No. 9 North Carolina women’s soccer tops Charlotte 2-0
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (Via University of North Carolina) – The University of North Carolina’s women’s soccer team improved to 2-0 on the season as it defeated Charlotte 3-0 Sunday afternoon before 1,371 fans at Fetzer Field. Goals by Hanna Gardner, Zoe Redei and Cameron Castleberry powered the offense while the Tar Heel defense posted its second clean sheet of the weekend.
Hosting the Carolina Nike Classic, UNC defeated UCF 2-0 Friday and Charlotte Sunday. Next up for the Heels will be a trip to Florida where it will play Florida Gulf Coast on Friday and Florida Atlantic on Sunday. Duke also won two games in the Carolina Nike Classic, beating Wofford 9-1 Friday and UCF 3-1 Sunday.
Carolina struck early against the 49ers as Hanna Gardner ran onto a long ball from the right side delivered by Annie Kingman and finished from about three yards away. The goal came in the seventh minute and it was her third career goal, all of which had been game-winning tallies. It was her first goal since December 2, 2012 when her header proved to be the winner in a 4-1 triumph over Penn State in the NCAA championship game.
UNC goalkeeper Lindsey Harris made two first-half saves to keep Charlotte off the scoreboard, a half in which UNC outshot the 49ers 6-4. Carolina then wore down Charlotte in the second half, outshooting its opponent 11-2 in the frame and eventually scoring two late goals to put the game out of the reach of Charlotte.
Morgan Goff almost made it 2-0 in the 60th minute but her shot was denied by the right post. Carolina continued to maintain possession before the Heels scored on a counterattack. The goal came at the 79:47 and was the first career goal for UNC freshman striker Zoe Redei. Carolina goalkeeper Lindsey Harris delivered a pass from the penalty area to Alex Kimball on the right side of the pitch. The junior from Chapel Hill immediately sent a ball over the Charlotte back line that Redei ran on to. She hammered the ball into the upper left corner and Carolina led 2-0.
Less than three minutes later, Carolina salted away the game with a penalty kick goal by Cameron Castleberry at 82:12. Castleberry had been fouled in the penalty box and then she calmly stepped to the 12-yard spot and powered her shot into the lower right corner.
Carolina finished the game with a 17-6 edge in shots and a 6-1 edge in penalty kicks. Anna Shelden made five saves for the 49ers while Lindsey Harris finished with three saves for Carolina.
