Men's soccer torched by Zips
In a rematch of last year’s College Cup semifinal game, the No. 4 North Carolina men’s soccer team fell to No. 1 Akron for the second time in nine months.
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In a rematch of last year’s College Cup semifinal game, the No. 4 North Carolina men’s soccer team fell to No. 1 Akron for the second time in nine months.
Although often masked by the disappointment of an inefficient offense and a less-than-perfect conference record, the sixth-ranked North Carolina defense was the bright spot of last year’s football season.
There’s a new sheriff in town, and in Tallahassee, Fla., it’s nothing but business.
While the No. 1 North Carolina women’s soccer team prepared to host No. 2 Stanford in the home-opener, the last thing the Tar Heels needed was two injured starters.
It was déjà vu this weekend for the North Carolina women’s soccer team, as it returned to the site of last year’s national championship win for a pair of tournament matchups in Aggie Stadium.
With a 10-2 win against No. 12 Virginia Tech on Saturday, North Carolina closed its regular season with a three-game sweep of the Hokies in Boshamer Stadium.But for the Tar Heels, who finished 36-20 (14-16 in the ACC), it was too little, too late.Boston College’s win Saturday against Georgia Tech kept UNC out of the ACC Tournament. This is the first year the Tar Heels will not be playing in the conference tournament.The Tar Heels, who came into the Virginia Tech series 1-11 against Coastal Division opponents, can only hope their improved play during the past month will be enough to secure their postseason ticket when the NCAA playoff games are chosen Monday.“It’s a new territory for all of us,” coach Mike Fox said. “We’ll have to deal with it as best we can. We made that bed, and we’re responsible for where we are.”Fox remained positive about his team’s improved last-minute effort.“We did what we had to do just to give ourselves a chance,” he said. “It’s easier said than done. I’m certainly proud of the way we finished the season.”Third baseman Levi Michael, who led the Tar Heels on Saturday with three RBI on two hits, was grateful for the near-spotless pitching during the weekend.“It takes a lot of pressure off of us hitters,” Michael said. “We’re more relaxed at the plate; we’re not under as much pressure to make something out of nothing, and we just sit back and let the game come to us a little more.”Unless UNC receives an NCAA bid, the series was the ending to the college careers of seniors Mike Cavasinni and Ryan Graepel, who had two hits apiece in their final game at Boshamer Stadium. But freshman Brian Goodwin proved that there is a promising future for the young North Carolina squad.The 6-foot-1 right fielder contributed two hits in each of the three games, notching a total of seven RBI. In the fourth inning of Thursday night’s opener, he drove in three Tar Heels with a home run.For senior Cavasinni, having the freshman slugger there to take his place in the outfield is more than reassuring.“He’s going to be an unbelievable center fielder and an unbelievable hitter,” Cavasinni said. “Knowing that I had the opportunity to play next to him and hopefully teach him a couple things, it’s a great feeling.”Contact the Sports editor at sports@unc.edu.
With a 10-2 win against No. 12 Virginia Tech on Saturday, North Carolina closed its regular season with a three-game sweep of the Hokies in Boshamer Stadium.
When the No. 3 North Carolina women’s lacrosse team prepared to meet No. 6 Virginia for the second round of the NCAA tournament, the Tar Heels knew it wouldn’t be like any other game.
Delayed due to a thunderstorm, the NCAA matchup between No. 4 North Carolina and No. 12 Delaware kicked off 90 minutes late Sunday night on Fetzer Field.And for the defense on both sides of the field, the start was even later.After a 12-point first quarter shootout that included six tie scores, the Tar Heels were able to hold off Delaware, winning the post-season opener 14-13.Delaware struck first less than a minute after the opening draw, but UNC midfielders Sean DeLaney and Jimmy Dunster were responsible for the next two scores. For almost 28 minutes in the first half, the teams took turns scoring, one after the other.“It was pretty much what I expected,” Delaware coach Bob Shillinglaw said. “It was up and down, a lot of transition, a lot of crazy plays. I wish we had two more crazy plays.”Despite high scoring from Delaware’s attackers, the Blue Hens only led once after their 1-0 start. In a 42-second span during the second half, Delaware scored three straight goals, leading the Tar Heels 10-9.But less than two minutes later the Tar Heels recovered when DeLaney scored on a pass from Marcus Holman. The two led the Tar Heels in scoring with three goals each against the Blue Hens.Delaware outshot North Carolina 45-43 and won 18 of 30 faceoffs. But fouling would be the Tar Heels’ Achilles heel against the Blue Hens. UNC racked up 10 to Delaware’s three.“They are great shooters,” North Carolina coach Joe Breschi said. “When you give them nine man ups with their hands free, we’re going to end up paying.”Delaware’s attack took advantage of UNC penalties, scoring on six of nine. But on the offensive side of the ball, something was missing for the Blue Hens.For the first time in 25 games, Delaware attacker Curtis Dickson didn’t put a point on the board.Tar Heel Michael Jarvis guarded Dickson, who leads the Blue Hens in scoring with 62, and held him to just two assists on Sunday. With their second highest scorer Martin Cahill at 34 season goals, there was no question where the team derived much of its success.After the victory against Delaware the Tar Heels advance to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament, and will take on No. 5 Duke in Princeton, N.J., on Saturday.Although UNC beat the Blue Devils 13-7 in this year’s regular season match, they’ve fallen to Duke twice in two quarterfinal matchups (2007, 2009). But Jarvis is hoping the rivalry will keep this year’s team from suffering the same fate.“There won’t be any need for extra motivation in that game,” he said. “I think everyone knows what we have ahead of us.”Contact the Sports editor at sports@unc.edu.
