CARY — It was domination. There was no other way to put it.
Behind a high-tempo offense, the North Carolina women's soccer team (8-2, 4-0 ACC) defeated Syracuse, 7-0. The Tar Heels rebounded from a slight stumble early on, when they allowed two shots to the Orange in the first 11 minutes.
“I don’t think we started well," head coach Anson Dorrance said. "I think our rhythm was too slow. We were in a three- and a four-touch rhythm, which isn’t dynamic enough to beat teams in the ACC."
Syracuse wouldn’t take another shot for the next 33 minutes.
The No. 5 Tar Heels outworked the Orange (5-4-2, 0-2-1 ACC) for the entire game, beating them up the field on offense and allowing few scoring opportunities on defense. Redshirt first-year Taylor Otto helmed the defensive effort.
“I think we’ve been working a lot with communicating with the lines in front of us,” she said. “Especially us as a backline, just trying to get our attacking mids, our holding mids and our wings to areas where they can block off passes or lanes for them to get in behind us.”
Syracuse rarely possessed the ball on the offense, and the team had only four shots on goal for the entire game.
Syracuse’s apparent lack of effort on the offensive end helped the defense, too. After its offensive attack would fizzle out, the Syracuse forwards would back off rather than pressure UNC's defense as it cleared the ball to midfield.
North Carolina rarely gave up possession and used midfield control to generate constant scoring opportunities, outshooting Syracuse 26-8. Despite the effort from Syracuse goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan, who had 11 saves, North Carolina's sheer volume was overwhelming as it notched a season high in goals scored.
