5 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(11/21/06 5:00am)
When Gloria Averbuch saw her 12-year-old daughter leave their New Jersey home for the first time, it was to the North Carolina's women's soccer camp.
"Like every little girl in the country who played soccer, she was fascinated by North Carolina," Averbuch said. "(But) no one could have imagined how great (her experience) is now."
In fact, ACC Offensive Player of the Year (and Top Drawer National Player of the Year) sophomore Yael Averbuch couldn't imagine herself playing the sport the first time she saw it, when a first-grade friend dragged her to a game and a parent mentioned the team might need her to play if more girls didn't show up.
"I thought I'd rather leave and not watch the game than play," said Averbuch, who has helped lead the Tar Heels to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals. "Afterward, I thought, 'Maybe I'd like to try this.'"
So Averbuch signed up to play soccer the next year, and, though she didn't know a shin guard from a goalpost her first practice, her talent was soon obvious.
"I remember watching her play and saying, 'Oh my, she's really good,'" Gloria Averbuch said.
But talent is only a small part of the story.
"She had ability," the proud parent said. "But (her success was) more latching onto this game with a passion - and that passion hasn't ever wavered."
Attributing Averbuch's success to talent wouldn't be taking into account the daily backyard soccer sessions with the family's other star player, her 16-year-old sister Shira.
Or the numerous winter days when Averbuch knocked the ball around on a racquetball court because it was snowing outside.
Or the three years Averbuch played on a boys' team.
"I put in a lot of hours over a lot of years," Averbuch said.
The hard work continues today - all Averbuch said she needs to practice is "a ball and a bit of space."
"(What) is so impressive is how much she's improved in one year," North Carolina head coach Anson Dorrance said. "She had a solid freshman season. (But) then in the offseason, she worked on all aspects of her game and worked to correct all her weaknesses."
Those weaknesses were her heading and defense. Now, however, "she's an exceptional header and a great defensive presence," Dorrance says.
Like Averbuch's games with her sister, which Averbuch says were "extremely competitive because I never wanted to let her beat me," Dorrance's practices are affairs where "you push yourself and your teammates every day," helping form bonds of friendship, even sisterhood.
"I've never been on a team where I was around teammates every day (like at UNC)," said Averbuch, who played on a club team instead of her high school squad. "They're not only your teammates and classmates, but also your best friends."
But even among college teams, North Carolina is special.
It's a team where there's an unusual amount of pressure created by the program's history: 18 NCAA championships in 23 years, 13 National Players of the Year, and 43 players who have played for the U.S. National Team.
It's pressure Averbuch has felt before. She felt it at 14, when a former club coach put her on the roster of the New Jersey Stallions to help her develop - making her the youngest player to ever play in the W-League.
"I didn't play much and was really nervous, but I saw a high level of play at a young age," Averbuch said of the experience.
She felt it at the U-19 World Championships, when she said she had the honor to play for her country as a high school senior and learned how "the older girls dealt with the pressure."
In the end, her solution to the pressure is simple - her love of the game.
"I try to stay as relaxed as possible," Averbuch said. "Soccer's always been fun, never a lot of work."
It's a game she doesn't want to stop playing. "My goal has always been to play for the full national team," Averbuch said. "Hopefully, it'll happen."
Though she started her entire freshman year as the central holding midfielder, Averbuch's offensive talents have been on full display this year with her move to attacking mid, where she's scored a team-high 16 goals, an unusual feat for her position, and has five assists.
"It's like a point guard who is the best defensive player (and) the leading scorer," Dorrance said.
Averbuch also takes most of the Tar Heels' free kicks with a leg Dorrance compared to "a cannon."
She made history when she scored four seconds into a Sept. 3 game against Yale with a 55-yard shot off the opening kickoff.
It was the fastest goal in women's college soccer history and was featured in SportsCenter's "Top 10."
"I told the forwards I was going to shoot, but I never thought I'd score," Averbuch said. "It was funny to me that people who I'd never talked to would come up to me and ask if I was the girl who shot that goal."
"There are very few girls who could kick it that far, let alone score a goal from that distance," Dorrance said, who saw the goal as indicative of something larger.
"Watching that go in was the beginning of a legacy that I think is going to be remarkable."
Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
(10/27/06 4:00am)
The North Carolina women's soccer team will honor its four graduating seniors publicly in a tribute before the team's final regular-season home game versus Wake Forest.
Heather O'Reilly, Elizabeth Guess, Jennifer Perkins and Elizabeth Lancaster all will be making their last regular-season appearance at Fetzer Field.