North Carolina third baseman Levi Michael hadn’t led off all season. But that didn’t really matter.
Delayed due to a thunderstorm, the NCAA matchup between No. 4 North Carolina and No. 12 Delaware kicked off 90 minutes late Sunday on Fetzer Field.
In the middle of the third inning against North Carolina, College of Charleston sent a new pitcher to the mound.
For the latter part of the season, it’s almost as if Stephanie Murad has been playing catch-up.The senior made her infield debut in the starting lineup mid-season after an injury to first baseman and pitcher Danielle Spaulding left an opening in the position.But in North Carolina’s 6-2 win over Appalachian State on Tuesday, the 5-foot-9 Greenville native proved that the starting lineup is right where she belongs.“She’s really worked to get into the lineup, and I think now that she’s in it, she’s really proven herself,” UNC coach Donna Papa said. “She’s just never looked back.”Despite having the fewest at-bats among the hitting seniors, Murad shines both offensively and defensively.In Tuesday’s game, Murad hit a home run in both the second and fifth innings, the senior’s first two-homer game of her career. She had three of North Carolina’s nine hits in three at-bats and batted in four of UNC’s six runs.“I expect nothing less,” teammate Amber Johnson said. “She’s our stud. She’s always hitting the ball really well, especially now that the end of the season’s coming around.”Murad now owns the fifth best batting average on the team for the season with .283, and has a .381 average in the month of April.But on Tuesday, she wasn’t the only one to light up the field.Two-time ACC Player of the Year and starting pitcher Spaulding scored the first run of the game for the Tar Heels when she hit a home run to center field in the first inning. Spaulding also allowed zero hits in her four innings on the mound.“She’s very multi-talented,” Papa said. “She can change a game in a swing.”With out-of-the-park hits from both Spaulding and Murad, the Tar Heels registered their 15th game this season with two or more home runs.But everything wasn’t sunny in Anderson Stadium — at least not as far as Papa was concerned.During the sixth inning, the Tar Heels began to lose the momentum, allowing three base hits and two runs.“I think we started to coast a little once we got a couple of runs,” Papa said. “We want them in the moment the whole time, because that’s how it’s got to be, every single pitch, every single inning.”And sloppy relief pitching wasn’t the only problem for North Carolina during the mid-week matchup.After two quick UNC outs in the third inning, the Tar Heels set themselves up for a couple of runs. Murad had a single to left field, and the Mountaineers’ pitcher walked two North Carolina batters. With the bases loaded, third baseman Brittany Robinson stepped up. But a fly third out left three Tar Heels on base.In six innings at bat, UNC would leave a total of six runners on base.“It’s just execution, and you really need to focus on where the runners are and where you want to put your ball,” Murad said. “We’re trying to get better at that.”But improvements will have to be made fast to serve UNC this season. The Tar Heels will play their final ACC series this weekend.And for a coach that has her eye on post-season play, now is not the time to be slacking.“We told the girls how we finish is really important,” Papa said. “Every game we play, we’re punching a ticket to regionals.”Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
The night before the matchup against No. 1 Northwestern, North Carolina women’s lacrosse coach Jenny Levy had a premonition. “I sent (Laura Zimmerman) a little text,” she said. “I said look, ‘I think tomorrow’s going to be a great game for you, I think you’re going to find yourself open quite a bit. Take advantage of those opportunities and I think you’ll be brilliant tomorrow.’”Call it coach’s intuition, but Levy was right — that’s exactly what Zimmerman was.The sophomore had five goals in the game, leading the No. 2 Tar Heels to an 18-16 win against Northwestern in Evanston, Ill. Prior to Sunday’s game, the Wildcats had a 41-game winning streak and had won the last five national championships.But the strength of Northwestern wasn’t a new experience for UNC. North Carolina fell to the Wildcats 21-7 in last year’s national championship game.“That loss motivated us last summer to work harder,” Levy said. “But yesterday’s game had nothing to do about last year’s championship game; it was not a game of revenge for us. It was a game to see how good we could be against another great opponent.”Despite the powerhouse’s track record, Levy wasn’t fazed.