UNC finishes season strong

Senior Casey Nogueira scored two goals against Florida State and was named the tournament’s most valuable player. DTH/Andrew Dye

There is just something about tournament time when it comes to UNC women’s soccer.

For the first time in program history, the Tar Heels finished the regular season in third place in the ACC. Never before had any UNC team received a seeding lower than second in the ACC tournament.

And after a lackluster finish to the regular season — losing two of the last four games — people were beginning to doubt whether this North Carolina team had what it took to win the school’s 20th ACC championship.

But during their three-game ACC championship run, the Tar Heels got back to playing dominant soccer, just in time for the NCAA tournament.

“I would love to pretend that this is all planning, and we’re peaking at the right time,” coach Anson Dorrance said.

The truth is that UNC is finally at full strength after reincorporating senior midfielder Tobin Heath back into the starting lineup after missing 10 days.

“There is an enormous difference when Tobin Heath is on the field and when she’s not,” Dorrance said.

“I would probably consider her the game’s premier player.”

The Tar Heels went 1-2 while Heath was training with the U.S. national team — including back-to-back losses to Miami and Florida State — and struggled to fill the void the dynamic midfielder left.

During that three-game stretch, UNC struggled to maintain possession in the midfield and create scoring chances. For the first time all season, UNC was outshot in its 2-3 loss to Florida State.

But Heath’s hiatus was not the first time UNC has faced adversity this season.

Early in the season, the team lost starting senior midfielder Nikki Washington to a season-ending ACL injury, and the team lost both Heath and goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris for a week during the middle of the season.

Despite defeating Boston College by only one goal in the semifinals, UNC put up its best offensive performance since August, Dorrance said.

“Even the games that we beat UCLA, 7-2, and Notre Dame, 6-0, I don’t think we played any better than we did against Boston College,” Dorrance said.

Now back at full strength, UNC is quickly building momentum for a run in the NCAA tournament, which starts Friday.

“I think this is going to help us carry on into the NCAA tournament,” senior defender Whitney Engen said.

“But coming up on the NCAA tournament, every game could be our last, and especially for the seniors, it’s going to be hellbent-for-leather because we want this more than anything.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.