Late-game goal key for UNC women's soccer

Prior to the North Carolina women’s soccer team’s Thursday night match with Florida State, five of the past eight games between the two teams were overtime decisions.

But Thursday night at Fetzer Field, the No.2 Tar Heels didn’t need any extra minutes to put away No. 7 FSU, knocking down the conference-leading Seminoles 1-0.

With fewer than three and a half minutes to go in the game and the match still scoreless, junior Courtney Jones shot the ball toward the post, hitting midfielder Ranee Premji, who got her first career and game-winning goal.

It might have been Premji’s first score of the season, but it was a long time coming for the aggressive sophomore.

“She always keeps the ball, and she turns well,” Jones said. “She’s like this little thing that runs around and causes problems for every other team.”

The game-long stalemate was a defensive battle for both squads, as both teams combined for just 16 shots in the match. Despite the Tar Heels outshooting the Seminoles 6-1 in the first half, missed opportunity plagued them early in the game.

UNC’s best chance to score in the first half came in the 15th minute when leading scorer Kealia Ohai trapped the ball on the left sideline and hustled past three FSU defenders. The freshman forward used fancy footwork to cross it to Crystal Dunn, but the rookie midfielder wasn’t able to get a leg on it.

Ten minutes later Dunn, who had the game-winning goal in overtime against Virginia last Sunday, settled the ball on the left side and attempted a cross to Ohai. Again, the two were unable to connect.

Despite snatching a win against a talented Seminole squad, UNC coach Anson Dorrance was disappointed with his team’s execution.

“The issue we reviewed with them was that we were certainly the better team, but we had to have more composure in our strike for goal and also our final pass,” Dorrance said. “I think we have to play with a little bit more confidence.”

Florida State slowed the pace of the game in the second half, and Jones had the first shot of the half for the Tar Heels in the 60th minute.

Dorrance is no stranger to Florida State’s invasive style. One of UNC’s three losses in the 2009 season came from coach Mark Krikorian’s Seminoles.

“I never know what Mark’s going to do,” Dorrance said. “All I knew was that he’d figure out a way to make it hard for us, and he did.”

UNC is now 23-2-2 against Florida State, who dropped to 4-1 in the conference. UNC (12-1-1, 4-1) is tied for third place in the conference with the Seminoles, behind Wake Forest and Maryland.

Injury was a continued problem for the Tar Heels, who went into the matchup with the Seminoles down three starters. And the situation went from bad to worse when senior and defensive leader Rachel Givan went down with a knee injury in the first half.

Having to sideline players might have thrown Dorrance for a loop, but Premji proved that success is still the main focus for the banged up Tar Heels.

“I’m filling in for Ali Hawkins and that’s a big role to fill,” Premji said. “We just play for each other. It doesn’t really matter who’s out there on the field, we just get the job done.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.