CARY, N.C.—Midfielder Joe Pickering scored on a header in the first half and the North Carolina defense clamped down the rest of the way as the Tar Heels beat fourth-seeded Stanford, 1-0, on Thursday night in the third round of the NCAA Tournament at the WakeMed Soccer Center.
Unseeded UNC (8-4-4) advanced to its ninth NCAA quarterfinal since 2008, most of any school in the nation in that span. Stanford saw its season come to an end at 10-3-1.
Carolina took a quick, 1-0, lead in the 14th minute when Pickering scored his first goal of the season, heading a corner kick from Milo Garvanian to score at the 13:40 mark of the first game.