Heels rebound to win ACCs

After finishing 7-3 in the conference and third in the ACC during the regular season, the North Carolina women’s soccer team made its conference struggles a distant memory just minutes into the ACC Tournament Championship.

Jessica McDonald found Casey Nogueira, who beat her defender and with one foot inside the 16-yard box, slotted a shot into the back of the net just inside the left post past a seemingly paralyzed Florida State keeper.

Nogueira’s strike was the first in the Tar Heels’ 3-0 rout of the Seminoles on Sunday.

“The ball that Jess gave me was perfect, and if I didn’t finish, I probably would have been benched,” said Nogueira, who was named the ACC Tournament Most Valuable Player.

With the victory, the Tar Heels avenged their regular season 3-2 double overtime loss to Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla., on Oct. 22. The game also marked the 20th ACC Championship UNC has won after taking part in all 22 ACC title matches.

UNC’s second goal was its easiest of the day. Sophomore forward Courtney Jones had her legs taken out in the 13th minute by Seminole defender Toni Pressley while inside the box.

Dorrance tabbed reigning national player of the year Nogueira for the penalty kick, and she did not disappoint, finding the left side of the net again for her eighth goal of the season and UNC’s 3,000th goal as a program.

Senior forward Sterling Smith scored her first goal of the season in the 70th minute to cap the title match. After Tobin Heath displayed her ball handling skills at the top of the box, she passed to a streaking Smith, who buried the game’s third goal.

The Tar Heels racked up 26 shots and eight on goal Sunday. UNC’s defense allowed the Seminoles only eight shots, with keeper Ashlyn Harris making two saves. FSU, which had racked up 58 goals on the season, was held scoreless for only the fifth time in 21 matches this season.

FSU sophomore forward and ACC offensive player of the year Tiffany McCarty had only one shot on goal coming in the 21st minute, which bent directly into Harris’ grasp.

“Their front-runners are very fast, great players, so we had to respect them a little bit more today,” Harris said. “To be honest, they didn’t really get any opportunities.”

The ease with which UNC scored Sunday against the Seminoles was not representative of the entire weekend. Boston College stretched the Tar Heels to double overtime Friday in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament before UNC came away with the 1-0 victory.

The Eagles withstood 18 UNC shots in regulation and four more in the extra periods. Despite the onslaught of shots by the Tar Heels, it was an own goal by Boston College that sent UNC to the title game.

In the 103rd minute, Nogueira’s cross to McDonald in the box was deflected by Eagle Alyssa Pember, sending the ball past unsuspecting keeper Jillian Mastroianni.

Nogueira and the Tar Heels gave Mastroianni everything she could handle, with the senior forward accumulating ten shots with five of them on frame.

“I guess I’ve just been taking a lot more shots because I want to score more,” Nogueira said. “I’m sick of not scoring.”

Along with MVP Nogueira, Harris, Whitney Engen, Kristi Eveland and Heath were named to the All-Tournament team. The Tar Heels anticipate a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, which will begin next week.

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.