No. 2-seed UNC women's soccer defeats SC Upstate, 8-0, in first round of NCAA tournament

The No. 2-seeded UNC women’s soccer team (17-5, 7-3 ACC) defeated USC Upstate (10-5-4, 5-1-2 Big South), 8-0, on Friday night at Dorrance Field in the first round of the NCAA tournament. 

Coming off a 3-2 loss to Florida State in the ACC championship, North Carolina looked to bounce back in a big way. The Tar Heels did. 

Junior midfielder Kate Faasse led the way for UNC with her second consecutive brace and fifth of the season to help North Carolina advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament. The Tar Heels outshot the Spartans 29-2 including 16 shots on goal. 

The Tar Heels got off to a slow start, only recording one shot in the first 15 minutes of the match. But when USC Upstate defender Catarina Dantas fouled junior forward Maddie Dahlien near the byline in the 17th minute, that was all North Carolina needed. 

Senior midfielder Bella Sember made no mistake from the penalty shot, firing the ball into the bottom-right corner to give UNC a 1-0 lead. The Tar Heels didn’t look back.

“Once the opportunity came, you know Dahlien, Dahlien takes people on and she creates all sorts of things, and even though she might not have the number of goals she is the reason why we have so many different goals and penalty shots and she was remarkable,” interim head coach Damon Nahas said. “Once that happened we saw the team kind of take a little bit of a breath and opportunities came from there.”

Just two minutes later, Faasse raced up the right wing, blowing past USC Upstate defenders. She lasered a shot from just outside the box, finding the back of the net.

“When I picked my head up I just saw her backtracking and not stepping, so I took the opportunity and took my last touch into space and saw the keeper kind of cheating so I found the back post,” Faasse said.

Not long after, in the 22nd minute, junior defender Tessa Dellarose found a cutting Faasse who slotted it past the USC Upstate keeper for her second goal of the first half, extending the Tar Heel lead to 3-0. 

In just a five minute span UNC tallied three goals. 

North Carolina kept the offensive pressure, ending the first half with 10 shots and a three goal lead. 

It was USC Upstate who had the first chance of the second half when forward Dara Russo was able to tip a shot on net in the 49th minute, but graduate goalkeeper Clare Gagne made a sprawling save, her second of the night, to keep the Spartans scoreless. 

Sophomore forward Olivia Thomas netted North Carolina’s fourth goal when she cut across the field and fired a cross-body shot that rolled through the goalkeeper's legs in the 60th minute. 

UNC added its fifth goal of the contest in the 67th minute on a header from first year defender Caitlin Mara, the first of her career, on a beautiful corner pass from Sember.

The Tar Heels added to their dominant lead when first-year defender Bella Gaetino chipped the ball from outside the box, hitting the far post before finding the back of the net. 

A little over two minutes later, first-year midfielder Linda Ullmark made no mistake on a cross from Dahlien. Ullmark netted another in the 78th minute, capitalizing on a Spartan turnover to extend UNC’s lead to 8-0. 

The Tar Heels will face the winner of Santa Clara and BYU in the second round next week at Dorrance Field. 

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