The UNC women’s soccer team opened up NCAA Tournament play with a flourish Saturday night at Dorrance Field, blowing out Old Dominion 5-0 in the first round of the competition.

Carolina got started early, pushing in front inside six minutes of play on redshirt freshman striker Ally Sentnor’s sixth goal of the season. Sentnor very nearly struck the ball without looking at the net, dribbling away from the Old Dominion keeper before turning and firing.

Freshman forward Maddie Dahlien joined the fun later in the second half, taking a long pass from defender Tori Hansen and weaving between several Monarchs before hitting the back of the net. Hansen picked up her second assist of the night early in the second half by feeding a breakaway goal for Avery Patterson, and Dahlien registered an assist on Sentnor’s second goal of the match and seventh of the season in the 60th minute. Sentnor is tied with Hansen for second on the team in that category to Patterson, who has 11 goals.

Adding one more goal for good measure was sophomore midfielder Lauren Wrigley in the 89th minute. The score was Wrigley’s first goal of her Carolina career.

UNC’s first-round win comes just a year after the Tar Heels dropped their opening NCAA Tournament match for the first time in program history. Awaiting Carolina, the No. 2 seed in its region, in the second round is No. 7 seed Georgia, who defeated Samford in its first-round match. The Bulldogs and Tar Heels will face off at Dorrance Field on Thursday. Kick-off time is set for 5 p.m.

 

Featured image via UNC Women’s Soccer on Twitter


Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our biweekly newsletter.