UNC women's soccer scores nine goals in two weekend wins

With about 21 minutes left in the first half of North Carolina’s 5-0 win Sunday against San Diego, UNC — despite having created a number of chances and dominating possession — sat in a scoreless tie.

Then, junior defender Meg Morris received a chested ball from a teammate, slipped it to freshman striker Summer Green and watched as Green composed herself with a couple touches and powered a left-footed shot past the San Diego keeper.

Led by Green’s four goals and a free-flowing, possession-oriented style of play, No. 18 UNC (4-1-1) won its two games at the Duke Nike Classic this weekend in Durham, beating No. 12 Marquette (3-2-1) 4-0 on Friday before routing San Diego (3-5-0) on Sunday.

Green’s first goal exemplified what UNC lacked when Green attended the U.S. U-17 national team training camp earlier this season and showed teammates what they will have to replace when she misses the next seven games for the U-17 World Cup.

“Every kid we put in seems to be working hard for her teammates,” head coach Anson Dorrance said after Friday’s match.

“A lot of good possession all over the field … That’s a good win against a top-10 team,” he said. “That has to help us in all kinds of respects.”

Freshman midfielder Paige Nielsen scored the first goal against the Golden Eagles — her first of the season — showing she could take on the role of first-year scoring threat in Green’s absence.

“Paige Nielsen has all kinds of promise,” Dorrance said. “She’s creative, she’s smart, she knows the game. I think as she matures and her discipline improves she can be a significant contributor.

Some of the stuff we see her doing in practice is just so advanced.”
If Friday’s win was dominating, then Sunday’s was nothing short of a clinic.

UNC again held the lion’s share of the possession and fashioned so many goal-scoring chances that it was surprising that it only held a 1-0 lead at halftime.

Dorrance said that there’s a line that separates good teams from great ones — good teams can dominate a game, but great ones control the game and put away the opponent. He said his team crossed that line at points in the second half, when it scored four goals that sealed the result.

Morris, meanwhile, said the biggest takeaway from the weekend was that the team seemed to find an offensive identity.

“We’re scoring goals in a variety of ways,” she said. “We’re going at teams, swarming them.”

It would be easy to overlook UNC’s defense because of the team’s nine-goal tour de force this weekend, but the back line has not allowed a goal since Aug. 17 at Portland.

It has endured two significant setbacks — injuries to senior Megan Brigman in the Portland game and to sophomore Caitlin Ball on Friday — yet is riding a streak of five straight shutouts.

“We do feel a bit unlucky, but there have been players stepping up,” Morris said, mentioning freshmen Hanna Gardner and Katie Bowen, whom Dorrance called “shockingly sophisticated.”

But after a weekend when so many things seemed to go right and the team appeared to be finding an offensive rhythm, UNC has to adjust again: Green leaves for the U-17 team Tuesday.

“It’s tough — both of these teams and all these girls are like my family,” Green said. “It’s harder leaving than coming back.”

Contact the desk editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.