Junior defender Lotte Wubben-Moy had the first multi-goal game of her career as the No. 1-seeded North Carolina women’s soccer team beat No. 8 Notre Dame, 3-0, in a Sunday night ACC quarterfinal.
The Tar Heels (17-1-1) scored all three of their goals in the second half after a scoreless first against the Fighting Irish (10-7-2). With the win — their first of the postseason — they’ll play N.C. State in the ACC semifinals Friday in Cary.
What happened?
In a mostly uneventful first 45 minutes, North Carolina logged five shots, including three headers, and four corners to no avail. Notre Dame got off just one shot against a stout UNC defense and nearly converted on it — but goalie Claudia Dickey saved the 12th-minute attempt from Sammi Fisher.
Head coach Anson Dorrance sent a mass substitution late in the first half, and the fresh-legged lineup threatened a few times on offense. That gave UNC a bit of momentum coming out of a 0-0 half.
And on a 52nd-minute attack, the Tar Heels’ offense finally struck.
Passes from Brianna Pinto and Emily Fox set up Wubben-Moy with a subtle opening just inside the right corner of the penalty box. The junior defender ripped a contested shot that Notre Dame goalie Brooke Littman got a piece of — but it rolled past her and into the back left corner of the goal. Seven minutes into the second half, the top-seeded Tar Heels had a lead.
With that cushion, UNC kept pressing on offense. It paid dividends in 74th minute. After Lois Joel sent in a corner kick, a few deflections landed the ball right in front of forward Ru Mucherera, who booted home a second goal for her team.
About 10 minutes later, Fox, who’d assisted on Wubben-Moy’s first goal, set her teammate up perfectly for a second. After Fox broke past her defender and drew a foul in the box, Wubben-Moy sank an 85th-minute penalty kick to finalize UNC’s win.
