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Boston College women’s soccer (6-7-1) nearly pulled off the upset to secure their first ACC win of the season against No. 5 UNC (10-1-2) at home on Sunday, before conceding late in regulation and losing in overtime 2-1.
The Eagles started strong, controlling possession for the better part of the first half and finding plenty of scoring opportunities. The first two came in the opening four minutes from Jenna Bike, one a long-shot that forced a diving save from UNC keeper Claudia Dickey, and the other a long-shot that missed just wide of the right post.
Sam Smith came up with another good chance in the 17th minute. After receiving a throw-in in the attacking third, Smith dribbled past a pair of defenders before sending a shot to the bottom left corner that was saved by a diving Claudia Dickey in goal.
The Tarheels’ best chance of the half came from a 23rd-minute corner kick. UNC’s Avery Patterson got her head to the ball, which fell to the foot of Maycee Bell. Bell’s point-blank shot was deflected on the line by Éabha O’Mahony back out to UNC’s Talia Dellaperuta, whose shot was saved by keeper Wiebke Willebrandt, before finally being cleared by Laura Gouvin.
The Eagles got one more good opportunity to go ahead before the half in the 37th minute on a counterattack led by Laura Gouvin. She managed to resist tight pressure from a UNC defender to get a shot off to the top left corner that was saved by Dickey.
After putting pressure on UNC through the first 45 minutes, BC broke through five minutes into the second half when Sonia Walk intercepted a UNC pass, passed to Jenna Bike on the wing, who crossed to a cutting Sam Smith in front of goal who finished the ball into the bottom left corner.
The Eagles continued to hold strong, not giving the Tarheels any strong chances until the 72nd minute when UNC’s Annika Huhta missed a direct free-kick just wide of the left post.
Just before the end of regulation in the 88th minute, Tarheel forward Rachel Jones tried a shot from deep that was touched over the bar by Willebrandt and out of bounds for a corner. On the set piece, the ball was knocked around before falling to Emily Moxley, who passed the ball forward to teammate Abby Allen. As the Boston College defenders appealed for an offside whistle, Allen passed the ball back to Moxley, who sent a well-placed chip-shot over the head of Willbrandt and into the back of the net to send the game to extra time.
In the added time, North Carolina was able to finish the comeback on a goal from Maggie Pierce with just two and a half minutes left on the clock. Pierce played the ball to Rachel Jones on the edge of the box, who was then tackled to the turf by Michela Agresti. Agresti immediately made another hard tackle on a UNC player competing for the loose ball. No fouls were called as the ball rolled back to Maggie Pierce, who sent a right-footed bending shot into the top right corner to win the game for the Tarheels. Willbrandt got her hand to the ball, but it wasn’t enough to keep it out of the net.
Continuing the hunt for their first ACC win of the season, Boston College will travel to Louisville (7-4-1) on Friday night.
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Unashamed Boston sports homer. History nerd. I've had a PS5 since day one, so I'm also pretty cool.
