By R.L. Bynum

CHAPEL HILL — No. 3 Carolina continued its unyielding defensive ways and turned up the offense to match Sunday, thanks to one of the heralded members of the Tar Heels’ No. 1-ranked freshman class.

Midfielder Evelyn Shores, playing in only her second game since recovering from an injury, came off the bench to earn a brace with two second-half goals in less than 2½ minutes and spark the Tar Heels’ 4–0 rout of No. 24 USC on a hot afternoon at Dorrance Field.

Carolina (2–0–2) has three clean sheets after yielding only 13 shots and six shots on goal through four games. The shots kept coming as they had in previous games, with a 25–5 edge, but the Tar Heels did well at finishing after playing Wisconsin to a scoreless draw Thursday.  

Shores, who had surgery in March to repair a hip labrum and missed the first two games, was the No. 6 player nationally in the freshman class and showed why with her two goals.

“It was just really surreal,” Shores (top photo) said of getting her first college goal, then quickly following it up with another one. “Having my first game back last time and today, it was just even better. It was a team effort, and I just can’t wait to see where we go this season.”

Along with the rest of the freshman class, including starting center back Savy King and starting forward Olivia Thomas, the group is quickly integrating with the veteran players and learning what it means to play at Carolina.

“Coming in, it’s been great, like playing with the best of the best,” Shores said. “I feel like I’m getting better every day. It’s just so awesome to be part of this culture.”

Shores, who led Westminster in the Atlanta area to three consecutive Georgia state titles, said that Carolina was always her dream school. She admits that her mom, a UNC graduate, probably had some influence on her decision.

With the Tar Heels clinging to a 1–0 lead, she took a nice cross from sophomore Kate Faasse, who found space wide to the right, quickly flicking it into the net with a light touch in the 63rd minute.

“I just made a run in and I saw Kate; I knew she was going to beat that player, and I just went in the seam and just tapped in with my right foot,” Shores said.

In the 66th minute, Shores took a pass from fellow freshman Melina Rebimbas and fired a shot. Backup USC goalkeeper Hannah Dickinson reached up and got her hands on it but it went over her.

“Honestly, the second one, I don’t even know what happened,” Shores said. “Melina just played me in and I just took it first time and it went in.”

Shores helped ignite the offense that couldn’t finish against Wisconsin, but she says the team has the firepower to consistently score goals.

“I really think the offense is coming,” Shores said. “I think today is a testament to what we have and what we can show for the rest of the season. So, I’m looking forward to it.”

USC (2–1–0) did better than Wisconsin, getting off its first of five shots in the 52nd minute, while the Badgers’ only shot didn’t come until the 62nd minute of their scoreless draw Thursday against Carolina.

But the Trojans discovered how hard it is to penetrate UNC’s defense after having little trouble in Thursday’s 3–1 victory at No. 4 Duke.

“They’re not able to transition, and that was one of the things that, coming into this game, we really wanted to not let them do,” senior right back Maycee Bell said. “I thought the midfield did a great job.”

Bell said that the defense, with three in the back after playing four in the back last year, reminds her of the unit she played with during her freshman year.

“I just think, athletically, we’re out here for the defense and that there’s not a lot of people that can beat us one-v-one or even get shots off,” Bell said.

Senior midfielder Sam Meza said that she thinks the Tar Heels are better defensively than a year ago, singling out the contributions of King, redshirt sophomore left back Emerson Elgin, reserve sophomore left back Tessa Dellarose and fifth-year midfielder Emily Moxley.

“I think for sure we are,” said Meza, calling the team very talented on defense. “I think once we get the ball rolling, we get a little bit more in rhythm, I think our attack could just be lethal.”

Redshirt sophomore midfielder Ally Sentnor rocketed a shot off the crossbar and past diving USC goaltender Hannah Poulter to give UNC a first-half lead. Sentnor’s first goal of the season ended a nearly 69-minute UNC scoring drought and gave the Tar Heels a lead in the 25th minute.

Tori Dellaperuta easily beat Dickinson on a penalty kick in the 88th minute for Carolina’s final goal.

UNC coach Anson Dorrance wasn’t available for interviews after the game.

