No. 11 UT Falls At No. 10 UNC, 3-0

Thursday, August 18

Chapel Hill, NC

7 PM

University of Tennessee

0-1-0, 0-0-0

North Carolina

1-0-0, 0-0-0

Tennessee

North Carolina

August 18, 2022 | Soccer

Box Score Box Score

By: Kimberly Hood

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – No. 11 Tennessee dropped its season opener to No. 10 North Carolina on Thursday, falling at Dorrance Field, 3-0.

UNC's goal scorers were Aleigh Gambone, Tori Hansen and Avery Patterson.

The Lady Vols were led offensively by sophomore Taylor Huff who got off four shots, all of which were on frame. In goal, redshirt-freshman Ally Zazzara made six saves in her collegiate debut, starting in place of senior Lindsey Romig who was unavailable due to illness.

Emmie Allen and Marz Josephson split time in goal for the Tar Heels, each ending the day with four saves.

"It was a tough loss for us tonight. We're disappointed in the scoreline. We competed at a high level and created a number of quality scoring chances that we typically finish. Unfortunately, we didn't do that tonight. Give credit to North Carolina, they were committed to getting numbers in the box and finished their chances," said Tennessee head coach Joe Kirt.

"This game was great for our team; it exposed us in moments and demonstrated that we are extremely dangerous in the attacking half against one of the best teams in the country. We are looking forward to being home on Sunday against a talented SMU team."

Huff got off the first shot of the game, ripping one from the middle of the 18-yard-box just under five minutes into play.

North Carolina answered at the 6:30 mark when Dellaperuta blasted one from 12 yards out, but Zazzara was there to come up with her first official collegiate save.

The Lady Vols defense thwarted a UNC attack with 10 minutes to go in the first when Zazzara made a diving save on a shot by Emily Murphy from close range. Emerson Elgin got another opportunity off the rebound, but senior Tara Katz was there at the far post to make the goal-line save.

UNC got its first goal in the 38^th minute when Ruby Grant blasted one off the cross bar and Gambone connected on the rebound to put North Carolina ahead 1-0 with seven minutes left in the half.

Huff got a quality look from 20 yards out three minutes later, but Allen came up with the save, and the Lady Vols went into the locker room trailing by one.

Redshirt-junior Jaida Thomas came out swinging in the second half, blasting one far post from 20 yards out on the right side of the field two minutes into play, but the ball sailed just over the crossbar.

Zazzara came up big in the 50^th minute, making a kick save in a one-on-one situation with Dellaperuta to stop a would-be goal.

Sophomore Jordan Fusco kept the pressure up on the other end two minutes later, ripping one from the top of the box and forcing the keeper into a punch save. Then, Hannah Zaluski curved a corner kick toward the backside of the goal, forcing another save over the top, but UT was unable to capitalize.

The Tar Heels added a second goal in the 66^th minute when Hansen connected on a corner kick, heading a perfectly-placed ball into the far corner.

Huff got a head on a corner and placed it on frame in the 72^nd minute, but Marz batted it down it for the save.

North Carolina got its final goal in the 77^th minute when Avery buried a pass from Murphy into the back of the net on a breakaway.

UP NEXT: The Lady Vols return home for another Top-25 matchup, hosting #23 SMU on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. The game will be streamed on SECN+.