During the course of the season, the No. 5 North Carolina women’s soccer team has received remarkable help from its bench players, who have tallied 12 of the team’s 23 goals on the year.
Thursday was no different, as freshman substitute Annie Kingman converted a scoring chance in the 63rd minute of UNC’s (10-2-2, 7-0-1 ACC) 1-1 tie against No. 2 Florida State (14-1-1, 7-0-1 ACC).
Kingman fired a left-footed strike into the bottom right corner of the net after receiving a pass from sophomore Sarah Ashley Firstenburg, who played a give-and-go with junior Summer Green outside the Florida State box.
Firstenburg and Green were subbed in alongside Kingman 29 seconds before the freshman knotted the score at one a piece. This instant offense has been the key for UNC, which is currently undefeated in ACC play.
“All of us who don’t start the game, we talk about really coming on and making a difference,” said Kingman, who scored her second goal of the season in the tie.
“Part of the reason we sub so much and rotate players through is to drive at them and go hard at them all game and wear them out. We just try to raise the level a little bit.”
And it’s not just the same players who have contributed off of the pine each game. Green, a regular starter for UNC, opened Thursday’s game on the sidelines. Once she and a handful of other players took the field, a new energy and charisma took over, something that Green said the team has tried to do all year.
“In practice, every single player has been working hard, and I’m just so honored to play with this team,” she said. “Half of our goals are coming from our starters and half are coming from our reserves. That shows our ability to play well even when we have key players missing.”
