The North Carolina women’s soccer team advanced to the next round of the NCAA Tournament with a 3-1 win over Georgia at Dorrance Field on Thursday evening.
What happened?
The Tar Heels deployed a 3-1-4-2 formation to start the match, which aimed to create more offensive opportunities. Although UNC had only a trip of defenders locking down the back line, the Tar Heels withstood the Bulldogs’ creativity – especially that coming from star forward Dani Murguia – to keep the game scoreless for the first 15 minutes.
North Carolina’s first good scoring chance came in the 18th minute when redshirt first-year forward Ally Sentnor led a counter attack and launched a low shot from distance that rolled just left of the post.
The Tar Heels’ midfield press forced a number of giveaways, granting the team frequent possession deep in the attacking third. In the 23rd minute, UNC scored its first goal of the night when Sentnor received a pass outside the top of the box, pivoted around the Georgia defender and took several dribbles before rifling a strike into the corner of the net to give her team a 1-0 lead.
Attempting to extend the lead, the Tar Heels continued their midfield-dominated formation, which allowed them to break down the defense with its setup passing and through ball chances. Although the team would not score for the remainder of the half, the Tar Heels maintained control with a 5-2 shot advantage heading into the break.
North Carolina went to work quickly in the second half. Just over five minutes in, junior forward Avery Patterson approached the box and played a pass back to Talia DellaPeruta. The junior midfielder struck a rolling shot to the left corner that skidded past the diving hand of Georgia goalkeeper Jordan Brown to push the Tar Heels’ lead to two goals.
Several minutes later, senior forward Isabel Cox worked her way into the open field, and with the defense anticipating a through ball to the right wing, Cox pushed a pass behind the middle of the Bulldogs’ back line, and Sentnor fired a left-footed strike into the net for her second goal of the night.
The Tar Heels' back line was solid for the rest of the night, though an unassisted goal from Georgia's Madison Haugen gave the Bulldogs a goal with just over 13 minutes remaining. Georgia nearly added another goal a minute later, but a low attempt rolled past redshirt first-year goalkeeper Emmie Allen and out of bounds for a goal kick.
