A pair of 3-0 victories last weekend has kept the North Carolina women’s soccer team atop the national rankings. But to UNC coach Anson Dorrance, the top team in the country may be the visitor at Fetzer Field tonight.
“The Stanford Cardinal — on paper — have to be the best team in the country this year,” Dorrance said prior to the season.
Friday evening will determine the nation’s top team on grass, as the No. 1 Tar Heels face the No. 2 Cardinal in a rematch of last season’s national championship game, a 1-0 UNC victory that marked the only blemish on Stanford’s 25-1-0 campaign in 2009.
But the Tar Heels’ losses — both recently and in the offseason — and Stanford’s relative lack thereof have the Cardinal in prime position to score a victory in tonight’s contest.
Since capturing the NCAA title last December, North Carolina has lost eight starters from a year ago — half of whom were selected in the first round of the Women’s Professional Soccer draft.
To make matters worse for UNC, senior starters Ali Hawkins and Rachel Givan suffered minor injuries against Texas A&M this past weekend and will not play Friday, both players said Thursday.
Without Hawkins, a third-year captain at central midfield, and Givan, the Tar Heels’ lone senior defender, North Carolina’s task becomes taller, but the team’s mentality remains the same.
“We’re going to go out there and play our game: high-pressure,” Hawkins said.
The Cardinal must replace 2009 national player of the year Kelley O’Hara, who led the nation with 26 goals a season ago.
