Injury-riddled Tar Heels fall to Texas A&M in second round of NCAA Tournament

For the fifth time this season, the North Carolina women's soccer team suffered a loss. 

It wasn’t just a heartbreaking 1-0 defeat — UNC's fifth of the season — to Texas A&M in the second round of the NCAA Tournament that resulted in the campaign ending on a sour note, but also an injury to senior Summer Green.

Green’s injury — which occurred in the 13th minute of the match — marked the fifth ACL tear for a UNC player this season, as the Tar Heels were plagued with injuries down the stretch.

With injuries came on-field struggles for the Tar Heels.

Before first-year Dorian Bailey tore her ACL in an overtime loss to Louisville on Oct. 8, the Tar Heels were undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the country.

After Bailey’s injury, midfielders Darcy McFarlane, Joanna Boyles and Cameron Castleberry joined her on the sideline with ACL tears prior to Friday's game against the Aggies.

The hobbled Tar Heels dropped three more games after the Louisville match, and Green’s injury against Texas A&M only added to the difficulty of avoiding a fifth loss.

After Green left the game, the Tar Heels turned the ball over in the 28th minute and conceded their first goal of the NCAA Tournament. 

Without the help of Green, an experienced attacker who tallied three shots in limited action on Friday, North Carolina was unable to overcome the early deficit.

While the Tar Heels had scoring opportunities, they could not find the back of the net, and UNC ultimately saw its national title run come to an end at the hands of the Aggies.

Quotable

“It hurts, because these are just great kids. It’s just horrifying for us to see five of our girls go down with the same injury. It’s the incredible hazard of a girl trying to change direction.” — Coach Anson Dorrance on his team’s injury-plagued season.

Notable

UNC will lose five seniors heading into the 2016 season, all of whom were starters for the Tar Heels this season. UNC will need to replace key contributors all over the field — at goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and forward.

Three numbers that matter

3: The loss to Texas A&M marked just the third time the Tar Heels failed to score in a game this season. UNC dropped all three of those matches.

360: To end the season, the Tar Heels scored just one first-half goal in their final 360 minutes of first-half play.

6: After dominating early in the season, the UNC defense allowed at least one goal in six of its final nine games.

@_Brohammed

sports@dailytarheel.com