Expectations dashed at NCAAs

Despite lofty expectations and impressive regular seasons the North Carolina women’s basketball, field hockey and soccer teams all found early exits in the NCAA Tournament.

Following an undefeated national championship season and sporting two Olympic gold medalists, UNC women’s soccer seemed poised for another outstanding year.

But UNC fell to Santa Clara 1-0 in the third round of NCAAs. The loss snapped North Carolina’s streak of 49 games without a defeat since a 2-1 loss to Santa Clara in the NCAA semifinals in 2002.

More importantly, the team fell short of the NCAA Tournament semifinals for the first time in the program’s history.

“According to our standards, it’s a disaster, but if you look at it pretty objectively, that was our only loss of the year,” said UNC coach Anson Dorrance.

The Tar Heels dominated play in the first half, recording 12 shots to Santa Clara’s one, but they couldn’t create enough space for themselves to find the back of the net.

The Broncos, on the other hand, gained confidence with every minute that ticked away.

“The belief that they had that they could win the game just grew stronger and stronger and stronger as the game went on, and that’s what allowed us to become a better and better team throughout the game,” said Santa Clara coach Jerry Smith.

And so the Tar Heels were left to watch an opposing team celebrate a win on Fetzer Field for the first time since 1999 — but the pain of this loss will linger longer than most.

“Any loss, especially to Santa Clara in the NCAA (Tournament), is going to hurt, but we’ve got to remember this,” said UNC junior Kendall Fletcher. “And we will remember this.”

The field hockey team also faced the sight of a rival celebrating on their home turf.

This time, it was Duke jumping for joy at Henry Stadium after taking down the favored Tar Heels 2-1.

The loss also ended UNC’s season one game short of the final four.

The Tar Heels (20-2) had made a habit of winning nailbiters and erasing second-half deficits all season, but they couldn’t do it against the Blue Devils.

With 17 minutes to play, the Blue Devils broke the tie and scored their second goal of the day with a rebound shot off the stick of forward Chrissie Murphy after a flurry of shots.

“I got my leg across to save the initial tip,” said UNC goalie Katy Tran. “It was more of a scramble than anything.”

UNC came back strong, forcing four consecutive penalty corners — a play that the team has consistently converted into goals all season — but UNC was not able to find the net.

“We had our chances, and I’m proud of them for earning their chances,” said North Carolina coach Karen Shelton. “It was just unfortunate we didn’t score a goal.”

In the end a seven-game winning streak, a championship in the toughest conference in the nation and a No. 1 ranking — not to mention heart and intensity — failed to produce a Final Four bid.

“Our kids fought really, really hard, and they gave it everything they had,” Shelton said.

“We just couldn’t find the back of the net.”

The fourth-seeded women’s basketball team could not find the net when it counted either in its loss to Middle Tennessee State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

When it came down to the wire, the team relied on senior Candace Sutton, who towered four inches over the tallest MTSU players, to hit a turnaround jumper over two defenders to tie the game with 34 seconds left on the clock.

Instead, the ball clanged off the rim and Blue Raider junior Patrice Holmes sealed a 67-62 win with two free throws.

For the Tar Heels, the difference in the game was the inability of their upperclassmen to step up on a freshman-reliant team.

Middle Tennessee State, seeded 13th, showed that experience will win any game when the opponent flounders in the clutch.

The leadership could have come from Sutton. The senior missed a potential tying shot.

It could have come from point guard Ivory Latta. The freshman shot 1 for 13 from the field and 0 for 7 from 3-point land.

“We’re not going to win when that happens,” Hatchell said.

“So many times a team like ours feeds off our point guard. (Missed shots are) a big key because that’s our quarterback.”

Latta was just one of many talented underclassmen returning to the Tar Heels in 2005. She will be largely responsible for turning the team around.

“What we’ve got to do is develop leadership,” Hatchell said.

“That’s what we’re lacking on our team right now is leadership, and so that’s what we’re going to try to do in the off-season.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.