Georgia’s promising NCAA run in women’s soccer ends at North Carolina

On Thursday night, the Georgia Bulldogs continued the advancement of the women’s soccer program by making their seventh appearance in the second round of the NCAA women’s soccer tournament and program history.

Georgia faced a difficult task going on the road to face the No. 2-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels and suffered a season-ending, 3-1 loss to the longtime power. North Carolina has long been one of the blue bloods in women’s soccer, as the Tar Heels have won 22 national championships, all 22 of which have come under legendary head coach Anson Dorrance. Thursday’s contest between Georgia and North Carolina was the only second round matchup that featured two national championship head coaches.

In the first year of the Keidane McAlpine era at Georgia, the Bulldogs looked to be victorious over North Carolina for the first time in program history and take a step into the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1998. In order to pull off the upset on the road, Georgia needed senior Dani Murguia and freshman goalkeeper Jordan Brown to continue to play well. Entering play Thursday, Murguia had scored in three consecutive games.

On a frigid night in Chapel Hill, the match got off to a fast start as Georgia squandered a golden scoring opportunity on a cross just 90 seconds into the contest. Early in the match, Georgia’s senior defender Cecily Stoute displayed tremendous defense blocking two Tar Heel shot attempts.

North Carolina struck first in the 23rd minute. The goal was Ally Sentnor’s third of the NCAA tournament. Offensively for Georgia, the Bulldogs struggled to get anything going in the first half. The Bulldogs’ offense only recorded two total shots and zero shots on goal. Georgia trailed 1-0 going into the locker room.

Georgia had a glimmer of hope as the Tar Heels had blown four leads this season. However, in the 51st minute North Carolina extended its lead to 2-0 off a goal from Cumming, Georgia native Tallia Dellaperuta. Ally Sentnor’s second goal of the night in the 57th minute ballooned the North Carolina lead to 3-0.

Georgia showed some life in the 77th minute as a goal from junior Maddison Haugen put the Bulldogs on the board, making the score 3-1 in the late stages of the match. The Bulldogs had several more scoring chances, but the two-goal deficit would prove to be too tall of a mountain to climb, as Georgia fell 3-1.

Despite the loss Thursday night, the foundation for future success was built this season within the Georgia women’s soccer program. The Bulldogs finish the 2022 season with a 13-6-3 record. North Carolina moves on to the Sweet 16 to face BYU on Saturday morning after the Cougars stunned Stanford in penalty kicks.

Kari Hodges