Sept. 9, 2007

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The sixth-ranked University of North Carolina women's tallied three goals in the final 18 minutes of the game to pull away from Yale University, beating the Bulldogs 4-0 Sunday afternoon to claim the championship of the annual Carolina Nike Classic. Junior transfer Allie Long from Northport, N.Y. scored twice for the Tar Heels and junior midfielder Yael Averbuch of Upper Montclair, N.J., earned two assists with corner kicks that led to UNC goals as the Tar Heels improved to 2-1 on the season.

In the earlier game on Sunday, No. 3 Texas A&M blanked Duke 2-0 as the tournament ended with UNC going 2-0, Duke and Texas A&M both 1-1 and Yale 0-2. On Friday night Duke had beaten Yale 1-0 and Carolina had bested Texas A&M 2-1.

After losing its season opener last Saturday against South Carolina, the Tar Heels came back strong this weekend defensively, allowing on seven shots and one goal in the two games combined. Meanwhile, the offense picked it up on Sunday to allow the Heels to extend their lead in the late stages of the game after Long had put the Tar Heels ahead in the first half on a penalty kick. Carolina's offense on Friday night had come from a pair of reserves with freshman striker Meghan Klingenberg and junior forward Sterling Smith scoring the goals.

On Sunday, Carolina opened the scoring at 31:48 when Allie Long tallied on a penalty kick, earning her first goal ever in a Tar Heel uniform after transferring from Penn State this past summer. Junior forward Mandy Moraca was taken down from behind in the left side of the box and Long stepped up and powered the penalty kick into the lower left side for a 1-0 lead. It was the second straight game in which Moraca had helped set up a goal. On Friday, she had an assist on Smith's game-winning goal against A&M after Moraca's initial shot was saved by the Aggies' goalkeeper.

After leading 1-0 at the half and outshooting the Dogs 10-3 in the first half, the Tar Heels pounded away at the Yale goal in the second half, outshooting the Bulldogs 18-1 in the second 45 minutes. Ayana Sumiyasu had come on at halftime in the goal for the Bulldogs, replacing starter Susan Starr. While allowing three second-half goals, Sumiyasu prevented the damage from being much worse, making 10 second-half saves.

In the 73rd minute, the Heels extended their lead to 2-0 on the first goal of the season by senior center back Jessica Maxwell. It was the senior All-America's second goal of her career and the first since October 10, 2003 when she scored against NC State in a 4-1 Tar Heel win at Fetzer Field. Yael Averbuch took a corner kick from the right side that went far post where Maxwell was able to chest the ball to the ground and then pounce on it and jam it in the back of the net.

Carolina got another goal on a similar corner kick opportunity by Averbuch at 86:43 of the game. Averbuch's kick this time went near post where Allie Long headed it past Sumiayasu for a 3-0 Tar Heel lead.

The Tar Heels finished off the scoring at 88:53 as sophomore forward Casey Nogueira dribbled a ball up the left side on a break, deked her defenders and then nailed a ball far post from the 20-yard line that glanced off the outstretched fingers of Sumiayasu before settling into the side netting. The goal was Nogueira's first this season and her fifth career goal.

Individual team Most Valuable Players for the four tournament teams were Sumiayasu for Yale, Long for Carolina, senior forward Ashlee Pistorious for Texas A&M and junior midfielder Lorraine Quinn for Duke.

The Tar Heels ended the game with a 28-4 edge in shots and a 11-2 advantage in corner kicks. Ashlyn Harris played the first 45 minutes in goal for UNC while Anna Rodenbough played the second 45 minutes. UNC had one team save and Harris made an individual save. Starr had four saves for Yale to go along with Sumiyasu's 10.

The Tar Heels play three games this week in a five-day span. The Heels are at UNC Greensboro Wednesday night at 7 p.m., at VCU Friday night at 7 p.m. and then they go up against William & Mary next Sunday at 3 p.m. in a match played at VCU as part of the VCU/Ewing Sports Invitational.