COLLEGE PARK, MD. –  Hayley Brock tied the game with less than four minutes remaining and Becky Kaplan scored the game-winner in overtime as No. 16 Maryland rallied past No. 11 North Carolina 2-1 in women’s soccer action Thursday night before a crowd of 2,126 at Ludwig Field.

The victory lifted the Terrapins to 10-4-4 on the season and 4-4-2 in the ACC while Carolina ends the regular season on a two-match losing streak and is 11-4-1 overall and 6-3-1 in the conference.  The Tar Heels continued to struggle in overtime matches in 2011 as they fell to 1-3-1 on extra time this year.  Prior to this season, UNC had lost only six overtime matches in its soccer history dating back to 1979.

Carolina got off to a good start on Thursday, dominating in the first half with an 11-4 shot edge and a 5-1 advantage in corner kicks.  In the process, the Tar Heels netted their first opening half goal since October 2 as Courtney Jones tallied her fifth goal of the year with 14:08 expired off an assist by Amber Brooks.  Brooks sent a free into the box Courtney Jones headed the ball inside the left post off goalkeeper Yewande Balogun’s hands.

That lead held up until less than four minutes remained in the match.  With 3:53 left in the game, Maryland’s Hayley Brock stole the ball from a UNC defender and finished into the lower left of the goal from 20 yards out.  It was Brock’s fifth goal of the season.

With all the momentum on the Maryland’s side, the Terps scored the golden goal at 97:27 as Kaplan scored her fifth goal of the season off assists by Megan Gibbons and Sade Ayinde.  The ball was slipped through the left side to Kaplan who finished into the lower right corner of the goal by UNC goalkeeper Anna Sieloff.

Maryland outshot the Tar Heels 9-7 in the second half and overtime and had a 4-1 edge in corner kicks after intermission.  UNC had an overall shot edge of 18-13 and a corner kick edge of 6-5.  Balogun finished with five saves for the Terrapins while Adelaide Gay had one save for the Tar Heels in the opening 45 minutes and Anna Sieloff made four saves in the second half and overtime.

After failing to beat the Tar Heels in the first 32 meetings between the two teams, Maryland has now scored back-to-back victories over UNC.  The Terps also beat Carolina 2-1 in the regular-season meeting in Chapel Hill last year.

Carolina finished the ACC standings with 19 points and is the No. 3 seed in the ACC Tournament.  UNC will play host to No. 6 seed Florida State on Sunday in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament at Fetzer Field.  Game time is 1 p.m.  The Carmichael Arena Ticket Office will open at 12 noon for game day ticket sales.

The winner of Sunday’s quarterfinal game will advance to the ACC Tournament semifinals Friday, November 4 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.  Game time will be 7:30 p.m.

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