Provo, UT –
If you believe in miracles, then that’s exactly what the sold out crowd of 3,487 fans witnessed on Black Friday on November 24th as Top-seeded BYU women’s soccer pulled off the largest come-from-behind on South Field taking down No. 3 seed North Carolina 4-3.
The Cougars scored four second half goals enroute to their largest deficit comeback victory on South Field in program history.
Bella Folino was the women of the match, scoring two goals the first goal for BYU in the 61st minute and the equaliser in the 82nd minute.
Olivia Wade-Katoa scored the game-winning goal in the 89th minute keeping BYU’s national championship run alive.
The Tar Heels were in full control with a 3-0 in the first half. BYU all season has had issues conceding early goals and conceding those goals on their home field. Maycee Bell was the recipient of that earlier goal as the Tar Heels took a 1-0 lead in the 2nd minute of the game.
Things unravelled more for BYU as North Carolina’s Ally Senator added two more goals in the 9th and 20th minute.
North Carolina has had issues in past finishing matches and conceding back to last season. Last year, they defeated BYU in the Sweet 16 and went on to make the national championship, but ultimately finished as the runner-up due to conceding a late comeback win from the Bruins.
Well, that dejavu happened again, but this time it would take place at South Field where BYU had the home crowd advantage. Puzzled looks on all the Tar Heels coaching staff, players and athletic trainers as BYU scored four unanswered goals.
North Carolina women’s soccer head coach Anson Dorrance is the most respected coach in all of women’s soccer and his program is standard. But the ultimate question will be did he make a mistake in taking his foot off the gas subbing in seven players in the 31st minute.
BYU had five under-classmen finish the last 25 minutes of the first half, which is uncharacteristic of head coach Jennifer Rockwood. However, that was an opportunity for BYU to reset and make the adjustments it needed to defeat the top tier North Carolina program.
Brecken Mozingo cut the Tar Heel lead to one with a corner kick that went in. No Tar Heel defender picked up the set piece and by the time it got cleared it had already crossed the goal line.
Mozingo also assisted on Wade-Katoa’s goal that gave BYU the lead in the last minute of play.
The Cougars now advance to their second College Cup semifinal in three years where they will face No. 2 seed Stanford on Friday December 1st in Cary, North Carolina.
