When most people take into consideration ladies’s school soccer, they consider the College of North Carolina at Chapel Hill — this system that has produced numerous U.S. nationwide group standouts and has extra nationwide titles than anybody else. No coach in any NCAA Division I sport has gained as many nationwide championships as former Tar Heels’ coach Anson Dorrance’s 21, and UNC added one other to that whole final 12 months when Damon Nahas took the reins and captured one other title.
Many count on the Tar Heels to contend for an additional championship this 12 months, as they had been voted the preseason No. 1 within the United Soccer Coaches Ballot.
The Tennessee Volunteers, nevertheless, are forcing people to readjust their projections.
Behind a pair of targets from Shae O’Rourke, Tennessee defeated North Carolina 2-0 on the opening day of Division I ladies’s soccer on Thursday night time, marking the primary time ever that the Vols have defeated the No. 1 ranked group within the nation. It’s additionally the primary time since 2002 that the reigning NCAA champion misplaced its season-opener — Santa Clara beat Stanford that 12 months.
The Girl Vols broke the scoring open within the 57th minute when O’Rourke — a redshirt junior switch from South Carolina — obtained a exact move from Jenna Stayart that despatched O’Rourke into the ultimate third with a defender and the goalkeeper to beat. After slicing by UNC’s charging keeper and outrunning the defender, O’Rourke lofted a right-footed shot from exterior of the field that landed softly contained in the far put up for her first aim in a Tennessee uniform.
And that rating would have been sufficient, however O’Rourke added yet one more within the seventy fifth minute by redirecting Sarah Kate Rath’s low cross from the appropriate wing and tucking the ball simply contained in the far put up. O’Rourke, who missed final season with an damage, scored 11 targets in two years with the Gamecocks.
“We didn’t change something tonight for UNC,” Tennessee coach Joe Kirt mentioned. “We had been ourselves. This group has been related all 12 months. We discuss it on a regular basis—our voices, our vitality, taking care of teammates and so they did precisely that tonight. They coated for each other, stepped up and made performs.”
UNC acquired off 14 photographs and put six of these makes an attempt on-frame, however couldn’t get a ball previous Tennessee sophomore goalkeeper Cayden Norris.
The Tar Heels suffered a pair of shutout defeats final season — to Duke and Stanford — earlier than happening to win the nationwide title.
Tennessee didn’t obtain a single vote within the preseason coaches ballot. That’ll seemingly change when the subsequent one is launched.
