CHAPEL HILL - A 35th-minute penalty kick by Hailey Beam sent UNC-Charlotte into halftime knotted with host North Carolina in the teams' soccer season opener Friday night at Fetzer Field.

The 49ers' lone shot on goal was doubled by Courtney Jones, who had two of UNC's 12.

Jones' third shot on goal -- 3:37 into the second half -- opened the floodgates. The 49ers never pulled even after Jones' header, assisted by Nikki Washington, started a barrage of four second-half goals in a 5-1 UNC victory.

Charlotte coach Jon Lipsitz, however, insisted that the match should have been closer than the final score.

"If we don't give up setpiece goals, this is a battle," Lipsitz said.

The 49ers yielded three scores off corner kicks (the first, second and fourth goals of the second half), three more than the total they allowed in 2007.

Beam's offering was prompted by teammate Macky Wingo being undercut in the box while breaking away from the Tar Heels' defense. Beam drove the ball into the lower left corner of the net as UNC goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris shifted right.

Charlotte goalkeeper Lauren Brown made three first-half saves (seven overall), including a diving stop of a one-on-one encounter with Jones in the 17th minute.

The 49ers did not muster a second-half shot on goal.

Allie Long, assisted by Washington and Meghan Klingenberg, put the Tar Heels on the scoreboard 9:18 into the match. Long scored again -- set up by Klingenberg's corner -- with 37:55 left.

The Tar Heels' Yael Averbuch and Katie Klimczak netted goals in the 66th and 89th minutes, respectively.

"We couldn't give [our players] a better test," Lipsitz said of the opposition his team faced. "There isn't one in the country."

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