Hokie Women’s Soccer Knocks Off #1 UNC

Virginia Tech’s women’s soccer team beat top-ranked UNC Sunday, 1-0
behind a goal by Marika Gray. The win is Tech’s first ever over the Tar Heels,
the most decorated team in women’s soccer, and is just the 34th defeat in 31
years of UNC women’s soccer.

The Tar Heels have won 19 out of 27 national championships dating back to
1982, including two of the last three, and they entered the game against Tech
10-0-1 (3-0-0 ACC). The Hokies came in 9-2-0 (3-0-0 ACC) and unranked, though
Tech did receive votes in the most recent poll.

North Carolina outshot Tech 17-10, including a 10-2 advantage in shots on
goal, but the Hokies made theirs count, netting the only goal of the game 53:06
into the 90-minute match. Tech had previously scored just 46 seconds into the
game, but that goal was wiped out by an offsides call.

Tech goalie Kristin Carden had 10 saves to make the Hokies’ lone goal stand
up.

The win comes against a UNC team that boasts some impressive program
statistics:

• UNC had a 34 match unbeaten streak going into this game
• UNC hadn’t lost an ACC game since Sept. 2007
• UNC has only lost 34 times in their program’s 31 years
• UNC has only lost 8 times in the regular season in their program’s 31
  years
• UNC’s goalie was 3rd in the nation in goals against, only allowing 1 goal
  in 693 minutes

The win for the Hokies comes after a win last Wednesday (Sep. 30th) at #14
Virginia. With their 4-0 conference record, the Hokies sit atop the ACC
standings, tied in the loss column with 3-0 Florida State. This is an impressive
showing so far by the Hokies, who since entering the ACC in 2004 have finished
above .500 overall three times, but have never finished above .500 in conference
play.

For a full game description, see the hokiesports.com link below.