CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — One clean chance was all No. 2 North Carolina needed. Sophomore Bella Devey ran onto a long ball from Izzi Stratton in the 70th minute and finished it at the far post, and the Tar Heels held on to beat No. 7 Stanford 1-0 Friday night at Dorrance Field.
The goal was Devey’s 16th of the season and her sixth game-winner, and she leads the ACC in both. She was the Tar Heels’ most active attacker all night, firing the first shot of the match in the ninth minute and testing the Cardinal again in the 63rd and 68th minutes before she broke through.
North Carolina controlled the first half, outshooting Stanford 7-2 and earning three corners in the opening 11 minutes. Stanford sophomore goalkeeper Caroline Birkel kept it scoreless with four first-half saves and finished with six, tying her career high.
The visitors flipped the script after the break. Stanford launched five shots within 10 minutes of the restart and outshot UNC 10-6 over the final 45 minutes, but Peyton Trayer turned everything away. The Tar Heel keeper made a career-high seven saves for her eighth clean sheet of the season.
It was UNC’s ninth shutout this fall and its second win over a top-10 opponent. North Carolina is now 13-2, including 6-1 against ACC opponents, staying atop the league standings with 18 points, and they are 8-1 at home with a 36-6 scoring edge. Stanford fell to 9-3-2 and 3-3-1 in the ACC and has now been shut out four times.
North Carolina is back in action Thursday, Oct. 29, against SMU at 7 p.m. Stanford returns home the same night to play NC State at 7 p.m. Pacific time.
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