NC State
North Carolina (ACC Tourn. First Round)
Tar Heel Header Sinks Wolfpack, 1-0
11/8/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Nov. 8, 2001
Winston-Salem, N.C.- Maggie Tomecka's header at the 25:30 mark of the first half lifted the top-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels over the NC State Wolfpack in the first round of the ACC Women's Soccer Tournament at Wake Forest University. The Tar Heels improve to 17-0 with the win, while the Wolfpack women fall to 8-10 overall.
The 1-0 outcome was only the third time that the Tar Heels have been held to one goal in the 14-year history of the ACC Tournament. One of those matches was a 1-1 regulation tie that the Wolfpack won on penalty kicks in 1988, courtesy of current Wolfpack head coach Laura Kerrigan and goalkeepers coach Lindsay Cobb.
Maggie Tomecka started the scoring for the Tar Heels at the 25:30 mark of the first half on a corner kick by Catherine Reddick. It was Tomecka's sixth of the season to give UNC a 1-0 advantage.
NC State nearly knotted the match in the 33rd minute when a shot by sophomore midfielder Carmen Israel (Recklinghausen, Germany) had to be saved by a diving Kristin DePlatchett for the Tar Heels to keep the Wolfpack at bay.
Wolfpack goalkeeper Gretchen Lear (Springfield, Virginia) made many spectacular saves on the night, including a sliding stop on Elizabeth Ball's driving attempt at the NC State net. The shot was then cleared from danger by defender Melissa Pressley (Cary, North Carolina). Lear had five saves in the first half alone and seven for the match.
The action remained calm for most of the second half with the Wolfpack continuously holding off the UNC attack. Freshman Annika Schmidt (Welver, Germany) had a chance to score in the 62nd minute of the match, but was thwarted by DePlatchett.
"We came out here to win this game and that's what we showed on the field," said Kerrigan.
"It was a great game. UNC is obviously very dangerous on set plays, and that's something we were prepared for. However, they still got one in."
"NC State should be in (the tournament)," UNC head Coach Anson Dorrance told Technician, NC State's student newspaper. "There's no question they're one of the top 64 teams in the country."
"They played us tough twice. It's a credit to (Kerrigan) and the players. We feel very fortunate to be advancing."
UNC 1, NC State 0
UNC 1 0-1
NC State 0 0-0
Shots-UNC 27, NC State 2
Corner Kicks- UNC 9, NC State 1
Saves- NC State 7, UNC 2
Fouls- NC State 16, North Carolina 12
