The opening minutes of Sunday’s game against James Madison must have seemed like déjà vu to Crystal Dunn.
Just as she had against Jackson State on Friday, Dunn gathered a ball in the 18-yard box and finished clinically to give North Carolina a 1-0 lead.
Unlike Friday’s 5-0 rout of the Tigers, though, Dunn and the Tar Heels needed a pair of second-half goals to close out a 3-1 win against a stingy Dukes team in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Fetzer Field on Sunday.
“(JMU) fought us tooth and nail, and that (middle) part of the game they actually won,” UNC coach Anson Dorrance said.
“That was a wonderful performance for us in the second half, and I’m pleased that we won the game.”
Dunn, Kealia Ohai and Meghan Klingenberg gashed the Dukes down the sideline for much of the match, using their pace and agility to create opportunities in the Tar Heels’ offensive third.
Ohai’s seventh-minute streak down the right sideline set up Dunn’s opening tally, as the freshman forward weaved her way to the touchline before slotting the ball back to Dunn, who turned and fired into the upper right corner of the goal from six yards out.
But UNC failed to bury a critical second score, allowing JMU to hang around and take advantage of a Tar Heels defensive miscue midway through the first half.
North Carolina keeper Hannah Daly charged a bouncing long ball 35 yards from her goal, but her clear attempt deflected off Rachel Wood to JMU’s Lauren Wilson, who deposited the loose ball into the open net to tie the score.