North Carolina ends IU's season in second round of NCAA Tournament

North Carolina defeated IU 4-0 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in dominating fashion Friday night, eliminating the Hoosiers from NCAA championship contention.

Defending champion North Carolina’s offense kept the Hoosier defenders on their heels throughout most of the game. The Tar Heels managed to get off 23 shots, 10 of which were on goal.

“We played one of the best team’s we’ve seen all year today in a UNC team,” IU Coach Amy Berbary said. “Very dynamic players and that’s the way an NCAA second round game goes.”

After a number of stops by the Hoosier defense, North Carolina senior forward Crystal Dunn broke through to put the Tar Heels on the scoreboard.

Just four minutes after she checked in for the first time in three games, Dunn got the ball inside the box and sent it to the back of the net to go up 1-0.

“She’s one of the best players in the country,” Berbary said of Dunn. “When she came in, the special player that she is, she made it count.”

Dunn’s goal would be the lone score of the first half . The Hoosier offense managed a few threats early on but were not able to capitalize in the final third of the field.

“I thought we put together a good first half there with a couple of chances of our own,” Berbary said. “It was no secret North Carolina was probably going to have most of the possession in the game and we were going to get opportunities.”

Coming out of the half, North Carolina would tally a second goal in the 50th minute when Dunn sent a cross to freshman forward Amber Munerlyn who finished from eight yards out  to increase their the deficit to 2-0.

IU (15-7-1) would not find a goal in response the rest of the game.

The IU offense was stymied by the Tar Heels throughout the night. The Hoosiers managed  to fire off only two shots, neither of which was dangerous enough to have been needed to be saved by the North Carolina goalie.

The Tar Heels would add a third goal in the 80th minute from senior forward Kealia Ohai and a fourth goal in the 86th minute from sophomore midfielder Paige Nielsen to extend the North Carolina lead to 4-0.

After starting the year to be picked by the Big Ten Coaches’ Poll to finishes 12th in the conference, Berbary said she is still happy with the progress the team showed this season and how it might help moving forward.

“We saw one of the best teams in the country and we know how hard we’re going to have to work to get to an elite level,“ she said. “I’m just so proud and thankful for our seniors with the remarkable job they’ve done in helping change the culture of this program in the last nine months.”

The Hoosiers wrap up their 2013 campaign and first season under Berbary as coach having broken the single-season school records for wins (15), goals (43) and assists (46).

“This program has taken a huge step towards what you play college soccer for and this team will be remembered for years to come as the first step into a run deep into the NCAA Tournament,” Berbary said.