NC State
#6 North Carolina (ACC Tourn. First Round)
NC State Falls To #6 Heels in First Round
11/2/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Durham, NC (November 2, 2000) -- The NC State womens soccer team fell Thursday afternoon to the sixth-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels at Koskinen Stadium in the first round of the ACC Womens Soccer Tournament. The third-seeded Tar Heels improved to 14-3 with the victory, while the sixth-seeded Wolfpack dropped to 10-7-3.
The game began ominously for the Wolfpack as the Tar Heels got on the scoreboard just 1:45 into the match when NC State freshman defender Jaci Harper attempted a pass to goalkeeper Gretchen Lear, only to have it bounce past her into the corner of the Wolfpack net for an "own goal".
NC State, tied for seventh in the Southeast, quickly bounced back, however, when sophomore defender Erin Bushey headed in a corner kick from sophomore defender Lauren Bendahan for her first career goal at the 9:30 mark of the first half to knot the score at 1-1. Bendahans assist was also the first of her career. Nearly seven minutes later Bushey was lost for the remainder of the match after severely spraining her right ankle at the 16:08 mark.
North Carolina pushed the score to 2-1 in the first half when UNC forward Meredith Florance scored her first of two goals on an assist from Jordan Walker at the 24:44 mark. The score remained 2-1 until the 64th minute when Wolfpack senior forward Shannon Tully had a scoring opporunity breaking through the middle, only to have Tar Heel goalkeeper Jenni Branam knock the ball aside at the last instant. The Tar Heels then struck seconds later at the 64:59 mark on Florances second goal, assisted by Walker and Kalli Kamholz. North Carolina scored again at the 68:05 mark of the second half when freshman Alyssa Ramsey scored with assists from Kim Patrick and Maggie Tomecka. UNC capped their scoring at the 73:54 with a Walker tally from Kim Murphy.
NC State battled through injuries throughout the day. In addition to losing Bushey, freshman forward Carmen Israel missed part of the first half after coming out at the 29:51 mark with an anke sprain. In the second half, junior midfielder Kelly Blaggie also missed the final 21:25 of action after suffering an ankle injury.
"This is definitely a disappointing loss for us," said Wolfpack head coach Laura Kerrigan. "Erins goal was really big for us because it got us right back into the game really quickly after the first goal. Against UNC, you must withstand the attacks, and we did that for the first 65 minutes despite the injuries. We had some chances in the second half, but just couldnt convert. North Carolina got some goals later and that really turned the tide of the game."
North Carolina advances to play Florida State in the second round Friday at 6:00 p.m.
