CHAPEL HILL – Senior Christina Juras scored the game-winner at the 2:52 mark of the second overtime to give North Carolina a 9-8 victory over two-time defending NCAA champion Northwestern on Saturday afternoon at Fetzer Field in the season opener for both teams.

Juras's sudden victory goal came just eight seconds after freshman Jenn Russell won the draw control that began the second three-minute portion of the second overtime. Russell won the draw and fed the ball to Juras, who sped down the field for the unassisted goal, putting it past goalkeeper Morgan Lathrop for the win.

Three different Tar Heels scored two goals apiece — Juras, Russell and Jess Allen. Chelsea Parks tallied a goal and an assist, while Meg Freshwater and Erica LaGrow both scored once for UNC. Hannah Nielsen and Meredith Frank both had two goals and an assist for the Wildcats, and Hilary Bowen had two goals as well. With the victory, Carolina improved to 1-0 this season. Northwestern fell to 0-1.

Carolina held a 13-9 edge in draw controls, including a 7-4 edge in the second half as UNC fought back from a 6-3 deficit with 25:08 to play to force overtime.

In the first half, the Wildcats grabbed a 3-0 lead in the first 18 minutes, with Frank scoring twice and Bowen once. Carolina cut the lead to two with a Meg Freshwater free position goal with 9:59 left before the break. Aly Josephs would score less than a minute later for Northwestern before Russell scored an unassisted UNC goal to make it 4-2 at the break.

Parks scored at the 26:26 mark of the second half to make it 4-3 before back-to-back goals from Nielsen in a 52-second span made it 6-3 Wildcats. Three straight Tar Heel goals from Russell, Allen and Juras tied the score at 6-6 with 16:52 left in regulation. The two teams traded goals the rest of the way in the second half. LaGrow's unassisted goal with 1:02 left evened the score at 8-8 and forced overtime.

Neither team scored in the first six-minute overtime, forcing the sudden victory second overtime period during which Juras scored her game-winner.

The Tar Heels will return to action on Friday Feb. 23 when they host Oregon at Fetzer Field.

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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Top-ranked Northwestern (0-1) suffered a heartbreaking 9-8 loss in double overtime at No. 4 North Carolina (1-0) this afternoon. Sophomore Hannah Nielsen led the Wildcats with four points on two goals and two assists. Classmate Morgan Lathrop made 10 saves in goal.

After both teams went scoreless through the first overtime, UNC notched the game-winner when Christina Juras scored on an unassisted goal with 2:52 left in the period.

Northwestern jumped out to a 3-0 lead with two goals from Meredith Frank and one from Hilary Bowen. UNC finally got on the board with 9:59 left when Meg Freshwater scored on a free position shot. As was the case all afternoon, the 'Cats came right back when Aly Josephs quickly scored unassisted less than a minute later. UNC's Jenn Russell then made it 4-2 at halftime with an unassisted goal of her own with 1:49 left in the half.

In the second half, UNC cut the margin to one on a free position goal by Chelsea Parks three and half minutes into the period. But the Wildcats would answer quickly once again when Nielsen scored unassisted 26 seconds later and then again less than a minute after that to make it 6-3 in favor of Northwestern.

After that, UNC scored three unanswered goals to tie the game. After the third goal, Northwestern again scored in the blink of an eye when Bowen grabbed the draw control and scored 17 seconds later to give NU the one-point lead right back, 7-6.

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2007-02-17