No. 4 UNC Tops Liberty 23-1

LYNCHBURG, Va. – Sophomore Ava Rajala notched Liberty's lone goal as No. 4 North Carolina bested the Lady Flames 23-1 on Sunday afternoon. Liberty (0-2) managed a single fourth-quarter goal in its home opener against the Tar Heels (2-0).

UNC began the game with an 11-goal first quarter, spurned by five first-quarter tallies from Chloe Humphrey. The Tar Heels held a 21-0 lead in the fourth quarter before Liberty earned its first and only score at the 6:26 mark.

Liberty's Ava Rajala netted her second goal of the season by sneaking a shot as she was rounding the back of the crease.

The Tar Heels unleashed 38 shots against Liberty with 30 going on goal. The Lady Flames managed seven shots with four on goal.

UNC improves to 5-0 against Liberty, including outscoring the Lady Flames 42-7 across the past two contests.

Liberty Goals: Ava Rajala 1

North Carolina Goals: Chloe Humphrey 5; Kiley Mottice 4; Darcy Felter 3; Addison
Pattillo 3; Marissa White 2; Eliza Osburn 1; Julia O'Connor 1; Nicole Humphrey
1; Sophie Student 1; Brooklyn Walker Welch 1; Sam Forrest 1

North Carolina Assists: Reilly Casey 4; Kate Levy 4; Kiley Mottice 2; Olivia Vergano 2; Ashley
Humphrey 1; Chloe Humphrey 1; Julia O'Connor 1; Eliza Osburn 1

Goalkeepers

Liberty: L – Rachel Hines (0-2, six saves, 45:00 minutes)
Mara Tellers (one save, 15:00 minutes)

North Carolina: W -- Betty Nelson, one save, 30:00 minutes)
Lexi Zink (two saves, 19:28 minutes)
Alecia Nicholas (no saves, 10:32 minutes)

Turning Point
The Tar Heels came out fast to begin the contest with 11 goals in the opening quarter. Four of the first six goals of the game were notched by UNC's Chloe Humphrey, who finished with five goals. Her six total goals for the game all came in the first quarter, in the opening 12 minutes.

First Half Summary

The Tar Heels finished the first quarter with an 11-0 lead and were held to four goals in the second quarter.
Liberty goalkeeper Rachel Hines managed three saves in the first quarter on 16 shots.
Liberty was outshot 25-4 in the first half.

Second Half Summary

UNC scored four goals in both the third and fourth quarters on 15 total shots.
Despite holding UNC to 13 shots, Liberty made three total shots in the second half.

Lady Flames News & Notes

Despite three attempts, Liberty did not convert a free-position goal.
Three Lady Flames, Rajala, Taiva Reinertson and Olivia Young, recorded multiple shots.
Goalkeeper Rachel Hines has recorded 20 saves across two games against top-10 opponents (13 vs No. 9 Virginia Friday).

Up Next
Liberty (0-2) prepares for its second road game of the season, traveling to Richmond to take on VCU (0-1) on Saturday, Feb. 15. The matchup will be streamed on ESPN+ live from Cary Street Field at 1 p.m.

Schedule

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Team Stats

Ava Rajala

Leah Watson

Blakely Doyle

Karlie Hickson

Players Mentioned

Rachel Hines

Ava Rajala

Taiva Reinertson

Mara Tellers

Olivia Young