North Carolina moves onto ACC Championship semifinals after 1-0 win over Hokies

In their first match of the 2020 ACC Women’s Soccer Championship, the No. 2 North Carolina Tar Heels (10-0, 8-0 ACC) were able to send the No. 7 Virginia Tech Hokies (5-8, 4-4 ACC) back to Blacksburg, defeating them by a score of 1-0.

What happened?

The first exciting moment of the game came not even three minutes in, when first-year midfielder Talia DellaPeruta went on a long run outside the box that ended with a shot sailing over the crossbar. Virginia Tech responded with a shot of its own a few minutes later, which comfortably fell into the arms of junior goalkeeper Claudia Dickey.

The chances kept coming for the Tar Heels, including a staggering eight corner kicks in just over eight minutes, but they couldn’t seem to find the back of the net. With about 20 minutes left in the first half, the Hokies earned a corner of their own, sending a ball sailing across goal before going out, untouched, for a goal kick.

This goal kicked jump-started a quick build-up play for the Tar Heels. Soon enough, senior defender Emily Fox got the ball to the outside left of the Hokies’ box. She cut out left, before sending a low cross in that was deftly headed into the bottom-left corner of goal by junior midfielder Brianna Pinto. As the halftime whistle sounded, that scoreline remained the same: UNC one, Hokies nil.

The second half got off to a quick start for the Tar Heels. Just over a minute in, a cross into the box found the head of sophomore striker Isabel Cox, whose header shot up into the air. A Pinto header off the rebound seemed to double UNC’s lead, but she was ruled off-sides. UNC’s next good chance, a 63rd-minute cross from the right, was also met by Pinto’s head, with the shot barely missing the left goalpost.

Headed shots continued to be the Tar Heels’ most potent weapon. With 15 minutes left in the half, sophomore striker Izzy Brown had a crossed ball rocketed towards her. Her header went wide right, but UNC’s attack didn’t let up and kept playing just outside Virginia Tech’s box. The Tar Heels’ next chance was another cross swung onto the forehead of Cox, who was ruled off-sides.

Though the last few minutes of the game did feature some roughhousing, including a yellow card to Virginia Tech’s Caroline Cipolla and a hard foul on the Hokies’ keeper by Cox, the score didn’t change, and the Tar Heels ran out 1-0 winners.

Who stood out? 

Pinto was UNC’s most important attacking threat, scoring UNC’s only goal, while also notching the team’s only shot on goal and leading the team in shots with four. Dellaperuta also stood out thanks to her creative play style, with her daunting run outside the box in the first minutes of the match helping to spark UNC’s attack. Her three shots were good for the second-highest tally on the team that night.

When was it decided?

Pinto’s first-half header proved to be the winning goal. Though UNC did have a plethora of opportunities to score another goal — the team totaled 17 shots and 15 corner kicks on the night — none of them proved successful. It didn’t really matter, though, since the Hokies weren’t able to get so much as one shot off in the second half.

Why does it matter?

This win earned the Tar Heels a spot in the semifinals of the tournament. It also extended their all-time record against the Hokies to 20-2-0. Prior to this match, Virginia Tech had not scored against the Tar Heels since 2015, and tonight saw that streak extended.

When do they play next?

The Tar Heels’ next match is the ACC Tournament semifinals at WakeMed Soccer Park on November 13th at 8 p.m., where they will face either the No. 3 Virginia Cavaliers or the No. 6 Louisville Cardinals.

@pjdaman12

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