Something had to give.
On one side of the field stood No. 4 North Carolina, which hadn’t allowed a goal in three straight games, and sat 10th in the country in goals-against average. On the other side of the field stood the undefeated No. 1 Virginia, which averages more than three goals per game.
And on Sunday, it was UNC’s defense that gave. They allowed two goals to the Cavaliers in the shutout loss, even though Virginia was without their leading point scorer in junior Morgan Brian, who played with the United States women’s national team Sunday against Australia.
The loss is only UNC’s second loss by more than one goal since the 1985 national title game against George Mason, 690 games ago. The other was a 4-1 loss to Notre Dame in 2010.
“It was hard for us, just all over the field, to stop them from playing those balls through and over the top,” said sophomore defender Hanna Gardner. “But I feel like as a back line we did a pretty decent job, held our own.”
The first goal came 13 minutes into the game, when Virginia sophomore forward Brittany Ratcliffe beat UNC sophomore goalie Bryane Heaberlin from five yards out off an assist from junior midfielder Danielle Colaprico. The ball trickled just inside the left post past the outstretched arms of Heaberlin and would prove to be all Virginia needed.
The insurance goal came in the 84th minute as UNC pressed for an equalizer. A turnover led to a breakaway for the Cavaliers, and Makenzy Doniak’s shot blasted past senior keeper Anna Sieloff into the left side of the net.
But UNC was also without their leading scorer Crystal Dunn who joined Brian on the national team. The Tar Heels could only muster four shots, tying the fewest in team history.
“Knowing that she’s not there is one of the last things we want to think about,” said junior defender Satara Murray. “We kind of have to get over that and focus on the game at hand.”
