No. 2 seed UNC women's soccer dominates Minnesota, 3-0, to advance to NCAA quarterfinals

The No. 2-seeded UNC women’s soccer team (19-5, 7-3 ACC) dominated No. 6-seeded Minnesota (14-5-3, 6-3-2 Big 10), 3-0, on Sunday evening at Dorrance Field in the third round of the NCAA tournament. 

After a slow start against Santa Clara, the Tar Heels came out swinging in the first half of this match. The Tar Heels battled Minnesota's aggressive defensive strategy with their offensive pace and ball movement. North Carolina was led by sophomore midfielder Evelyn Shores, who recorded her first goal and assist of the season to help the Tar Heels dominate the Gophers on the offensive end.

“The mentality of our girls is fantastic,” interim head coach Damon Nahas said. “There were some spurts where it was really amazing today, and there were some spurts where you just had to grind through, and I thought we did that.”

North Carolina started the match aggressive on the defensive end, but couldn’t manage a cohesive possession offensively. The Tar Heels were able to maintain offensive movement resulting in open shot attempts in the first few minutes, but were stopped short by foul trouble and offensive disconnect.

In the seventh minute, sophomore forward Olivia Thomas drove with momentum up the center for a swift kick that veered just outside the left post. A few close calls ensued before the Tar Heels found their offensive groove about fifteen minutes into the first half.

The Tar Heels got on the board in the 16th minute thanks to first-year midfielder Linda Ullmark’s sixth goal of the season. Junior forward Maddie Dahlien shifted to juke her defender, rocketed a pass across the field, which bounced around to before falling to Ullmark, who punched the ball into the center of the net for her sixth goal of the season. North Carolina led, 1-0.

On the ensuing possessions, Dahlien and midfielder Bella Sember released attempts that overshot the posts just nearly with a clear path ahead. 

In the 29th minute, Minnesota graduate midfielder Sophia Romine snuck in a kick from the left that bounced off of North Carolina’s back line to keep the Gophers scoreless. 

With two minutes remaining in the first half, the Tar Heels broke through once again when first-year defender Aven Alvarez rocketed a cross pass across from the left to sophomore midfielder Evelyn Shores for her first goal of the season.

“Tonight gave me a lot of confidence, and I couldn’t have done it without this team," Shores said.

Alvarez’s first assist and Shores’ first goal of the season gave North Carolina a two goal advantage over the Gophers heading into the locker room.

Dahlien swiped a cross pass across the center to Shores, who quickly tapped the ball to Thomas, whose direct shot gave the Tar Heels a 3-0 lead in the 56th minute.

The Tar Heels amped up their defensive intensity in the second half, holding Minnesota to one shot and shot on goal in the second half.

In the 68th minute, Minnesota goalkeeper Sarah Martin extended herself to the right for a valiant save to block an elusive shot by junior defender Tessa Dellarose. 

The Gophers were unable to stage an offensive comeback in the final minutes, keeping North Carolina’s NCAA tournament run alive.

“We couldn’t be peaking at a better time, we just got to keep it rolling," Dahlien said. "One game at a time, one half at a time. I think we can really build off that going on into the next game.”

The Tar Heels will face the winner of No. 4-seeded Penn State and No. 8-seeded Vanderbilt in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament on Friday at 5 or 7:30 p.m. back at Dorrance Field.

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