NOTES — The level of competition for UNC drops significantly at 7 p.m. Thursday when the Tar Heels play host to Gardner-Webb (ESPN3). The Bulldogs, who went 9–7–5 last season, are 1–3 with an 8–0 win over Allen, a 9–0 loss to No. 19 Clemson, a 2–0 loss to Davidson and a 3–0 loss Sunday to East Tennessee State. … Wisconsin lost Sunday at Duke 2–1. … Senior starting forward Avery Patterson went down in the 60th minute but walked off on her own after getting attention from the athletic trainers. … USC’s five shots tied Penn State’s total in the opening-game scoreless draw for the most off UNC this sesaon. … During warmups, UNC wore T-shirts with “TEAM JULIA!” on the back to support Julia Bengston, an 8-year-old battling cancer who was honored at halftime. … Poulter came out with an injury in the 33rd minute. … Carolina is 5–1 all-time against the Trojans, with the only loss coming 3–0 in Los Angeles in 2016. Sunday’s meeting was the first since the Tar Heels beat USC 3–2 in the 2019 NCAA quarterfinals to advance to the College Cup. The first opponent goal after UNC tore down Fetzer Field and built Dorrance Field was in that game. … Carolina is undefeated in August since 2018.

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No. 3 UNC 4, No. 24 USC 0

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Tar Heels’ starting 3–2–2–3 alignment

	Goaltender
	Emmie Allen
	Defenders
RB Maycee Bell	CB Savy King	LB Emerson Elgin
	Midfielders
Sam Meza		Emily Moxley
	Midfielders
Ally Sentnor		Emily Colton
	Forwards
Avery Patterson	Olivia Thomas	Talia Dellaperuta

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Date	Month/day	Time/score	Event/opponent (current rank)	Location	TV/ record
	August
7	Monday	W, 8–1	College of Charleston	Home	Exhibition
12	Saturday	W, 2–0	East Carolina	Home	Exhibition
17	Thursday	T, 0–0	No. 5 Penn State	University Park, Pa.	0–0–1
20	Sunday	W, 3–1	Cal	Home	1–0–1
24	Thursday	T, 0–0	No. 12 Wisconsin	Home	1–0–2
27	Sunday	W, 4–0	No. 22 USC	Home	2–0–2
31	Thursday	W, 5–0	Gardner-Webb	Home	3–0–2
	September
3	Sunday	W, 3–1	No. 10 Arkansas	Home	4–0–2
7	Thursday	W, 2–1	No. 16 South Carolina	Columbia, S.C.	5–0–2
10	Sunday	T, 1–1	No. 24 Alabama	Tuscaloosa, Ala.	5–0–3
15	Friday	W, 1–0	Virginia Tech	Home	6–0–3, 1–0 ACC
21	Thursday	W, 1–0	Virginia	Charlottesville, Va.	7–0–3, 2–0 ACC
24	Sunday	T, 3–3	No. 1 Florida State	Home	7–0–4, 2–0–1 ACC
30	Saturday	W, 4–0	N.C. State	Raleigh	8–0–4, 3–0–1 ACC
	October
5	Thursday	W, 1–0	Miami	Home	9–0–4, 4–0–1 ACC
8	Sunday	T, 1–1	No. 25 Duke	Durham	9–0–5, 4–0–2 ACC
13	Friday	T, 1–1	No. 25 Wake Forest	Winston-Salem	9–0–6, 4–0–3 ACC
19	Thursday	T, 1–1	No. 9 Notre Dame	Home	9–0–7, 4–0–4 ACC
22	Sunday	W, 6–1	Syracuse	Home	10–0–7, 5–0–4 ACC
26	Thursday	T, 1–1	Boston College	Newton, Mass.	10–0–8, 5–0–5 ACC
			ACC tournament
29	Sunday	L, 2–1 (2 OTs)	No. 11 Pittsburgh	Chapel Hill	10–1–8
	November		NCAA tournament Link to bracket
10	Friday	W, 3–1	First round: Towson	Chapel Hill	11–1–8
17	Friday	W, 1–0	Second round: No. 24 Alabama	Lubbock, Texas	12–1–8
19	Sunday	W, 1–0	Third round: No. 4 Texas Tech	Lubbock, Texas	13–1–8
24	Friday	L, 4–3	Quarterfinals: No. 6 Brigham Young	Provo, Utah	13–2–8

Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics Communications