Pitt women’s soccer falls to No. 8 North Carolina

Pitt (7-2-1, 1-1 ACC) faced No. 8 North Carolina (9-1, 2-0 ACC) Thursday night for the ninth matchup in series history. Last time out, the Panthers bested the Tar-Heels for the first time in program history, simultaneously knocking UNC out of the ACC tournament and advancing to the ACC championship semifinals. 

This time, a slow first half and a lights out performance from UNC’s goalkeeper led to Pitt’s 1-0 loss. Associate head coach Ben Waldrum is proud of his team’s second half effort, but disappointed with the loss.

“We started off really slow,” Waldrum said. “We were much better in the second half… it’s unfortunate, you out shoot them and we got five on target to their one and they score on their one chance.”

The Tar Heels took possession of the ball at kickoff and Pitt dropped to defense where they remained for the first ten minutes of the match. There, fouls plagued the Panthers. The matchup featured 22 total fouls between the teams — nine for the Tar Heels and 13 for the Panthers. Senior forward Samiah Phiri committed four and three were awarded to both senior midfielders Keera Melenhorst and Ellie Coffield.

Pitt struggled to penetrate UNC’s defense until the 12th minute. Back-to-back fouls committed by the Tar Heels gave Pitt an advantage near the net. Melenhorst and first-year forward Lola Abrahams were each awarded free kicks, but both missed the mark. 

Despite the missed shots, the attempts temporarily amped up the Panthers on offense and kept the ball in UNC’s territory long enough to test UNC’s goalkeeper graduate student Clare Gagne. Sophomore midfielder Deborah Abiodun did just that in the 19th minute. The sophomore shot at the bottom left corner of the net where Gagne dove and earned a save. 

Pitt’s run on offense was cut short in the 25th minute when UNC found some free real estate after a Pitt error. Senior goalkeeper Ellie Breech was left alone surrounded by Carolina blue and the Tar Heels found the back of the net and scored the lone goal of the game.

The end of the first half looked like the start. North Carolina dominated the ball for the last ten minutes of the half. Pitt fended off the Tar Heels shots and the Panthers went into the lockerrooms down, 1-0. 

With time dwindling in the second half, Pitt tried to pressure UNC at the net but Gagne was a brick wall. Back-to-back shots in the 52nd minute started off the Panthers’ second half attack. Melenhorst and Coffield took ones to the bottom of the net where Gagne marked two more saves. The Tar Heel had five saves for the night.

Anxious to get on the scoreboard, the Panthers fired off several shots in the last few minutes of the game. In the 76th minute, a Tar Heel foul awarded Phiri a free kick. The senior just missed the net and Pitt marked its 12th shot of the night.  Pitt led in shots 15-9 in the matchup.

North Carolina came down on the Panther’s offense in the last minutes of the game. Senior forward Sarah Schupansky put up one last shot against Gogne, but the goalkeeper got the save. The Panthers failed to get the equalizer and they fell to the Tar Heels, 1-0. 

Despite the loss, Melenhorst is still proud of the way her team battled on Thursday night.

“We aren’t ranked where we feel we should be ranked,” Melenhorst said. “It showed today in the second half that we can compete with anybody in the country, especially in the ACC.”

The Panthers continue ACC play Sept. 26 against new ACC foe University of California in a road matchup.