Wolfpack Stuns #7 Tar Heels 1-0 at Fetzer Field

Friday, September 16

Chapel Hill, N.C.

5:00 PM

North Carolina

5-2-1,ACC 0-1

NC State

7-2-0,ACC 1-0

NC STATE

North Carolina

September 17, 2016 | Women's Soccer

Box Score

By: UNC Athletic Communications

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – NC State scored against the run of play in the 67th minute to record a 1-0 upset over seventh-ranked North Carolina in women's soccer action Friday night at Fetzer Field. A crowd of 1,810 fans saw UNC fall to 5-2-1 on the season and 0-1 in the ACC while NC State improved to 7-2 overall and 1-0 in the ACC.

The loss to the Wolfpack was only the second in history for the Tar Heels against NC State as UNC is now 44-2-2 all-time against the Wolfpack. UNC saw its 14-game winning streak against NCSU snapped. NC State's only other win in the series came in the 2002 ACC opener between the two teams when the Wolfpack won 2-1 in Cary, N.C.

Although the Tar Heels held the territorial advantage for most of the evening, it mattered little as NC State scored the only goal of the game at 66:28 on its first shot of the second half and one of only four shots it took all evening.

The goal was actually ironically set up by a hustle play by the Tar Heel midfield. A UNC player tried to save the ball from going out of bounds near midfield on the bench side of the field but her header was redirected right into the path of UNC midfielder Darcy McFarlane and NC State midfielder Paige Griffiths. The NC State midfielder, charging into the direction of the play, won the 50-50 ball and passed ahead to forward Kia Rankin who split two Tar Heel defenders and finished to the lower left corner from 10 yards out past UNC goalkeeper Lindsey Harris.

Carolina finished with a 12-4 edge in shots and an 8-2 edge in shots on goal and the Tar Heels had the only three corner kicks of the match. Zoe Redei led the Tar Heels in shots on goal with three while Sarah Ashley Firstenberg had two. Carolina made liberal use of its bench and played 19 players but NC State's defense held strong after taking the lead despite the fact the Wolfpack played only 13 players, seven of whom went the full 90 minutes.

UNC will try to get back into win column next Thursday when the Tar Heels play host to Virginia Tech at 7 p.m. at Fetzer Field. The game will be webcast nationally on ACC Network Extra and will be broadcast locally on WCHL Radio (97.9 FM, Chapelboro.com).