Nov. 16, 2007

Complete Results |  Action Photos 

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - North Carolina scored four goals in the opening 23 minutes en route to a 6-1 victory over High Point in the NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament first round at Fetzer Field Friday night. Whitney Engen of the Tar Heels scored two goals and had one assist and Casey Nogueira scored her UNC season-high 12th goal of the season for the game-winner in the 15th minute.

The Big South Conference champion Panthers ended their season with an 11-8-3 record while UNC improved to 18-3-1 and will host an NCAA second round game Sunday at 1 p.m. against the winner of the second first round game at Fetzer Friday night between Memphis and UNC Greensboro.

Carolina outshot the Panthers 30-2 and had a 12-2 advantage in corner kicks.

"We're thrilled to advance against a High Point team that made a great effort tonight," said Tar Heel head coach Anson Dorrance. "It was good to get a nice advantage in the early going so we could play our roster and rest some of our players who are nicked up. It's also nice to put some goals on the board. We've played in a lot of close games this year and to have a margin was welcome indeed."

Carolina struck first at 13:51 of the match on Engen's fourth goal of the season. Senior midfielder Robyn Gayle fed the Tar Heels' Yael Averbuch who turned and centered the ball to Engen whose strike from 30 yards found the lower right corner. Nogueira got the second goal of the match and the eventual game-winner just 1:02 later. Engen headed a goal kick by High Point keeper Hannah Nail to a streaking Nogueira who was behind the defense and went one-on-one with Nail, beating her for her 12th goal of the campaign.

Carolina extended its lead to 3-0 on Meghan Klingenberg's fifth goal of the season at the 19:51 mark. Klingenberg dribbled to the middle of the field and struck a ball with pace from 20 yards out that went inches under the crossbar. Engen followed quickly with her second goal of the game as she headed in a Nikki Washington cross at 22:24. Yael Averbuch sent a 50-yard ball from the right side across the field to Washington who penetrated the defense and fed Engen for the score.

UNC made it 5-0 as Rachel Givan scored her first career goal at 49:16. Defender Ariel Harris send a ball from the back to Givan who drove into the right side of the penalty area and finished from 15 yards out.

High Point got on the scoreboard at 54:20 as Amy Anzonvino scored her fourth goal on a tough angle shot from right side to the far post taking an assist from Laura Eldridge in the process.

The Heels finished off the scoring at 58:46 on Yael Averbuch's sixth goal of the campaign. Averbuch capitalized on a free kick, slotting a low hard kick to the left of the High Point wall and into the lower left just inside the post.

"First of all, I am very proud of the heart and determination of my team this season," said HPU head coach Michelle Rayner. "We faced many adversities this year, but this group refused to quit and tonight's game was the reward for that unwavering commitment. North Carolina is obviously an extremely talented team with a rich soccer tradition and this was a great opportunity for our players to compete with some of the country's best players. I was proud of how we kept battling tonight and it was a special moment for our team to score that first HPU NCAA Tournament goal."