The No. 1 North Carolina women's soccer team (6-0, 6-0 ACC) kept its undefeated record with a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Boston College (0-5, 0-5) on Sunday.
What happened?
After a slow start, North Carolina’s relentless offensive attack kept the Eagles on their heels for the majority of the match with 18 total shots and 7 corner kicks. North Carolina scored the first three goals of the game, with sophomore Isabel Cox, junior Brianna Pinto and first-year Talia Dellaperuta, giving the Tar Heels a commanding 3-0 lead. Boston College struck back in the 84th minute with a goal from Jenna Bike. Still, UNC came away with a 3-1 victory after holding off a late comeback attempt from the Eagles.
The Tar Heels were a little sloppy around the goal, with just 10 of their 18 shots on target — but UNC’s stellar defense made up for it — allowing just 3 shots on goal from Boston College. The Eagles came out aggressive early, to be expected from a team facing the top-ranked group in the country, but UNC's elite defense held them out of scoring position.
Who stood out?
Three Tar Heels helped the team ride the wave to victory in Chestnut Hill. Cox finished with two shots on goal, with one of them finding the back of the net. Pinto accounted for two goals Sunday with a goal of her own, to go along with a key assist. Last, but not least, Dellaperuta tallied two shots on goal, with one of the two sneaking past the Boston College keeper.
When was it decided?
Cox matched the effort of the Eagles early and was all over the place Sunday, scoring her first goal of the season 15 minutes into the first half, after out running the Boston College defense and rebounding her own shot off the keeper with a header to the center of the goal. Pinto struck next with her third goal of the season right before half, burying the ball into the left corner off of an assist from sophomore Julia Dorsey inside the eighteen. Dellaperuta finished the Tar Heels’ scoring effort after she buried a sharp strike into the bottom left corner of the goal off of a beautiful sequence of passing by the UNC attack nine minutes into the second half. With the regulars coming up big, head coach Anson Dorrance had the rare opportunity to give everyone some playing time, which he said doesn’t come too often at this level.
“I really enjoyed the game, because I got to play the roster and obviously it’s very rare in the ACC for you to play your entire roster during an away trip," Dorrance said. “We had that chance and it left us a little bit vulnerable, and that allowed Boston College to get their goal, but I wouldn’t trade it for letting the kids who don't have a chance to play much get the opportunity to play.”
