CHAPEL HILL, N.C. –  Caroline Miller of 14^th-ranked Virginia tallied in the 105^th minute Sunday afternoon to give Virginia its first ever victory over North Carolina in women’s soccer in 38 meetings between the two teams.  The 1-0 victory by the Cavaliers improved the Cavaliers to 8-2-1 overall and 2-1 in the ACC.  The Tar Heels fell to 6-2 overall and 1-1 in the ACC.

 

The game was played before 1,418 fans at Fetzer Field and a national television audience on ESPNU.  While UNC had a 11-10 edge in overall shots, Virginia finished the game with the better opportunities, placing six on goal compare to only two for UNC.  Carolina had a 9-2 edge in corner kicks but had trouble generating scoring opportunities off of them with veteran goalkeeper Chantel Jones controlling the box for the Cavaliers.

 

The winning goal came in the 105^th minute as Caroline Miller took a through ball from Morgan Brian and finished to the far post from 15 yards.  It was Miller’s team-leading 10^th goal of the season.

 

Both teams had four shots in the first half but UNC did not manage a shot on frame while starting goalkeeper Adelaide Gay had to make three saves on shots by Eric Hollenberg in the 10^th minute, Gloria Douglas in the 23^rd minute and Julia Roberts in the 35^th minute.  The chance by Roberts was the most dangerous of the first half as her free kick was bending inside the left post before being smothered by Gay.

 

In the second half, the Tar Heels had a 6-4 edge in shots but only had one chance on goal.  Virginia had a brilliant chance to take the lead in the 57^th minute as Caroline Miller got behind the UNC defense but had to shot from 10 yards out gobbled up by Anna Sieloff, who came on in goal for the Tar Heels in the second half.

 

UNC’s best chance came in the 67^th minute of play.  A corner kick by Emmalie Pfankuch was headed on frame by Brooke Elby but Chantel Jones tipped it off the cross bar and Rebecca Crabb’s follow up shot was blocked.

 

Both teams had great chances in the first overtime.  The game seemed set to end at 93:06 when Gloria Douglas had a breakaway for Virginia only to see Sieloff parry stand her ground and parry away the shot.  In the 99^th minute, a ball bounced out of a scrum at the top of the box to Emmalie Pfankuch of UNC.  She took a couple of dribbles and was one-on-one against Jones who made a brilliant save of her own to keep the game tied.

 

In 37 previous meetings, UNC held a 35-0-2 edge against the Cavaliers.  In the past two seasons, UNC has seen program first defeats against Boston College, Maryland and Virginia, all at Fetzer Field.  UNC dropped to 1-2 in overtime this season.  Prior to 2011, UNC had lost only six overtime games all-time in program history.

 

Things get no easier for the Tar Heels as they make their Florida swing this weekend, playing at Florida State on Thursday and at Miami on Sunday.  Two years ago, the Tar Heels lost both of those games, 3-2 in double overtime to FSU and 1-0 to Miami, but bounced back to win the 2009 NCAA championship.