Tag: BYU Women’s Soccer

Social media reacts to UNC’s season-ending, second-half collapse at BYU

The UNC women’s soccer team had a 3-goal, second-half lead at BYU in the Elite Eight. The host Cougars had other plans on Friday night.

After blowing a 2-goal, second half lead to UCLA in last year’s College Cup final, the UNC women’s soccer team had some major questions to answer.

Why did it stop playing hard when moments away from its first National Championship since 2012? Why – after scoring two goals in 16 minutes, couldn’t the Tar Heels find a third to put the Bruins away? Why would Anson Dorrance, UNC’s longtime head coach who has dominated the sport for so long, make a massive coaching blunder?

If you thought last year’s collapse was bad, this year’s was even worse.

In their road, Elite Eight matchup with BYU on Friday, Nov. 24, the Tar Heels blew a 3-goal, second-half lead and lost 4-3.

Three goals? Yep. The host Cougars didn’t score until the 61st minute, then ended the match 28 minutes later.

What exactly went wrong? Off the bat, Carolina stopped playing offense and BYU finally cracked its defense. Friday night was the first time – since Pitt on Oct. 29 – an opponent scored multiple goals against UNC.

A loss like this is just simply inexcusable. I understand a team coming back from one goal down, but not three.

Let’s take a look at social media and see the frustrations among the Tar Heel faithful:

Tar Heels choke in second-half, lose 3-goal lead to BYU

The UNC women’s soccer team was up three goals and a half away from the College Cup. Any guesses what happened next to the Tar Heels?

Any time a soccer team scores three goals in a game, it’s pretty likely that team wins, right?

Particularly when those three goal come in the span of 20 minutes?

The UNC women’s soccer team is the one mentioned in the graph above, jumping out to a quick, 3-goal lead against top-ranked BYU (Brigham Young University). Ally Sentnor scored two of Carolina’s early goals, leading a lot to believe the women in light blue were heading back to the College Cup.

Not so fast.

UNC went into cruise control during the second half, allowing BYU to score four unanswered goals and advance to the College Cup with an improbable, 4-3 comeback victory.

The fact Carolina was up 3-0 – against the top-seeded team in the NCAA Tournament – was impressive in itself. UNC hadn’t scored three goals in a game since Friday, Nov. 10, when it downed Towson by a 3-1 mark in its tourney opener, while BYU hadn’t allowed three goals in a game since the Big 12 final against Texas (Nov. 4).

It was only a matter of time before the host Cougars got on the board, shooting eight times in the second half before scoring in the 61st minute. There was a 20-minute break in scoring, then BYU scored its second and the game-tying goal a minute apart.

The final dagger came just before the 90th-minute buzzer, with BYU’s Olivia Katoa sending a low-arching shot past UNC goalkeeper Emmie Allen.

For a team that didn’t lose once in the regular season, Carolina lost twice in its final five games.

First, its ACC Tournament opener against Pitt on Sunday, Oct. 29.

Then, the heartbreaking collapse that occurred in Utah last night.

Tar Heels taking on Cougars for spot in Women’s College Cup

The 3-seeded UNC and top-seeded BYU women’s soccer teams face off at 8 p.m. EST on Friday, Nov. 24 for a spot in the College Cup.

They’re THIS close to winning their first NCAA Championship since 2012, but they’ll have to go through this year’s top seed to do so.

Who is this mystery team?

None other than the UNC women’s soccer squad, who is one win away from making it back to the College Cup. The Tar Heels now prepare to face top-seeded BYU (Brigham Young University), with an 8 p.m. ET kickoff set from South Field in Provo, Utah (on BYU’s campus).

After easily dispatching Towson (3-1) in their first-round matchup, the Tar Heels have a pair of tight, 1-0 victories in the past two rounds. Carolina downed sixth-ranked Alabama in the Second Round on Friday, Nov. 17 at home, thanks to Ally Sentnor’s ninth goal of the year, then did the same to second-ranked Texas Tech on Sunday, Nov. 19, with Bella Sember playing hero in the 72nd minute.

The Cougars, who lost to UT-Austin in the Big 12 Championship game, avenged a regular-season loss at Utah State in their opening-round, NCAA Tournament matchup. BYU squeaked by 8-seeded USC, 1-0, in the second round, then comfortably defeated 5-ranked Michigan State on Saturday, Nov. 18.

UNC will be trying to reach the College Cup for a second-straight year, while BYU will try for its first appearance since 2021, when it was the national runner-up.

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