By R.L. Bynum

CHAPEL HILL — The pitch shifted dramatically in the second half, thanks to a formation shakeup.

After No. 2 North Carolina got outshot in a half for the first time all season, the undefeated Tar Heels took control in the second half to avenge a loss last season with a 1–0 victory Friday over Virginia Tech at Dorrance Field in the ACC opener for both teams.

The Hokies (3–3–3, 0–1 ACC) went from outshooting UNC 8–4 in the first half to going shotless in the second half. That ended some frustration for UNC (6–0–3, 1–0), which lost in Blacksburg, Va., 2–1, last season and settled for a 2–2 tie in 2021 after winning the previous 12 meetings.

The Tar Heels had a 13–0 shot advantage after halftime, holding an opponent without a shot in a half for the fourth time this season.

“After the first half, we were getting flashbacks to our sophomore and junior year where Virginia Tech has given us a run for our money,” senior forward Avery Patterson said.

Then, the tactical soccer mind of Damon Nahas, UNC’s associate head coach, gave the Hokies a run for their money. He scrapped the 3–2–2–3 box alignment at halftime that the Tar Heels had used all season for a 4–1–3–2.

“What was really significant about that is we took the game over,” UNC coach Anson Dorrance said. “That tactical adjustment that Damon made at the half was significant.”

Leading the four defenders in the second half was redshirt senior Maycee Bell, who played right center back. Dorrance said Bell turned in her best attacking performance in getting the ball to the forwards.

In the alignment, Emily Moxley dropped from forward to right back, with Savy King playing left center back and Emerson Elgin and Tesa Dellarose alternating at left back.

Carolina shifted formations at the start of the NCAA tournament last year and Dorrance suggested that this change might just stick.

“I think we’re gonna look at this, and I think this could be our system,” said Dorrance, who probably used his bench for the fewest minutes all season in the second half. “We didn’t play as many because things were working.”

That worked last season when UNC played as many as seven players 90 minutes in its run to the national championship game.

“I think that the reason that we went to it wasn’t for personal reasons; it was for matching up against Virginia Tech,” Patterson said.

Senior forward Sam Meza said the switch worked well.

“It made it a little bit more secure in the back,” Meza said. “It gave us an advantage on both sides of the field.”

There will be challenges ahead, though, with freshman forward Olivia Thomas possibly out for a few games after suffering a calf injury in the Alabama game last week. Sophomore forward Tori Dellaperuta will be away from the team as she plays for the Italian U23 youth team against the Netherlands and Sweden.

Moxley, Patterson and Tori Dellaperuta all got stuffed on good chances around the 59th minute but couldn’t solve Virginia Tech goalie Alia Skinner.

But Skinner made a costly mistake minutes later when freshman forward Evelyn Shores (top photo) ended a Carolina flurry coming out of UNC’s first corner of the game. Moxley hit a long strike that Skinner bobbled trying to make the catch. It went right to Shores, who fired it between Skinner’s legs and into the goal in the 67th minute.

Skinner, who missed last season with an injury, made 14 saves in the 2021 draw. She made six saves Friday, but needed one more.

Mia Oliaro’s shot in the 40th minute was UNC’s best first-half chance, but Skinner made a diving save.

NOTES — Carolina gets nearly a week off before playing two ACC games next weekend. At 7 p.m. Thursday, the Tar Heels visit No. 20 Virginia (5–0–2), which played Iowa to a scoreless draw Thursday, and play host to No. 4 Florida State at noon on Sunday, Sept. 24. The Seminoles are 6–0 record after beating No. 8 Clemson 4–2 on Friday. … Virginia Tech was only UNC’s fourth unranked opponent in nine games. …. Sophomore Maddie Dahlien got her fourth start and third in a row at forward. … King got a yellow card in the 65th minute for a tackle. … Carolina is 31–6 in ACC openers and 11–4 when that game is at home. … UNC leads the all-time series with the Hokies 21–3–1 but earned its first win since 2020 after a 2–2 tie in 2021 and a 2–1 loss in Blacksburg, Va., in 2022.

No. 2 UNC 1, Virginia Tech 0

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