Oct. 12, 2008

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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Junior midfielder Yael Averbuch had two goals and an assist as the second-ranked University of North Carolina women's soccer team recorded its eighth shutout of the season by beating Virginia Tech 4-0 as a sun-drenched crowd of 1,317 looked on at Fetzer Field. Averbuch had her most productive offensive game of the season, scoring the first two goals of the match and then assisting on the third.

UNC won its ninth successive match and is now 13-1-1 overall and 6-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Virginia Tech fell to 7-5-2 overall and 2-2-2 in the ACC. The Tar Heels will be idle for five days before meeting NC State Friday at 7 p.m. at Method Road Soccer Stadium in Raleigh, N.C. The Wolfpack is 8-7 overall and 0-5 in the ACC after losing to Boston College 1-0 Sunday.

On Sunday, Carolina defeated a Virginia Tech team which this past Thursday had upset No. 8 Virginia 1-0 in Blacksburg. The Tar Heels came out of the locker room and dominated play early on with several tremendous opportunities in score in the first 23 minutes of the match. At 8:39, Casey Nogueira had a one-on-one opportunity in the penalty area against Virginia Tech goalkeeper Kristin Carden but sent her shot just wide of the left post. Less than two minutes later, Courtney Jones got behind the Tech defense but her shot was deflected wide by Carden at the 10:01 mark. Nogueira had three more great opportunities but Carden made a kick save at 12:40 and the other two shots went just high.

Eventually, the Tar Heels broke through at 23:26 on Averbuch's fourth goal of the season off an assist by Tobin Heath. The play started with a corner kick by Averbuch that Ali Hawkins got her head on for a point-blank shot that Carden deflected. The ball squirted to the endline on the left side of the box where Heath retrieved it and pushed a pass to Averbuch in the lower left of the penalty area. Averbuch struck a shot to the far post that inadvertently bounced off a Tech player into the goal.

At 26:08, the Hokies recorded their second shot of the first half as Brittney Michels saw her scoring attempt turned away by Tar Heel keeper Anna Rodenbough, who played the first half for Coach Anson Dorrance's team.

After a Nogueira shot the crossbar in the 31st minute to almost double UNC's lead, it was Averbuch who again came through for the Tar Heels. Jessica McDonald had possession in the left side of the box and pushed the ball on to Averbuch near the top of the 18. Averbuch sent a curving shot that eluded a host of players who were bunched up in the center of the box. Those players screened Carden on the play and Averbuch's shot ended up inside the right post for her fifth goal of the season.

The Tar Heels extended their lead to 3-0 at 55:19 of the match on Tobin Heath's sixth goal of the season. Yael Averbuch sent a corner kick from the left side to the far post where Kristi Eveland redirected the ball back to the center of the goal mouth and Heath finished with a header into the left side.

The last goal came on a great individual effort by Ali Hawkins in the 68th minute. Hawkins saw her initial shot saved by Ashley Owens, who had entered the game in the 64th minute, but the ball remained free in the box and Hawkins pounced on her own rebound and pounded it in into the back of the net at 67:01. It was the sophomore midfielder's first goal since November 18, 2006 against Tennessee in the third round of the NCAA Tournament. Hawkins had missed all of last season after suffering an ACL tear.

UNC improved its season goal total to 53 in the squad's 15th game. That is just three goals short of the 56 goals Carolina scored all of last season in 24 games.

The Tar Heels finished with a 22-5 edge in shots and a 6-2 edge in corner kicks. Carden and Owens combined to make seven saves for Tech while Rodenbough and Ashlyn Harris had a combined two saves for the Tar Heels.