No. 11 North Carolina’s Atlantic Coast Conference opener turned into a chase from the start, and the Tar Heels never quite caught all the way up.
Virginia struck first on Sunday afternoon at Karen Shelton Stadium, scoring off a penalty corner in the opening minute and setting the tone for a 2-1 win over UNC. The Tar Heels answered quickly, though, with Coco Courtwright setting up captain Charly Bruder for the equalizer five minutes later.
That was about as level as it got.
UNC (3-4, 0-1 ACC) spent much of the first half absorbing pressure and hanging on defensively, dealing with 10 of Virginia’s 12 shots before halftime. Then came the final stretch of the period, when the Cavaliers forced five straight penalty corners. Carolina blocked four of them, but the fifth slipped through as time expired, sending Virginia into the break ahead 2-1.
From there, the Tar Heels’ defense kept grinding. Carolina blanked Virginia in the third quarter, not allowing a single shot, and gave up only four in the fourth. Three of those shots were turned away by Carolina defenders while the team played without a keeper on the field, with Sofia Ferri and Morgan O’Donnell recording defensive saves.
UNC had a chance to swing momentum early in the third quarter when Reese Anetsberger put away what would have been her first goal of the season on a penalty corner, but the score was wiped out after review because of a foul in the circle.
The Tar Heels kept pressing late, and with a little over seven minutes left, head coach Erin Matson emptied the net. Carolina held the ball in Virginia’s end, generated four shots and two penalty corners, and pushed for the tying goal, but never found the finish.
North Carolina heads back into conference play next weekend with a West Coast trip to California, facing Stanford on Friday, Sept. 25, and Cal on Sunday, Sept. 27. That stretch opens the first of five straight road games.
In Other News...
Belichick Turns UNCs Clemson Collapse Into A Bigger Tar Heels Concern
Bill Belichick came away from North Carolinas loss to Clemson sounding less interested in the final score than in the late-game details that slipped through the Tar Heels fingers. Afterward, he pointed to missed chances on both sides of the ball in the closing minutes, gave Clemson credit for making the decisive plays, and framed the defeat as the kind of game his team has to learn from quickly if it wants to keep moving forward.
Belichick also walked through several of the turning points that shaped the finish, including a key fourth-and-one pass attempt and the penalties that helped stall UNCs effort. Those are the kinds of moments that tend to linger after a close loss, and for a Tar Heels team trying to tighten things up, the bigger concern may be how many of them came in the same stretch of the game. [Read more 🡒]
Jordon Hudson Keeps Adding To UNC's Biggest Off-Field Distraction
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Belichick has publicly denied reports that Hudson has been involved in managing the football program, making clear that she has no official role with the university. Even so, her continued visibility has kept her tied to one of the more unusual off-field storylines surrounding the Tar Heels, with the conversation around UNC stretching beyond wins and losses and into who is actually part of the programs orbit. [Read more 🡒]
Michael Malone's First UNC Team Faces Doubts Fans Won't Ignore
Michael Malone has spent the spring and summer trying to put his stamp on North Carolina, reshaping the roster since taking over in April with a mix of transfer additions and recruiting work. The early outlook is respectable but not exactly settling for a fan base that expects more, with ESPN slotting the Tar Heels fifth in the ACC and projecting a wide range of outcomes that starts with 28 wins and a Sweet 16 run.
There is enough talent to make the conversation interesting, with transfers Terrence Brown and Neoklis Avdalas joining returnee Jarin Stevenson and freshman Maximo Adams as players expected to help offensively. Still, the projection leaves plenty of room for skepticism, and for UNC the bigger question is whether Malone can turn a newly built roster into something that looks like a true contender before the season starts answering it for him. [Read more 🡒]