'Big 3' leading UNC's offensive charge

You could not have scripted it any better.

In their first-ever game together, North Carolina forwards Andy Craven, Tyler Engel and Rob Lovejoy each scored to lift No. 22 UNC to a 3-1 victory over No. 7 California Friday night.

The trio were dynamic, attacking and efficient, slicing through a beleaguered Cal defense and giving a tantalizing glimpse into the team’s season potential. The debut exceeded expectations. Head coach Carlos Somoano remarked in awe how explosive his trio of forwards had played, while Craven grinned ear to ear after the game.

“I couldn’t ask for a better group of guys to play with,” Lovejoy said.

But like any relationship, the bumps are inevitable.

The honeymoon ended 48 hours later in a 1-0 loss against No. 4 UCLA. No one could find the net for the Tar Heels, but UCLA midfielder Leo Stolz, reigning Pac-12 Player of the Year, capitalized on a UNC defensive miscommunication to slip a ball past the keeper, off the post and into the net.

“We weren’t good enough,” Somoano said. “UCLA was better, just a little bit. There weren’t very many opportunities for either team, and they took advantage of theirs.”

UCLA was a step ahead of the Tar Heels the entire night. The Bruins’ defense was more cohesive and compact than Cal’s; they suffocated the fast breakaways that resulted in goals for UNC against Cal.

Conditioning was also a factor for the Tar Heels, even in the first game. Lovejoy played all 45 minutes of the first half against Cal and appeared visibly tired at the end. Against UCLA, he collapsed to the turf with a cramp in the final seconds after his last-ditch attempt at a goal failed.

Lovejoy, Craven and a few other players are coming off major injuries, meaning off-season work that may otherwise have been spent conditioning was dedicated to rehab. Somoano said the team’s resulting fitness level was low, relative to years past. The short turnaround between games may have also played a part, as the intensity of play in the first half was noticeably higher against Cal than UCLA.

“We moved the ball around too slow,” Somoano said. “We need to speed up our play. Tonight we lost a lot of battles.”

The Tar Heels learned a lot about themselves this weekend. With the talents of Craven, Engel and Lovejoy, UNC has the firepower to outscore any team in the country.

However, the second game demonstrated how tough UNC’s schedule is, with two games remaining against top-five opponents.

“If you want to be the best team — and that’s our expectation — you have to be better than UCLA,” Somoano said. “There’s no expectation that we’re going to go into any game this year and not be pushed to our limits.”

With the defense still getting up to speed, UNC will rely this season on its offense, which will only go as far as Craven, Engel and Lovejoy take it.

“We can get behind any defense in the NCAA,” Craven said. “We just need to keep looking and lurking.”

The three know how good they can be. Time will tell how good they will be.

sports@dailytarheel.com