No. 4-seeded Penn State women’s soccer (15-7-3, 5-4-2 Big Ten) lost 2-1 and had its season ended in an overtime match against No. 2-seeded UNC (16-5, 7-3 ACC) in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals on Friday night.

Right from the start, two great teams went to battle. Chance after chance fell both ways, with Penn State finding the back of the net first in the 14th minute through Katie Scott. Penn State thought it had doubled its lead a few minutes later, but the goal was ruled offsides after a long look at the rule book and the replay. As the first half dwindled, the Tar Heels had constant chances to equalize, but the game remained 1-0 at the break.

The second half went much worse for the Nittany Lions, who conceded three minutes in. Tied at 1-1, the Tar Heels had a lot more opportunities to take the lead, but Penn State’s defense held strong and the match went into overtime.

Eight minutes into the first period of overtime, the Tar Heels ended the game with a goal off a corner kick. North Carolina advanced to its 32nd College Cup.

How It Happened

North Carolina had the first look at goal in the match less than two minutes in. An out-swinging call from the wing found Maddie Dahlien’s foot in the box. The shot went wide, but North Carolina continued the pressure in the opening minutes.

Finally beating the Tar Heel press, Amelia White went around her defender before attempting a pass to Kaitlyn MacBean, but the forward was sitting offsides and the whistle was blown.

In the ninth minute, Jordan Fusco won a free kick from a dangerous position. The ensuing delivery was right to Mieke Schiemann, whose shot was deflected onto the crossbar by the North Carolina goalie, Clare Gagne.

With 31 minutes left in the first half, a beautiful build-up from Penn State led to Scott’s second goal of the season and a 1-0 lead. The freshman midfielder went on an excellent run down the right-hand side of the field and slotted home a composed finish from the edge of the box. This was the first time North Carolina had been scored on in the 2024 NCAA tournament.

2⃣5⃣7⃣1⃣9⃣

1H | 15:30 | PSU 1, UNC 0#WeAre pic.twitter.com/rc3UUG1lwv

— Penn State Women’s Soccer (@PennStateWSOC) November 29, 2024

Five minutes later, Mackenzie Gress made a huge save for Penn State. The subsequent corner saw North Carolina take another shot but this time, it went wide.

As time rolled on in the first half, the game opened up and became one of the more exciting college soccer games this season, resulting in constant chances for both sides.

North Carolina’s best opportunity came in the 30th minute when Olivia Thomas took an impressive shot from inside the box. Gress was well positioned, though, and deflected it out of harm’s way.

The following counter-attack led to a Penn State freekick outside the 18-yard box. Schiemann took the shot, but she couldn’t get it over the wall. The ball was cleared until a missed touch by one of the Tar Heel defenders found the German alone with MacBean in a scoring position.

Schiemann squared the ball and MacBean scored, but the line judge ruled it offsides. It went through a very lengthy review and was kept as a non-goal. Despite it hitting off the UNC player it was ruled to be an accidental touch, therefore not playing Schiemann onside.

The first booking of the game went to Rowan Lapi. A slightly late tackle caught Aria Nagai on the ankle and a yellow card was shown. Similar to Penn State’s last chance, the original service was ineffective but eventually, a North Carolina shot found a way through and rattled the post.

The ensuing corner led to another review this time for a Tar Heel penalty. On the field, it was ruled a goal kick, and the referee agreed after watching the play again on the video review board.

An exciting first half ended 1-0 in favor of the Nittany Lions.

To start the second half, Penn State dropped very deep. Its wingbacks were playing more as traditional outside backs and its holding midfielders dropped into the half spaces just in front of the back three. This gave the Tar Heels a lot of space in the midfield.

Bella Gaetino took advantage of the space less than four minutes into the half, equalizing from outside of the box. At 1-1 Penn State opened itself back up.

Regardless, the Tar Heels had the momentum following the equalizer, and the Nittany Lions struggled to get touches in the attacking half. Through 15 minutes of the second half, Penn State didn’t record a shot.

In the 63rd minute, the Tar Heels received their first yellow card of the match. Nagai was put into the book, and Penn State finally had an offensive stint. It did not last long, though, and again Penn State was held without a shot.

With 25 minutes remaining Fusco took a chance from outside the 18-yard box, but it went well wide.

Penn State found its rhythm five minutes later and started to dominate the ball. A lot of short passing around the back line allowed Penn State to rest while in possession. Eventually, a Fusco foul gave the ball back to the Tar Heels.

A second yellow card was given to North Carolina for retaliating to a Katie Scott foul in the 74th minute. The call went to a review for a potential red card. The referee decided to keep it as a yellow with yet another huge decision going the way of UNC.

With six minutes left in regulation, Kate Faasse had a contested header in the six-yard box, but could not bring the shot below the bar.

The final minutes were true playoff soccer with foul after foul. Both teams were talking trash but neither could find the game-winner.

Overtime in the NCAA tournament is two 10-minute golden goal periods. Penalties follow if no goal is scored.

With under three minutes to play in the first section of overtime, North Carolina won a corner and the game. Their leading goal scorer, Faasse, headed the ball home for her 19th of the season.

Takeaways

• The first half was arguably Penn State’s best it had played all year. However, the Nittany Lions couldn’t find the second goal when they had the momentum, and it came back to bite them.
• Penn State only recorded eight shots compared to North Carolina’s 31. That’s not the recipe for success even if you have great finishers up front.
• North Carolina is a perennial powerhouse just like Penn State. At no point did the Tar Heels look rattled or out of place on a national stage. North Carolina deserves a lot of credit for its comeback against a very well-coached and talented Nittany Lions team.

What’s Next?

With Friday’s loss, the Nittany Lions 2024 season ended. The team will travel back to Happy Valley and begin preparations for 2025. See you next year, folks.