UNC likely will have a home game in the NCAA Tournament, but today the No. 2 Tar Heels (17-1, 9-0 in the ACC) will be focusing on the challenge posed by the No. 16 Demon Deacons (13-4, 5-3).
"Playing a top ACC team is a challenge," Coach Anson Dorrance said.
"It's an excellent way to finish the season and prepare for the ACC and NCAA tournaments."
North Carolina secured the regular-season ACC Championship with its 4-1 win against N.C. State last week - the 17th regular-season conference title the program has obtained.
In fact the team hasn't lost since a 1-0 overtime defeat to Texas A&M in the first game of the season, winning 17 straight despite losing five senior starters to graduation and starting six freshmen for much of the year.
So far the Tar Heels have allowed a miniscule seven goals. Sophomore goalie Anna Rodenbough has recorded 12 shutouts and boasts a 0.38 goals against average this season.
"I'm very proud of this team," Dorrance said.
"If I was told before the season we'd have only one loss (right now), I would be overjoyed."
To defeat the Demon Deacons, North Carolina must contain forward Elizabeth Remy, who leads her squad in both goals and assists, with eight and four, respectively. "She's a great player," Dorrance said. "Wake Forest has skill all over the field."
Four players on the Deacons have at least five goals, and Allie Sadow boasts a point total of 15 with six goals and three assists.
Proof of Dorrance's statement can be seen in Wake Forest's results: All four of its losses are by a single goal.
North Carolina boasts a 19-1 career record against Wake Forest and has not given up a goal to the Demon Deacons since a 2002 NCAA Tournament game.
Last year the Tar Heels played Wake in Winston-Salem and came out with a 4-0 victory.
If the Tar Heels defeat the Deacons, it would be the 15th time that they have gone through an ACC season with no losses or ties.
Besides winning, the Tar Heels hope to stay healthy.
"We've got some kids banged up," Dorrance said.
"I don't think there's a team in the country that's not concerned with injuries."
Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
(04/13/06 4:00am)
Freshman centerfielder Breanna Brown's double with the bases loaded saved the No. 22 North Carolina softball team from defeat Wednesday against East Carolina University.
The 3-1 win didn't save her from laundry duty, however.
"I didn't run through first base on a hit in our last game against (Boston College)," she said, "so I had laundry duty as punishment."
The Tar Heels (40-11) were down a run to ECU (29-20) heading into the bottom of the fifth at Eugene D. Anderson Stadium.
A single and two walks loaded the bases for UNC, setting the stage for Brown's two-strike, two-out double.
"I looked up and saw the outfield was playing really, really shallow," she said. "I knew I had to get a hit, preferably over one of their heads."
Brown popped the ball over the head of a backtracking ECU left fielder, driving home all three base runners and securing the win.
"Bre's usually a slap hitter, but she has power," UNC coach Donna Papa said. "She hit it where they weren't."
Before Brown's hit, North Carolina had wasted opportunity after opportunity.
The Tar Heels left seven runners on base in the first four innings, including a squandered bases-loaded situation in the third.
"The last few games, we've stranded runners," Papa said. "We can't afford to have opportunities and not capitalize."
UNC's lack of runs presented a challenging situation for freshman starting pitcher Lisa Norris (12-4), who held ECU to one run on three hits in five innings.
"You have to focus more because it's going to be a pitching duel," she said. "I know we'll start hitting the ball, so I just have to stay strong."
Senior pitcher Crystal Cox relieved Norris in the sixth, closing out the game against a pesky Pirate offense.
"ECU battles for every out," Papa said. "It's a always a great contest because both teams really compete."
With the win, the Tar Heels avenged a 2-1 loss at ECU on March 8 - tying the season series between the two teams at one game a piece.
"They beat us on a suicide squeeze in the eighth (inning) down there," Papa said. "There's always drama."
The Pirates got their single run in the top of the third inning, when junior catcher Whitney Gelin overthrew second base on an ECU steal, allowing the run to score.
But Gelin saved a run on the next play, scooping a bouncing throw to home out of the dirt to keep the deficit at one.
With the victory, UNC's 40 wins ties Texas for the most in the nation.
"It's exciting, even though I'm not a stats person," Papa said. "Pitching has been the difference."
UNC plays ACC foes Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech and N.C. State the next three weekends, putting its first-place ACC ranking to the test.
"The next three weekends will tell us a lot," Papa said. "We want to keep on getting better."
Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
(03/31/06 5:00am)
They are either first or second on the team in hits, runs, RBIs, home runs and at bats.
And they have started all 40 games for the North Carolina softball team this year.