“We weren’t focused on any of the milestones of their program, because it’s not something that we can control,” Levy said. “It’s not something we can change.”Throughout the game it was evident that the two teams were evenly matched. UNC had a 6-0 run over a four-minute span during the first half. But Northwestern had a quick rebuttal. The Wildcats responded with a 6-0 run of their own.UNC scored the next four, including two in the final 15 seconds of the half to tie the score at 12-12. Defensively, Levy wasn’t impressed with her team’s first-half play. The Tar Heels struggled to stop Wildcat standouts Katrina Dowd and Shannon Smith.The Tar Heel defense picked it up in the second half, and North Carolina outscored the Wildcats 6-4 after intermission.Before Sunday, Northwestern had a 58-game winning streak at home.But now, all that’s history.“That’s why you go to a school like this, to play against the best,” junior attacker Corey Donohoe said. “I would love to play them again.”And a rematch of the current top two teams in the nation is certainly possible for the 2010 national championship game. But it’s something that both Levy and the players are trying not to think about.Instead, they’ll keep their eyes on their next challenge, an ACC Tournament semifinal match against either Duke or Boston College. “I was ecstatic (about the win),” Donohoe said. “Also, I had in the back of my mind to remember this is still the regular season, and we still have a lot of lacrosse left we have to play. It’s not over yet.”Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
In the third game of the final ACC series in Anderson Stadium for the year, North Carolina senior Anna Roberts had a job to do.“Kelli (Wheeler), the left fielder and myself, we said that if there was ever an error or any person down, it was our job to pick them up,” Roberts said.But instead of picking up after Tar Heel errors in an easy 4-0 win, the 5-foot-7 outfielder just scored big off Maryland mistakes.After a third inning error by Maryland center fielder Sara Acosta, Roberts earned a single from a short infield groundball. Junior Brittany McKinney followed with her 10th home run of the season, and the runs put UNC up, 3-0.“We wanted them to be in the moment,” UNC coach Donna Papa said. “Every player that was on the bench had an assignment, and it really helped us stay focused, and it helped keep everything light.”And for the past couple weeks, Roberts has had no problem fulfilling her duty. In the previous five games before the weekend series, the Greenville native had a batting average of .421 and had tallied three runs and three RBIs.Against Maryland, the streak continued.In Saturday’s doubleheader she registered two RBIs, two extra-base hits and threw two runners out from the outfield.But her efforts alone were not enough to carry the team, and the Tar Heels dropped both games, 5-2 and 2-1.“It’s tough because a win and a loss is never an individual effort. It’s always the team.” Roberts said. “You want everyone to do well, and it’s very unfortunate that one person can perform, and it’s not widespread across the whole team.”In addition to her third inning score, Roberts slugged a fifth inning pitch into center field. The double sent Christine Knauer, who would later score the fourth UNC run of the afternoon, to third. It was her 10th extra-base hit of the season.After helping UNC escape a Maryland sweep on her senior night, Roberts couldn’t help but smile. Despite Saturday’s disappointments, she closed the book on her home series career with a performance she was proud of.And she wasn’t the only one beaming.“She has a great arm, she has great game sense, and she just tore it up in right center field,” Papa said. “Everything came together for her this weekend, both offensively and defensively. She was a leader for us out on the field.”Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
In typical North Carolina fashion, the Tar Heels won the opening draw of their Wednesday night matchup against No. 4 Duke, and leading scorer Corey Donohoe broke away for the goal. In eight of UNC’s 12 previous games, the Tar Heels have scored in the first three minutes of play.But not this time.Donohoe had an open path to the goal on the first possession of the game but suddenly dropped the ball before taking the shot.Despite playing a sloppy first half, the No. 2 Tar Heels cleaned up their act in the second period, beating their ACC rival 9-6.“I think we had some opportunities that we either didn’t capitalize on or we were a little impatient,” UNC coach Jenny Levy said. “We didn’t touch the ball that much. That affected our rhythm.”Duke led 2-0 before the North Carolina got on the board. With 5:31 left in the first half, attacker Becky Lynch scored the first goal for UNC unassisted. The almost 25 minutes of waiting for a score was the longest for the Tar Heels all season.“During the first games of the season we had a little trouble getting into the games,” Lynch said. “We’ve been in the situation before, so we knew that as long as we got into our rhythm, it would stay there.”But the rhythm wouldn’t come until the second half. Before Wednesday’s game, the Tar Heels averaged 17 shots in the first half. Against Duke, they had only five.The Blue Devils were on attack for most of the first half, keeping the Tar Heel defense on their toes. But UNC goalie Logan Ripley wasn’t fazed.