The No. 4 North Carolina women’s soccer team dominated the stat sheet but was unable to make it count in its second straight overtime match. The team fell, 2-1, to underdog Central Florida on a wet and muggy Friday night in Orlando.
What happened?
Things couldn’t have gotten off to a better start for the Tar Heels (1-1), as junior midfielder Dorian Bailey scored on a fine strike from long distance in the third minute to get them out to a quick 1-0 lead.
The fast start, however, was short lived. UCF quickly grew back into the match, and began to control the play as the first half wore on. Before long, the Knights got their equalizer, with Dina Orschmann tapping in a rebound in the 13th minute to level the score at 1-1.
UCF had more chances throughout the first half, but North Carolina’s defense, anchored at the back by the England-born first-year Lotte Wubben-Moy, held firm to keep the score level heading into halftime.
“UCF completely disemboweled us (in the first half),” head coach Anson Dorrance said. “We scored early, but we lost a sense of ourselves and they took over for much of the first half.”
UNC finally began to find its rhythm after the break, regaining control of possession and testing the UCF goalkeeper on several occasions. Despite their statistical dominance, however, the Tar Heels couldn’t break through, and the score remained tied going into overtime.
The first overtime period contained more of the same, with North Carolina failing to take several chances that fell to it, leaving the score locked at 1-1 heading into the second overtime period.
Then, in the 105th minute, UCF found a winner with Christine Creighton slotting past UNC goalkeeper Samantha Leshnak to snatch the golden-goal upset win for the Knights.