The sophomore duo of second baseman Cassie Palmer and first baseman Jennifer Jacobs have provided much of the offensive spark to propel UNC to a No. 23 national ranking and 30-10 (4-2 in the ACC) record heading into a three-game series against Virginia this weekend in Charlottesville, Va.
"For the cleanup hitter (Jacobs), it's not that unusual," UNC head coach Donna Papa said of leading the team in so many statistical categories, "but for the leadoff hitter (Palmer), it is."
More than the stat sheet connect these two, however.
"We both experienced freshman year together," Palmer said. "Since we play first and second base, we work together on the right side of the infield."
The two also have nothing but good things to say about each other.
"We're on the same page on and off the field," Palmer said. "She's really easy to talk to."
"Cassie is a great team player," Jacobs said. "And she starts off the team - if she gets a hit, we score."
Statistics back up Jacob's claim. Palmer has scored 36 runs, more than twice as many as Jacobs, the team's second-leading run-scorer.
And runs isn't the only statistic to jump out at observers. The two are tied for the team lead with six home runs and with 29 RBIs, Jacobs has one more than Palmer to lead all Tar Heels.
While their statistics are similarly stellar, the two have different strategies for breaking out of slumps.
"If I'm not hitting the ball well, I just don't put pressure on myself," Palmer said. "I know my swing will last the entire season."
Jacobs has a more specific plan. "I'll call my dad after the day's games," she said.
"He'll give the example of golf, where he'll do great one day and terrible the next. He'll tell me to do what you know how to do and you'll be fine."
The two also arrived at their starting position in different ways.
While Palmer started 54 games and received the team's Rookie of the Year award, Jacobs started the season backing up All-America first baseman Jaclyn Holden Jacobs earned her starting role after Holden was lost to injury.
Both, however, cited "having a year of experience" as a primary reason for their improvement this year.
They hope to carry those improvements into the weekend series against Virginia (18-12, 2-4) - who took two out of three in Chapel Hill last year.
Sunday's game will be the seventh game in a week for the Cavs, who played a doubleheader on Wendesday against Radford.
"ACC games are really important," Palmer said. "We want to win at least two out of three."
Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
(03/23/06 5:00am)
With no outs and Campbell a single away from tying the score in the top of the seventh inning, senior pitcher Crystal Cox did what she's been doing her whole career at North Carolina - struck out the side.
"I'm always going for strikeouts," she said. "I didn't want to let them put the ball in play."
Cox struck out 11 to lead No. 24 UNC to a 2-0 victory against Campbell in the first of two North Carolina victories at the Eugene G. Anderson Stadium on Wednesday.
In the second game, a 9-1 Tar Heel victory, UNC's bats came alive in the bottom of the second inning. North Carolina (26-9, 2-1 in ACC) scored seven runs, including a towering grand-slam by sophomore first baseman Jennifer Jacobs, her second of the year.
"There was no question it was gone when it hit the bat," said UNC assistant coach Beverly Smith, who filled in for head coach Donna Papa, who was not at the game.
Cox (11-5), now has 1,017 strikeouts on the season - 21 away from second-most in ACC history. She passed the 1,000-strikeout mark in her previous start on March 18 against Florida Atlantic, when she tied a career-high 15 strikeouts.
"Crystal's leaving her mark on Carolina softball," Smith said. "She'll probably hold all (UNC) pitching records by the time she leaves."
In the first game Campbell (18-14) threatened in the top of the fifth and seventh innings, putting runners on second and third with no outs.
But Cox notched three straight outs in both instances, ending the fifth inning with a strikeout and striking out three consecutive Campbell batters in the seventh to end the game.
"After we made an awesome defensive play to stop a run (in the fifth), we were determined not to let them score," Cox said. "(In the seventh), I felt like it was my responsibility to get out of the jam since I gave up two hits to get into it."
A first-inning RBI single by sophomore designated player Casey Testa - who later homered for the Tar Heel's only other run - was all UNC needed to seal the victory.
The second game started the way the first ended, with UNC freshman pitcher Amber Johnson striking out the first batter she faced - one of her 10 strikeouts on the day, tying her career high.
"Amber did a good job of keeping her screwball down and getting ahead of batters in the count," Smith said.
A two-out solo homer in the bottom of the second inning by junior third baseman Joslin Higgins started the barrage. The Tar Heels scored two more runs and loaded the bases by drawing walks with patience at the plate and by capitalizing on Campbell errors. Jacobs' grand slam cleared the bases and broke the game wide open.
Two more runs in the bottom of the fourth were more than enough for Johnson, who allowed only one hit all game, to close out the game.
Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.