Trip To The Women’s College Cup On The Line At Notre Dame

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Second-seeded North Carolina will travel to South Bend, Ind. on Saturday to face ACC rival and top-seeded Notre Dame in the quarterfinals of the 2022 NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship at 5 p.m. The winner will advance to College Cup in Cary, N.C., and face either Florida State or Arkansas in the national semifinals on Dec. 2.

This will be the first meeting of the season between the Tar Heels and Fighting Irish.

The Tar Heels advanced to the quarterfinals with 3-2 victory over No. 6 seed BYU a week ago behind two goals from freshman Maddie Dahlien and three assists by junior Avery Patterson. Junior Talia Dellaperuta scored the opening goal of the match in the 13th minute, her second consecutive game with a goal. Notre Dame reached the round of eight with a 2-0 win over TCU on Sunday.

The Tar Heels are playing a quarterfinal match on the road for the first time since 2012 when they defeated No. 1 seed BYU in Provo, 2-1 in double overtime. Each of their last five quarterfinal matches have been in either Cary or Chapel Hill.

Beginning with the 2005 tournament, the bracket was set up in quadrants with each quadrant having its own No. 1-4 seeds with seeds 5-8 added in 2022. UNC was a No. 2 seed in 2012, ’14, ’16, and ’21. The Heels advanced to the College Cup as a No. 2 seed in 2012 and ’16, winning the national championship in 2012. The Tar Heels are 17-4-1 as a No. 2 seed in the quadrant seeding.

Since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 2001, Carolina has a record of 11-2 in NCAA quarterfinal matches with an overall round-of-eight record of 30-2 since 1982.

THE SERIES

• UNC leads the all-time series with Notre Dame, 22-7-3. The Irish are one of only three schools with more than four wins against the Tar Heels (Florida State 11, Santa Clara 6).

• Saturday’s match will mark the 11th postseason match between Carolina and the Fighting Irish. UNC is 7-3 versus Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament. Oddly enough, UNC is 0-3 against the Irish in Chapel Hill, but 7-0 in neutral-site games.

• This will be the only third postseason meeting between the Tar Heels and Fighting Irish prior to the College Cup (national semifinals/finals). UND recorded third-round wins over UNC in 2007 and 2010.

LAST TIME WE MET

Avery Patterson headed home the winning goal 40 seconds into the second overtime to give North Carolina a 2-1 win over Notre Dame, the 900th win for head coach Anson Dorrance and the Tar Heel women’s soccer program, in UNC’s 2021 regular…