In a top-10 matchup, the No. 6 North Carolina women’s soccer team (4-2) traveled to Pennsylvania on Thursday to take on No. 5 Penn State (4-1). Although the Tar Heels out-possessed the Nittany Lions, an early goal for PSU turned out to be the only statistic that mattered.
The game ended in a 1-0 Nittany Lion victory.
What happened?
Penn State came barreling out of the gates to start the game. After controlling possession for the first five minutes, its efforts paid off quickly. A ball was slotted through the Tar Heel defense, leading to an easy goal for PSU in the seventh minute.
Shortly after the goal, the Tar Heels gathered themselves and took control of the game. Despite dominating play, though, UNC was unable to get any shots on goal in the first half. There were many opportunities, including a 20-yard bullet from first-year Alessia Russo, but nothing was on frame. The game went to the half with a score of 1-0 in Penn State’s favor.
It was a role reversal to start the second half. UNC came bolting out of the gates, garnering multiple scoring opportunities right away. After not recording a single shot on goal in the first half, North Carolina had one on frame in the first two minutes of the second half.
Unfortunately for the Tar Heels, it was more of the same in the second half — possession domination and beautiful balls into the box, but nothing to show for it. Although there were more shots in the second half (four compared to two in the first half), nothing could find the back of the net.
At the final whistle, UNC’s body language showed it all — the players knew they dominated possession for a majority of the game, they just couldn’t score any goals to show it. The game ended in a 1-0 Penn State win.
Who stood out?
