The No. 3 North Carolina women’s soccer team (2-0, 0-0 ACC) won 1-0 over No. 13 Arkansas (0-1, 0-0 SEC) on Sunday after an extra time golden goal from sophomore Sam Meza.
What happened?
The Tar Heels created scoring opportunities out of the gates, earning two corners in the opening 10 minutes of play. UNC had success getting into the box through the early part of the match, whipping crosses into dangerous areas and threatening to score. Still, the Tar Heels couldn’t quite connect and maintained a 0-0 draw before making their first substitution in the 17th minute.
In the 23rd minute, Arkansas forced a save from North Carolina senior goalkeeper Claudia Dickey, with the Razorbacks’ Jessica De Filippo teeing one off right in front of the net, but UNC marched right back down the field and earned another corner.
In the 31st minute, the Tar Heels had their best opportunity of the afternoon to that point — with juniors Maggie Pierce and Aleigh Gambone missing shooting wide of the posts on consecutive opportunities in the box.
In the final minutes of the opening frame, the Tar Heels struggled to play the ball out of the back with Arkansas pressing hard in UNC’s defending third. Still, when North Carolina was able to break through the Razorbacks’ press, they continued to have success creating opportunities — earning a shot and corner in the 39th minute.
As the whistle went off to signal halftime, the two sides remained tied, 0-0, despite a quick pace of play and eight combined shots between them.
UNC started the second half with its foot pressed on the gas, notching four shots in dangerous territory before the 50th minute.
But the Tar Heels best opportunity in the first hour came by way of a shot from Emily Colton in the 59th minute, where she broke through Arkansas’ defense and stared down a net with just the Razorbacks’ keeper in her way before firing the shot wide of the post.
