Oct. 20, 2005

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Senior midfielder Kacey White scored on a penalty kick in the 31st minute and senior goalkeeper Aly Winget made two critical saves in the 77th and 78th minutes as the No. 3 North Carolina women's soccer team edged NC State 1-0 Thursday night before 1,362 fans at Fetzer Field. The Tar Heels improved to 16-1 on the season and 8-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference while NC State fell to 6-10 overall and 2-6 in the ACC.

Both teams had numerous chances to score in the match but the only goal resulted from a foul by a Wolfpack defender on UNC senior forward Lindsay Tarpley in the 31st minute at the top of the box. Kacey White then stepped up and sent the penalty kick into the lower right of the goal past Wolfpack goalkeeper Kim Selz and that goal ended up being the game-winner. It is the second straight match for UNC in which White has scored the game-winner on a penalty kick and she has now converted all seven of her penalty kicks over the past two seasons, including four this year.

With No. 8 Virginia's 1-0 loss at Boston College Thursday night, the Tar Heels also clinched the No. 1 seed in the upcoming ACC Tournament in Cary, N.C., November 2-6. Carolina can now finish no worse than a tie for first place in the regular season standings and the Tar Heels hold the tiebreaker against the Cavaliers after a 2-1 overtime victory over Virginia on October 6 in Chapel Hill. No. 6 Duke's 1-0 loss at Clemson Thursday night also precluded the chance for a three-way tie at the top of the standings amongst UNC, Virginia and Duke which would have led to different tie-breaking procedures.

Thursday's match was marked by solid goalkeeping play on both sides. Wolfpack goalkeeper Kim Selz recorded eight saves on the 15 shots by the Tar Heels against her including one-on-one saves against Elizabeth Guess in the first half and Jamie Gilbert in the second half.

Freshman Anna Rodenbough made her second straight start and played the first half for Carolina, recording one save. Senior Aly Winget came on in the second half and made four saves, including two on tremendous scoring chances for the Wolfpack late in the match. At 76:06, Ashleah Dingle got behind the UNC defense for a breakaway against Winget but her shot which was headed for the upper left corner was knocked over the cross bar by Winget. Just a little over a minute later off a Wolfpack corner kick, Tami Krzeszewski had a point blank shot from the left side of the box that Winget again got a hand on send over the crossbar. NC State's final shot on goal came at the 89:02 mark when Winget made a save on a strike by NC State's Mandela Schumacher-Hodge just after Tarpley had just missed on an open opportunity in the box at the other end, pushing her shot just to the outside of the right post.

The Tar Heels played the match minus two starters. Junior forward Heather O'Reilly is training with the U.S. National Team this week as it prepares to play a friendly against Mexico on Sunday in Charleston, S.C. Senior midfielder Lori Chalupny missed her second straight match because of a headache. Chalupny suffered a concussion earlier in the season and as a precautionary measure she has sat on the sidelines for UNC's matches against Virginia Tech October 16 and NC State October 20. Prior to last Sunday, Chalupny had not missed a match since the second round of the NCAA Tournament her freshman year in 2002. Her status for return to the lineup remains day-to-day.

Carolina will now have eight days off before playing No. 23 Wake Forest on Friday, October 28 at Spry Soccer Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C. in North Carolina's final regular-season match. A win for the Tar Heels in that match would clinch an outright ACC regular season title for UNC for the 16th time in the last 19 years.