COLUMBUS, OHIO – Amber Brooks, Kealia Ohai and Emmalie Pfankuch scored goals and Adelaide Gay recorded her first career shutout as top-ranked North Carolina remained undefeated with a 3-0 victory over 18^th-ranked Ohio State at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.

 

The matchup between the Tar Heels (4-0) and the 2010 NCAA semifinalist Buckeyes was played on a soggy field in Columbus after several rainstorms swept through the area on Sunday.

 

The sloppy conditions did not deter the Tar Heels, who outshot the Buckeyes 17-9, including 5-3 in shots on goal.  The corner kicks numbers favored Ohio State 8-5.  Adelaide Gay made her second career start for the Tar Heels and earned her first career shutout in a Carolina Blue uniform, making three saves.  A save by Gay in the 55^th minute proved to be a key turning point in the game as it kept the score at 1-0 in favor of UNC before the Tar Heels put the game away with two more scores.

 

Amber Brooks got the first half goal for UNC, her first of the year, on a free kick.  Kealia Ohai and Emmalie Pfankuch each scored their second goals of the season in the second half to allow the Tar Heels some separation.

 

In the first half, the Tar Heels created multiple scoring chances off their possession game while Ohio State originated dangerous opportunities off four corner kicks.

 

Paige Maxwell had a header off a corner kick by Kendyl Reed blocked by the Tar Heel defense in just the second minute of the game in one of those chances for the Buckeyes.  Meanwhile, the Tar Heels had five shots in the first 25 minutes but none were on the frame of the goal.   Meg Morris had the best opportunity of that group as she stole a ball in the defensive end, sprinted the length of the field and sent her shot from distance just over the cross bar.

 

Katie Baumgardner of the Buckeyes made her first save of the match in the 26^th minute on a free kick by Courtney Jones.  Just over a minute later Jones found Kealia Ohai in the box but Ohai’s shot, while closely marked, went just wide right from about 10 yards out.  Thirty minutes in the Buckeyes got their first shot on goal as Aly Walker’s header was snared by UNC goalkeeper Adelaide Gay, making her second career start.

 

The Tar Heels took the lead at 34:21 after Crystal Dunn was taken down less than a yard outside of the penalty area in the center of the field.  UNC junior midfielder Amber Brooks stepped up and sent her free kick into the back into the right side of the goal.  The ball deflected off a defender and Baumgardner got her hands on it but was unable to control the strike.  It was Brooks’ first goal of the season and her first since scoring against James Madison in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on November 14, 2010.

 

Ohio State nearly tied the game in the 41^st minute when a corner kick by Kendyl Reed was pinged around by both teams in the box before Kelly McFarlane cleared the ball off the line for the Tar Heels.

 

The Buckeyes (4-2) came out with the momentum in the second half, taking the first three shots of the period.  Gay made her second save of the game at the 54:12 mark as Paige Maxwell’s shot from 18 yards out was tipped by Gay off the cross bar for a corner kick.  The Buckeyes got two more shots in the flurry off the corner kick as Maxwell and Tiffany Cameron both had shots go wide.

 

Having survived OSU’s initial burst of second half energy, the Tar Heels seized a 2-0 lead on a brilliant individual play by sophomore Kealia Ohai.   The forward from Utah used her speed to dribble by her defender on the left side of the box where she finished to the far post from 15 yards out.  The goal at 58:28 extended UNC’s lead to 2-0.

 

The Tar Heels kept up the attack, peppering the Buckeyes net with five shots over a 10-minute span including one by Courtney Jones at the 66-minute mark that Baumgardner had to make a nifty save on.  Eventually the Tar Heels broke through again at the 77:12 mark.  After a foul by the Buckeyes and a service into the box, Elizabeth Burchenal scrapped for a loose ball, winning a 50-50 chance from her defender, and toe poked it over to Emmalie Pfankuch who finished into the right side from four yards out.  Pfankuch earned her second goal of the season as she has already matched her entire total from the 2010 campaign.

 

Gay preserved her shutout with a save on a shot by Colleen Brady at the 88:18 mark, diving to her right to snuff out the attempt from 18 yards away and keep the clean sheet in place.

 

The Tar Heels will return to action on Friday, September 9 when they travel to Durham, N.C. for action in the 2011 Duke Nike Classic.  Friday’s action will see UNC meet UNC Greensboro at 2 p.m. followed by Duke versus Texas A&M at 4 p.m.  The two teams will trade opponents on Sunday with Carolina meet Texas A&M at noon and Duke meeting UNCG at 2:30 p.m.  Those two matches will mark the final two non-conference games of the season for Coach Anson Dorrance’s team.  Conference play begins Friday, September 16 when NC State visits Fetzer Field for a 7 p.m. game.