tar Heels (13-3-1, 6-3-0 ACC) and Tigers (12-3-1, 6-3-0 ACC) were both playing a cautious game. There were only five shots taken in the first half between both teams.
For UNC, this caution could have come from being on the outside looking in at the top four teams in the ACC. Only the top four teams in the conference advance to play in the postseason tournament.
The Tar Heels had several goal-scoring opportunities stalled due to offside penalties.
The biggest of these opportunities was in the second half when junior midfielder Joanna Boyles had a goal scored off of a header called back because Scarpa was in front of the defense.
Scarpa redeemed herself in the 77th minute by scoring on an assist from the player she robbed of a goal, Boyles.
The goal helped propel the Tar Heels to a crucial win, one the players knew they needed entering Sunday's match.
“There’s just some pressure coming in because if we win the rest of the games, we’ll make the ACC Tournament," Scarpa said. “So we're trying to obviously win out.”
