Terrapins topple Tar Heels

Heading into Thursday night’s ACC opener against Maryland, the North Carolina women’s soccer team had shut out five straight opponents and not allowed a goal in 596 minutes of play.

But with 4:47 left to go in the first half, Maryland junior forward Alex Reed scored on assists from Alexis Prior-Brown and Cory Ryan, giving the Terrapins a 1-0 lead and resetting the clock of the Tar Heels’ defense.

Maryland added another goal in the 55th minute, and the Terrapins (5-2-1) beat No. 12 UNC 2-1 in College Park, Md.

Redshirt senior captain Maria Lubrano scored UNC’s lone goal — a penalty kick in the 78th minute — but the Tar Heels ultimately fell to Maryland for the third time in the past three seasons.

“I thought in the first half we didn’t do a really good job creating scoring chances. We came out playing a 4-2-3-1 formation that didn’t allow us to got enough players forward,” coach Anson Dorrance said.

“We switched to our traditional 1-3-4-3 and created many chances, so I was very pleased with our play in the second half, but not so much how we did in the first. “

The game marked the return of Kealia Ohai, Crystal Dunn and Bryane Heaberlin who played for the gold medal-winning United States in the U-20 World Cup.

But their success abroad failed to translate to Thursday’s game.

Dunn and Ohai took a combined total of six shots, only one of which was on goal.

UNC outshot Maryland 14-12, but only three were on goal, compared to Maryland’s six.

“I love having all of them back. Obviously we’re a better team with them out there for us, and this performance doesn’t negatively reflect on them at all,” Dorrance said. “They’re wonderful players who are a handful to play against, and we love having them back in our lineup.”

For Lubrano, having her teammates back took some time to get used to.

And unfortunately for UNC, Maryland took advantage of it.

“Tonight, especially in the first half, we were on a bit of a learning curve with having them back and having to get accustomed to playing with them again. Unfortunately it took 45 minutes to get used to it, but in the second half it was if they never left,” Lubrano said.

“Defensively, I think we played solid. There were just a few glitches, and unfortunately two of them ended up in goals for Maryland.”

Dorrance, however, sees the defeat as only a minor setback as he looks forward to facing the rest of the team’s schedule, which continues with No. 8 Virginia on Sunday.

“We have a lot of games left and time to prove ourselves. This game only puts us one step back with many opportunities ahead to demonstrate that we can compete favorably in the conference,” Dorrance said. “I’m looking forward to, certainly, the Virginia game on Sunday and also the rest of a very good conference schedule.”

Contact the desk editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.