The No. 3 North Carolina women's soccer team (9-3, 2-2 ACC) was upset by Virginia Tech (9-2-1, 3-1 ACC), 2-1, in a rainy matchup in Blacksburg on Saturday night.
What happened?
The Tar Heels waited no time to get its offense started, with two good looking shots from redshirt first-year forward Ally Sentnor coming in the first 90 seconds.
While UNC commanded possession for much of the opening minutes, Virginia Tech had a threatening counter as forward Tori Powell dribbled deep in to the attacking third, but the ball was called by UNC center backs Tori Hansen and Julia Dorsey.
Soon after, Sentnor nearly scored the first goal of the game, sneaking behind Hokies goalkeeper Lauren Hargrove to boot the ball into the back of the net, but the score was nullified by an offsides call.
UNC continued to dominate possession time, sending five straight shots at the goal until senior midfielder Libby Moore netted a high arching shot from outside the 18-yard box in the 35th minute.
The Hokies were able to find some quality runs at the goal throughout the rest of half, but the back line held strong and cleared all of Virginia Tech's counters to keep the 1-0 lead going into the break.
The start of the second half looked similar to the first, but in the 55th minute Virginia Tech had its best chance yet for the equalizer. The Hokies forced a turnover off Dorsey and got an open shot from the right wing, forward Emmalee McCarter sending the ball straight into the arms of UNC goalkeeper Emmie Allen.
In the 73rd minute, Virginia Tech found the shot it was looking for. From the left side of the goal, Gabby Johnson sent a perfectly weighted through ball to reserve forward Taylor Bryan, who finished the shot off her left foot.
