Trailing by two goals with under ten minutes remaining, it looked like the No. 4 UNC women’s soccer team was about to lose its second straight game at home. Defensive errors had allowed the visiting Virginia Tech Hokies to take a 2-0 lead on the Tar Heels. The second Virginia Tech goal in the 80th minute appeared to be the nail in Carolina’s coffin.

That’s when UNC assistant coach Damon Nahas drew up a new formation for the Tar Heels, hoping to spark an offense that had outshot Virginia Tech by a healthy margin but hadn’t put a dent in the scoreboard.

What followed were two goals in the span of 2:40 to even up the game and send the crowd at Dorrance Field into a frenzy. Sophomore forward Avery Patterson scored the first with 8:30 remaining on a beautiful cross from teammate Rachel Jones, sending her shot just over the outstretched fingertips of Hokies goalkeeper Alia Skinner.

Minutes later, a corner kick from Paige Tolentino found the head of Maycee Bell, who deflected it straight to freshman forward Emily Colton. All Colton had to do was flick out her boot, and she’d scored a point-blank equalizer. The Tar Heels had erased their first multiple-goal home deficit since 2013 in the blink of an eye.

The goal was Colton’s fifth on the season, putting her into first place on the team. It was also just one of her six shots on goal throughout the evening.

“Colton was absolutely magnificent,” head coach Anson Dorrance said after the game. “That was a U.S. full national team performance. If that’s the way she is going to play, then she is going to compete for the United States full team in the Olympics and World Cups. That’s how well she played today.”

Carolina kept the pressure on into sudden death overtime, outshooting Virginia Tech 7-2, but couldn’t find a game-winning goal. The Hokies almost stole the game back when Virginia Tech’s Emily Gray turned a loose ball from six yards out straight at goalkeeper Claudia Dickey, but the former ACC Defensive Player of the Week stood tall to keep the match going.

Both Bell and Colton had scoring opportunities in the final six minutes of overtime, but neither found the back of the net. The match ended in a 2-2 tie, despite a 32-10 shot disparity in favor of Carolina. Skinner made a career-high 14 saves on 16 UNC shots on goal.

The result moved the No. 4 Tar Heels to 7-1-1 on the season, but they are still searching for their first ACC win after losing to Duke last weekend. UNC is currently 0-1-1 in conference play. They’ll try to improve upon that record Sunday afternoon when Clemson visits Dorrance Field.

 

Featured image via Carolina Athletics

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