We really couldn’t afford to lose this one. McCammon had a tough night

The second half started with more of the same – hard running and half-chances, little that looked clear cut, a game balanced on a knife's edge between two teams playing each other hard and providing few openings. But it shifted in a hurry – North Carolina drew first blood in the 48th minute. After a spell of around a minute of sustained pressure but no real open looks, the ball fell to a wide open Gianna Paul near the top of the area, and she settled and shot. Ainsley McCammon got a foot to it to block, but the deflection was brutal, looping it up, out of Claudia Dickey's reach, and into the top corner.