DURHAM, N.C. – Sophomores Amber Munerlyn and Joanna Boyles linked up on a brilliant scoring play in the third minute of the second overtime period to power #14 North Carolina past #7 Penn State Friday night in women’s soccer action at Koskinen Stadium.

Munerlyn’s goal, the third of her career, came at the 102:07 mark of the match and it gave the Tar Heels a much-needed win over a Top 10 team.  The match was played before 1,249 fans as part of the annual Duke Nike Classic.

It was Boyles’ first career assist.  From 10 yards on her defensive side of the midfield, she lofted a perfect ball over the Penn State defensive line.  Munerlyn timed her run perfectly and sprang free from the last PSU defenders.  She dribbled into the right side of the penalty area before sending a low shot with pace into the left side netting past sprawling Penn State goalkeeper Britt Eckerstrom.

With the win, Carolina improves to 2-2-1 on the season while Penn State fell from the ranks of the unbeaten and is now 3-1.  Carolina has won the last six meetings between the two teams, including the 2012 NCAA championship game in San Diego, Calif., when both teams were composed of almost entirely different personnel.

Both teams had some excellent chances to score throughout the evening but Eckerstrom kept the Tar Heels off the scoreboard with 10 saves.  Her best stops were on shots by Paige Nielsen at 36:20 and by Joanna Boyles at 96:35 when both times she tipped curving shots by the Tar Heel players over the cross bar for corner kicks.

UNC ended the match with 23 shots, including 11 on frame.  UNC also had an edge in corner kicks 9-3.  Penn State took 15 shots in the match and was in some ways its own worst enemy as it sent several excellent looks in the penalty area high above the bar, some missing by just inches.  Altogether, Penn State put only three of its 15 attempts on target.  Carolina goalkeepers Bryane Heaberlin and Lindsey Harris combined on the Tar Heels’ third shared shutout of the season.  Heaberlin did not face a shot on goal in the first half and Harris had to make three stops after halftime while facing a total of 12 Penn State tries.

Munerlyn’s goal was a particularly welcome sight for a Tar Heel team that has played three Top 10 teams and another Top 20 foe so far this season and struggled to score against them.  The Tar Heels had gone 329:33 since Megan Buckingham had scored at the 72:34 mark of UNC’s 1-0 win over Ohio State on August 24 before Munerlyn notched her goal 102:07 in Friday’s match.  That 329-minute streak was the longest scoreless string for the Tar Heels in their history.

The Tar Heels had been shutout in the past two matches, a 0-0 tie at #1 UCLA last Friday, and a 1-0 loss at #17 Pepperdine last Sunday.  That marked only the third time in history Carolina had been blanked in back-to-back matches in the same season.  Thanks to Munerlyn’s heroics on Friday, history was not made in that regard.  UNC has never been shutout in three straight games dating back to the start of the program in 1979.

Carolina, which has already played #6 Stanford, #1 UCLA, #17 Pepperdine and #7 Penn State, will have 36 hours to rest on its laurels before it meets #18-ranked Arkansas Sunday at 12 noon at the Duke Nike Classic at Koskinen Stadium.  The game will be nationally televised on ESPN3 and broadcast locally on WCHL Radio (97.9 FM, ChapelBoro.com).

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