UNC's women's soccer team rebounds from first loss of the season with win against Virginia Tech

Coming off a loss to Boston College — its first in 21 games — the North Carolina women’s soccer team hosted Virginia Tech on Sunday at Fetzer Field for its second conference matchup of the season.

With their narrow 2-1 victory against the Hokies, the No. 1 Tar Heels (9-1-1, 1-1 ACC) proved that the days of easy victories and lopsided scores might be a thing of the past.

And with youth and injury keeping UNC coach Anson Dorrance on his toes, he is not one bit surprised.

“When you graduate most of your starting lineup and the few starters that return are injured, if we’re playing a local rec team, we’re going to be challenged,” Dorrance said.

Down three starters and visibly unsettled, UNC struggled out of the gate, and the Hokies (6-5, 0-2) wasted no time taking advantage of their opponent’s weakened state.

In the 15th minute, Virginia Tech leapt to a lead when forward Marika Gray delivered the Hokies’ first and only shot on goal of the half to the upper right corner of the net from 30 yards out.

The aggressive Hokies sat on the 1-0 lead for 30 minutes as the Tar Heels struggled to keep possession.

With just 33 seconds left in the first half, UNC got a much-needed boost in the form of a tying goal from veteran midfielder Meghan Klingenberg. The Pennsylvania native settled a deflected ball in the box and sent it to the left-hand corner from 10 yards out.

“I really think that we needed somebody, anybody to score,” Klingenberg said.

“To get one before the half was good because we could go into the half knowing that we have an even playing field and knowing that we could come out and impose our will.”

UNC struggled to complete passes and was limited to just six shots on goal in the first half, but Klingenberg, a four-year starter for the Tar Heels, played a dominant role in keeping North Carolina’s head above water throughout the game.

And during recent unnerving moments, the role has put Dorrance’s mind at ease.

“There’s just a secure feeling knowing that a certain part of the field will always be dominated by the Tar Heels,” Dorrance said. “And that’s basically the areas that Meghan covers.”

The second half saw a much improved offensive effort by the Tar Heels, and North Carolina fired off three shots in a span of ten minutes in an attempt to take its first lead since the 70th minute of Thursday’s Boston College game.

In the 68th minute, sophomore Amber Brooks used quick footwork to dodge the Hokies in the midfield and sent the ball to junior Brittani Bartok.

The 5-foot-7-inch forward delivered it to a speeding Kealia Ohai, who inched past the Hokie goalie and finished into the left side of the net from an angle for UNC’s game-winning goal. The score was Ohai’s sixth goal of her freshman campaign.

With a lead finally in tow, the Tar Heels turned the tables and switched to a defensive-heavy formation to run down the clock. In the final 22:34 of the game, UNC and Virginia Tech had just one shot each.

North Carolina dominated the stats, outshooting the Hokies 11-2 and holding an 11-1 advantage in corner kicks.

The scrappiness of the unranked Virginia Tech team proved that with eight consecutive ACC matchups ahead, the Tar Heels are looking at a tough road.

But it’s one that rookie Ohai can’t wait to travel.

“We like that,” Ohai said. “We love big games. We love being down so that we can learn to work through that and learn to not panic.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.