“Our defense was holding them to weak shots. They weren’t getting a lot on cage,” she said. “It made my job pretty easy.”The Tar Heels took 11 shots on goal in the second half and scored six times in just more than 14 minutes. Lynch led UNC with three goals and an assist, placing her third-best on the team in goals scored with 28. “This year she’s just exploded,” Levy said. “She’s a great player, and she’s an even better person. She’s never too high and never too low. She’s just happy to be on the team and contributing to our success.”The Tar Heels, now 12-1 (4-1), finished their conference schedule tied with Virginia for first place. UNC will possibly meet Duke again in the upcoming ACC Tournament.And Levy hopes that next time, the game goes a little better.“I don’t think we played particularly well,” she said. “Duke did a great job and affected some of the things we like to do. But I was really happy that we got ourselves focused, we fought back and we showed resilience and poise.”Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
It’s hard to imagine that a game could be so easily forgotten.Almost a year ago, the second-seeded North Carolina women’s lacrosse team faced third-seeded Duke in the 2009 ACC Championship semifinals.The Blue Devils ousted UNC, defeating the Tar Heels 14-4.
During Friday’s game against Virginia Tech, the North Carolina women’s lacrosse team did not hesitate to share the wealth.And there certainly was a lot of it to share.The depth on offense shined in UNC’s 19-3 win against the Hokies. Eight different Tar Heels had goals in the matchup, and seven of them had two or more.“This team doesn’t care who scores,” coach Jenny Levy said. “They’re very unselfish. A lot of kids can feed, and a lot of kids can score. And we’re going to try to take the best shooting opportunity possible, whoever that may be.”Sunday’s 16-2 win at Old Dominion marked the third game in a row Corey Donohoe has led the team in scoring. The 5-foot-8 junior had three goals and a career-high four assists against Virginia Tech.Posting 10, the Tar Heels had more assisted goals against Virginia Tech than they had against any other opponent all season. The previous season-high was six in multiple wins.“I think we did a great job handling the ball, keeping possession,” senior Kristen Taylor said. “When you’re moving the ball around like that, assists just come naturally.”Taylor, who is second this season in scoring after Donohoe with 27 goals, was one of four Tar Heels who had three against the Hokies.Levy was elated to show the offensive depth by playing the entire bench during the game. The starting lineup was absent for the final 20 minutes of play.“Other programs will keep their stars in and you’ll see more high scoring,” Levy said. “But we don’t do that. We wanted to get our other guys out and give some credit to the other kids.”Passing the ball around is something the Tar Heels have done easily all season. And with so many different offensive threats on the field, it’s hard for them to go wrong.In the first 10 games so far this season, North Carolina has averaged just less than eight scoring contributors per game.“You try and get everyone their fair share of the ball and give everyone a chance to shine,” Donohoe said. “It pumps us up so much when other girls score who don’t normally score.”So far this season, the Tar Heels have been seeing double — double digits, that is.The 14-point win over Old Dominion was the 11th straight double-digit score for UNC this season.“Any time you get in the flow of people scoring from all over the place and a lot of people scoring, it’s a great thing because everyone has confidence on the field,” Taylor said. “When we get in hard games, hopefully we can implement the same kind of intensity.”Both Levy and the Tar Heels are hoping that the weekend’s strong offensive display will give them confidence against a tough schedule ahead. But for Donohoe, there’s no question.“When we play at such a high level, it definitely carries over into the next game,” she said. “It really brings our confidence up to know what we can do.”Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
