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The High Point University women’s soccer team will travel to Chapel Hill, N.C., to take on defending national champion North Carolina in the first round of the 2009 NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship Friday at 5 p.m. This is the Panthers third time competing in the NCAA tournament since joining Division I in 1999 and their second in three seasons.
High Point won the Big South Championship in both 2003 and 2007 and HPU has faced North Carolina in both trips to the Women’s Soccer Championship. The Tar Heels won both meetings between the two squads, besting High Point by a score of 8-0 in 2003 and 6-1 in 2007.
HPU reached the NCAA tournament with an improbable run through the 2009 Big South Women’s Soccer Championship. The Panthers opened the tournament with a 2-0 win over the No. 2 seed, Gardner-Webb. Sophomores
Katie Taber (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport) and
Laura Shupe (Cary, N.C./Green Hope) each scored in the second half to pick up the win for High Point. In the semifinals, junior
Jillie Johnston (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) headed home her first goal of the season in the 99th minute of play to break a scoreless tie and give HPU the 1-0 win in overtime over defending Big South Champion Radford. The championship game against Winthrop finished in a scoreless tie and went into a penalty kick shootout to determine the winner. Senior goalkeeper
Marisa Abbott (Troy, N.Y./Tamarac) made two saves in the shootout and Shupe buried the clinching PK to give the Panthers the Big South Championship.
Abbott and the High Point defense recorded three straight shutouts in the tournament, holding their three opponents scoreless through 299 minutes of soccer. Abbott was named Tournament MVP for her performance in net throughout the tournament and her two saves in the penalty shootout. Johnston and sophomore defenders
Brielle Spencer (Lynchburg, Va./Heritage) and
Danniel Rosado (Albuquerque, N.M./Albuquerque Academy) joined Abbott on the All-Tournament team.
North Carolina enters the NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship as the No. 4-ranked team in the country and a No. 1 seed in the tournament. The Tar Heels earned their spot in the championship by winning the ACC Conference Tournament, defeating Florida State, 3-0, in the championship game. UNC is 17-3-1 this season and 9-0-0 at home. Returning National Player of the Year and All-American Casey Nogueira leads the team with 22 points and is tied with junior forward Jessica McDonald for the team lead in goals with eight. Senior All-American midfielder Tobin Heath and sophomore Courtney Jones each have seven assists to lead the team.
The Tar Heels are a suffocating defensive squad which has allowed just 10 goals in 21 games this season. Senior defender Whitney Engen was named to the Top Drawer Soccer.com first-team All-America squad for her work on the backline in front of UNC senior goalie Ashlyn Harris, one of the top keepers in the country. Harris has gone 15-3-1 in net this season with a 0.44 goals-against average and an. 826 save percentage. She has recorded eight clean sheets in her final collegiate season.