Kneipper's Scoring Spree Wallops Winthrop

The whistle blew, and Kneipper's left-footed strike curled around the five-man wall and dipped under a diving Steve Winton to give the Tar Heels a 5-0 lead.

Winton fell on his back and brought his hands to his face, likely in disbelief because the goal he just allowed was Kneipper's second in 42 seconds, and fifth of the night.

Kneipper's five goals tied a school record for most goals in a game and led the Tar Heels to a 6-0 pounding of the Big South conference champion Eagles (15-7-1).

"I hadn't scored a goal in a couple games and just wanted to focus in on trying to get a goal today," Kneipper said. "Sometimes you just feel it as a forward. And I just felt like every time I was going to shoot today, it was going to go in the net."

As Kneipper was feeling it up front, UNC's defense was playing just as well in the back.

"Overall, I've got to give credit to the team that we kept the shutout," said UNC coach Elmar Bolowich. "Logan (Pause) and David Stokes and our entire defense -- Grant Porter and Tim Merritt -- played very, very well."

Kneipper got UNC's attack rolling in the 10th minute, when he headed in a cross from David Testo, giving UNC (14-6-1) a 1-0 lead.

Kneipper scored a nearly identical goal eight minutes later. UNC midfielder Sean McGinty served a high, arcing ball into the box, and Kneipper headed it just out of Winton's reach for a 2-0 lead.

"They were so much better than us in the air, and that was a big problem," said Winthrop coach Rich Posipanko.

But Posipanko's biggest problem was that his offense simply couldn't get into any sort of rhythm. Forward Francis Wakhisi, whose 21 goals were fifth most in the NCAA, couldn't get open, which disrupted their entire attack.

By disabling Winthrop's offense, the Tar Heels kept constant pressure on the Eagles' defense third. And in the 73rd minute, UNC struck again, but this time it was David Stokes.

UNC midfielder Matt Crawford served a ball into the box on a restart, and Stokes one-touched it into the back of the net. Crawford's assist was his third of the night and set a new single-season school record for most assists in a season, with 17.

Bolowich said he was happy with his team's all around effort, but he summed the match up best when he said, "We played a very, very good game."

The Sports Editor can be reached at sports@unc.edu.