It was déjà vu this weekend for the North Carolina women’s soccer team, as it returned to the site of last year’s national championship win for a pair of tournament matchups in Aggie Stadium.
It may be a new season, but the result was still the same. The Tar Heels cruised in the season-opening tournament with matching 3-0 wins against No. 8 Texas A&M and Michigan State.
“We kind of proved ourselves that we are still a team that needs to be reckoned with,” forward Alyssa Rich said. “We have so much fight left in us. We may be young, but we’re still a challenge.”
Rich scored the first goal in Sunday’s matchup against the Spartans in the fifth minute when she tapped in junior forward Courtney Jones’ pass in front of the goal.
Senior Meghan Klingenberg struck first against the Aggies on Friday less than three minutes into the game, setting the pace for the shutout victory.
UNC’s three starting seniors contributed with either a score or an assist against Texas A&M.
“We were able to settle in after that and play our game,” Klingenberg said. “I think that it was really good that we were able to score early so you could get a sense of ‘okay, we’re good.’”
Six different Tar Heels scored North Carolina’s six total goals this weekend, a testament to the depth of the offense. Defensively, head coach Anson Dorrance was quick to praise the performance of freshman goalie Anna Sieloff, who played more than 160 minutes without allowing a goal.
“It really felt like Anna’s performance was wonderful not only for a freshman goalkeeper but for a new defense, to have a shutout against that caliber of team,” Dorrance said. “For a young defense to do so well, I was absolutely ecstatic.”