Down two strikes in the bottom of the third, North Carolina shortstop Ryan Graepel hit a three-run homer, taking back a 6-5 lead over Richmond.And for coach Mike Fox, Graepel’s game-changing swing has been a long time coming.“It’s about time,” Fox told the senior when he returned to the dugout.The bomb was part of a string of three straight three-run innings for the Tar Heels en route to their 17-6 win.The home run was the fourth of Graepel’s career and his second so far this season. But it was one thing the shortstop himself wasn’t quite expecting when he stepped up to the plate.“I’ve got more of a line-drive swing, so home runs usually aren’t my thing,” Graepel said. “It’s almost luck when I hit home runs.”Graepel also hit a double in the sixth, earning two more RBIs for the night. He totaled a career-high six RBIs against the Spiders.North Carolina had three errors in the game, one of them helping Richmond score a late seventh inning run. But near-perfect relief pitching in the later innings from the Tar Heels stopped the Spiders from crawling back into the lead.After a strong third inning where Richmond registered three hits and four runs, shaky pitching from UNC’s Zach Bernard in the fourth loaded the bases for Richmond.With one out, sophomore pitcher Garrett Davis took over for UNC and struck out his first two batters, ending the inning with three Spiders left on base.“I made up my mind that I was going to come out throwing strikes and make them beat me with the bats,” he said.Davis — who got the win in the matchup — allowed no hits and had five strikeouts in eight at-bats. In keeping with the trend, junior Nate Striz ended the game, striking out the final batter of the night.But marvels from the mound wouldn’t happen for the Spiders.Richmond shot themselves in the foot with poor pitching in the fourth, walking three batters, hitting two and allowing three UNC runs.And it didn’t improve. The Spiders threw a wild pitch and walked five batters in the sixth. UNC capitalized on Richmond’s miscues, loading the bases three times in the inning and scoring five runs.“They walked some guys, opened the doors for us and we strung together some hits,” Fox said. “We needed a big inning or two.”The Tar Heels added two large-margin victories this week. And Fox hopes it’ll give his team a little confidence for the upcoming series at Maryland.“These last two days we’ve gotten to how you want to script mid-week games,” he said. “We rested a lot of arms, we’ve got all of our bullpen we didn’t have to use. They should be rested and ready to go this weekend.”Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
In the top of the first inning against North Carolina, Winthrop left fielder Eddie Rohan slugged his first pitch down the left field line and out of Boshamer Stadium.Watching the ball soar over the wall was a sight all too familiar for the Tar Heels.North Carolina led the then-No. 3 Georgia Tech 8-3 on Sunday until a ninth-inning rally capped off by a two-run home run resulted in an extra inning and a Yellow Jacket sweep.But at the end of Tuesday’s 14-5 win against Winthrop, the Tar Heels were finally able to put the weekend series in the past. Rohan’s homer — his ninth of the season — brought back sore memories for UNC. And again in the third inning, another Eagle home run just rubbed salt in the wound.With a 2-2 tie, Winthrop first baseman Matt Thielepape hit a two-run home run, taking a two- run lead for the second time of the evening.“It’s part of baseball,” shortstop Ryan Graepel said. “You come to expect it. They’re a great hitting team.”UNC responded in the bottom of the inning with a Mike Cavasinni run. But it wasn’t until the fifth inning that the Tar Heels took their first lead.With catcher Jacob Stallings on base, Cavasinni struck again with a double. A Ben Bunting hit to right field sent Stallings home, tying the score for the second time of the night, 4-4.Add a Levi Michael hit and a Winthrop wild pitch, and two more Tar Heels touched home as Jesse Wierzbicki stepped up to the plate.The 6-foot-2 catcher sent a ball flying over the right field wall for a two-run home run, and UNC took an 8-4 lead.“It kind of let the air out of the game a little bit,” UNC coach Mike Fox said. “It was nice to see us string some hits together. We hadn’t done that.”Wierzbicki leads North Carolina in home runs with six. And the junior only trails Bunting in hits with 34.“I don’t look at averages. I don’t keep my stats. I don’t even really like to hear about them,” Wierzbicki said. “It gets in your head, and you start thinking about that and not the game. I just try and go up there and hit the ball hard every time.”In the bottom of the sixth, Michael hit his third triple of the season, and the Tar Heels scored three runs during the inning. UNC scored three more in the seventh with the help of pinch hitter Seth Baldwin, widening the already large gap.“We as a team have really been focusing on the middle innings of the game,” Graepel said. “Sometimes the fourth, fifth and sixth can sort of be a lull.“We’ve been focusing on making sure that our hitters are having their best at bats every time they go up there — not just in the first couple innings and not just late in the game.”Solid pitching from Cody Penny and Teddy Mitrosilis held the Eagles to just one run for the rest of the night, sealing the North Carolina win.UNC will host Richmond today before traveling to meet the Maryland Terrapins for a three-game conference series.“We’ve got our backs to the wall in our league a little bit,” Fox said. “We’ve got to play every game from here on out with a sense of urgency.”Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.