By R.L. Bynum
After breaking out of a scoring slump for one match, No. 3 North Carolina returned to its struggles but finished the Tar Heels’ first undefeated regular season since 2004.
Despite outshooting Boston College 21–3, the Tar Heels had to settle for the eighth draw of the season in a 1–1 game in Newton, Mass., on Thursday night.
Thanks to amazing goalkeeping from the Eagles’ Wiebke Willebrandt, who made nine saves, they snapped an 11-game losing skid against the Tar Heels, who led shots on goal 12–2.
North Carolina (10–0–8, 5–0–5 ACC), which beat Syracuse 6–1 on Sunday but finished the regular season with four 1–1 draws in the last five matches, next plays a first-round game in the ACC tournament on Sunday, while BC (3–9–6, 0–6–4) finishes the season with four consecutive draws.
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Carolina is the No. 4 seed and will play host to No. 5-seed Pittsburgh (13–4–1) at 8 p.m. (ACC Network), with No. 8-ranked and No. 3-seed Clemson (13–2–3) meeting No. 6-seed Wake Forest (10–2–5) in the other first-round game at 6 p.m. UNC and Pitt didn’t meet in the regular season.
With a win, UNC would advance to a semifinal game at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 2, against No. 1 ranked and No. 1-seed Florida State (14–0–1). The Clemson-Wake Forest winner plays No. 11-ranked and No. 2-seed Notre Dame (11–2–4) at 5:30, with both games airing on ACC Network.
No. 1-ranked and regular-season champion Florida State and No. 11 Notre Dame get first-round byes.
Playing 44 miles away from where she grew up in Hanson, Mass., forward Ally Sentnor kept it from being a loss with her sixth goal of the season, a left-footed shot in the 62nd minute after UNC trailed at halftime for the first time this season.
Shortly after seven UNC substitutes came into the game, Boston College took advantage of a Tar Heels turnover, and Aislin Streicek’s goal in the 32nd minute gave the Eagles a 1–0 lead. Carolina goaltender Emmie Allen ran into a BC player and bobbled the ball.
After numerous near misses, the Tar Heels trailed at halftime despite outshooting the Eagles 9–2, including a 4–1 edge in shots on goal.
UNC’s Bella Sember had three shots in a flurry during the 85th minute but couldn’t score.
Boston College got off only one second-half shot.
NOTES — Freshman forward Olivia Thomas played for the first time since Sept. 10 after missing nine games with a calf injury. … Carolina played without leading scorer Avery Patterson and its top defender Maycee Bell. … The Tar Heels lead the all-time series with BC 22–1–1.
No. 3 UNC 1, Boston College 1
ACC standings
| Team | Points | ACC | All |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 1 Florida State | 28 | 9–0–1 | 14–0–1 |
| No. 11 Notre Dame | 23 | 7–1–2 | 11–2–4 |
| No. 8 Clemson | 22 | 7–2–1 | 13–2–3 |
| No. 3 North Carolina | 20 | 5–0–5 | 10–0–8 |
| Pittsburgh | 19 | 6–3–1 | 13–4–1 |
| Wake Forest | 16 | 4–2–4 | 10–2–5 |
| Virginia | 13 | 3–3–4 | 8–3–6 |
| Virginia Tech | 12 | 4–6–0 | 7–8–3 |
| Louisville | 11 | 3–5–2 | 4–9–5 |
| Duke | 9 | 2–5–3 | 6–7–3 |
| N.C. State | 9 | 2–5–3 | 3–9–6 |
| Miami | 7 | 2–7–1 | 3–10–4 |
| Boston College | 4 | 0–6–4 | 3–9–6 |
| Syracuse | 1 | 0–9–1 | 2–14–2 |
Thursday’s games
No. 3 North Carolina 1, Boston College 1
Wake Forest 2, Miami 0
Louisville 1, Duke 0
No. 1 Florida State 5, N.C. State 0
Pittsburgh 2, Virginia Tech 1
Virginia 4, Syracuse 0
No. 11 Notre Dame 2, No. 8 Clemson 0
ACC tournament
Sunday’s first-round games
(6 seed) Wake Forest at (3 seed) No. 8 Clemson, 6 p.m., ACCN
(5 seed) Pittsburgh at (4 seed) No. 3 North Carolina, 8 p.m., ACCN
Semifinals in Cary, Thursday, Nov. 2
Clemson-Wake Forest winner vs. (2 seed) No. 11 Notre Dame, 5:30 p.m., ACCN
UNC-Pittsburgh winner vs. (1 seed) No. 1 Florida State, 8 p.m., ACCN
Championship in Cary, Sunday, Nov. 5
Noon, ESPNU
| Date | Month/day | Time/ score | Opponent (current rankings) | Record/ TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August | ||||
| 5 | Wednesday | W, 1–0 | vs. South Carolina | Exhib. |
| 13 | Thursday | W, 4–0 | vs. Fairfield | 1–0 |
| 16 | Sunday | W, 8–0 | vs. Quinnipiac | 2–0 |
| 20 | Thursday | W, 2–0 | at Arkansas | 3–0 |
| 23 | Sunday | L, 3–2 | vs. No. 5 Michigan State | 3–1 |
| 28 | Friday | 2 p.m. ET | at Shebourne FC (Dublin friendly) | |
| September | ||||
| 3 | Thursday | 10 p.m. ET | at Arizona | ESPN+ |
| 6 | Sunday | 1 p.m. ET | at Arizona State | ESPN+ |
| 10 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | vs. California | |
| 13 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | vs. NJIT | |
| 17 | Thursday | 8 p.m. | vs. No. 2 Duke | ACCN |
| 20 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | vs. Alcorn State | |
| 25 | Friday | 7 p.m. | at No. 13 Virginia | |
| October | ||||
| 2 | Friday | 6 p.m. | vs. No. 8 Notre Dame | ACCN |
| 9 | Friday | 7 p.m. | at No. 3 Florida State | ESPNU |
| 15 | Thursday | 8 p.m. | at No. 24 Clemson | ACCN |
| 18 | Sunday | 3:30 | at Wake Forest | ACCN |
| 23 | Friday | 6 p.m. | vs. No. 1 Stanford | ACCN |
| 29 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | vs. SMU | |
| November | ||||
| 5 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | at Louisville | |
| 8, 12, 15 | Sunday, Thur., Sun. | ACC tournament | Semifinals, final in Cary | |
| NCAA tournament | (first four rounds at campus sites) | |||
| 20-22 | Fri.-Sun | First round | ||
| 26 | Thursday | Second round | ||
| 29 | Sunday | Third round | ||
| December | ||||
| 4, 5 | Fri., Sat. | Quarterfinals | ||
| 10, 13 | Thur., Sun. | Women’s College Cup Cary |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics Communications
