UNC advances to womens soccer Final Four for first time since 2012

The second-seeded Tar Heels advance to a national semifinal matchup next Friday in San Jose. Calif., against the winner of tomorrows game between Duke and West Virginia

UNC goalie Lindsey Harris celebrates after stopping a South Carolina penalty kick in Friday's 1-0 NCAA tournament win against the Gamecocks. (UNC athletic communications photo by Jeffery A. Camarati)

The North Carolina women’s soccer team has won an NCAA-record 22 national championships, but hasn’t been to a Final Four since 2012. That streak ended Friday as Madison Schultz scored midway through the first half and keeper Lindsey Harris stopped a penalty kick in the second to lead the Tar Heels to a 2-1 victory against top-seeded South Carolina in the quarterfinals of the NCAA College Cup tournament in Columbia, S.C. The second-seeded Tar Heels advance to a national semifinal matchup next Friday in San Jose. Calif., against the winner of tomorrow’s game between Duke and West Virginia. Southern Cal, which beat Auburn 1-0 on Friday, will take on either Santa Clara or Georgetown in the other national semifinal. UNC (17-3-4) got the only goal it needed in the 21st minute when Schultz took a feed from teammate Annie Kingman and floated it into the top right corner of the net from inside the box. Harris, a member of a senior class trying to avoid becoming the first in program history not to win at least one national championship, made the lead hold up by recording eight saves. None was more important than the one she made on a penalty kick by the Gamecocks’ Sophie Groff with just under nine minutes remaining. South Carolina finishes its season ad 21-2-1