The Tar Heels will be playing their first home match of the season this weekend in the "Nike Carolina Classic," against Guilford on Friday at 7pm and against the U. of Washington on Sunday at 1pm. There should be some interesting soccer on Friday afternoon, but it will be in the first match at 5pm pitting Duke vs Washington, two good teams that UNC will have to face. There is an excellent article on Huskies soccer on their website (link) that previews the season but also concentrates on the match with UNC. They are certain to be a handful, both for Duke and for us. Guilford is another matter, as has been discussed on this forum. The match is the result of a scheduling mix-up and will pit the nation's #1 team against a Div. III team. The Quakers do have some players however (link) and they will want to play their best, so it is conceivable that they could give us some trouble. Most would predict a rough evening for our guests from Greensboro. There's no question that the U. of W. can give us some trouble on Sunday. They finished tied for second in the high-powered PAC-10 last year and return ten starters from that team. Duke will play Wofford in the 3pm match.
It is only conceivable as part of a seriously bad nightmare. The biggest risk in this game is an injury.
Heels thump Quakers; EB starts on back line TAR HEELS THUMP GUILFORD BALL STARTS AT RIGHT BACK I reckon the final score was probably 9-0, but I have to admit that we left early, somewhere in the middle of the second half, with the score 9-0 and the Tar Heels playing keep-away as they invariably do with nine points on the board. I'll post this (likely) result first and then give the scoring in another post to follow shortly. There's a lot of adding up to do for this one. Newest star in the UNC constellation? Kacey White! And, oh yes, EB started at right back. That's not one of my little jokes.
The details The Tar Heels pretty much had their way with Guilford, but it wasn't an utter slaughter, and it was a clean, well-played match with no tempers flaring that I noticed. The Heels put two complete teams on the field twice, the regulars, you might say, started both halves, and the subs, at least for this game, came in halfway through each half. Our starters were, from back to front, left to right, Winget, Gaston, Reddick, Ball, Tomecka, McDowell, Randolph, White, Ramsey, Felts, Bush. The "subs" were Griffin, Smith, Fletcher, Watley, Hardman, Gervais, Blomgren, Chalupny, Morrell, Tarpley, Black. Two very good teams, I must say. Alyssa Ramsey was on the track tonight, with two goals and two assists. Mary McDowell had two goals and one assist. Lindsay Tarpley had two goals; Susan Bush had a goal and an assist; Anne Felts and Corinne Black each had two assists; Sophie Gervais and Leslie Gaston each had a goal; and Kacey White and Lori Chalupny each had an assist. This could have been a much higher scoring game but Coach Dorrance will not allow anything more than 9-0. In fact, if the final score turns out to be 10-0, the score itself would be the big news. Offensively, the Heels looked like an unstoppable machine, but we need to see them again against a team that is better matched with us, like, say, the Huskies of the U. of W., who beat Duke 4-3 with a golden goal and whom we will play on Sunday afternoon. It was great to see our new freshmen out on the field at last. The one who most impressed the gang I was sitting with was Kacey White, who was playing attacking center midfield and controlling the ball and shooting off crisp passes like Laurie Schwoy in her freshman year. Speaking of that position, Jordan Walker was not dressed, so White was in the slot with the starters and Chalupny was in it with the subs. The three frosh who had played out in the U-19 tourney, Chalupny, Tarpley, and Fletcher, all played with the subs, but they had not practiced with the whole team at all, I understand, prior to this evening's match.
Yeah EB did start in the back and was really impressive. Other than her play, the new freshman looked like the real deal.
It was exciting to see the new players and to see the team in action. I can't wait to see Sunday's game for a better test of the team. I wonder what Guilford thinks of the keep-away thing after 9 goals. I don't like it, both because I think it is not good for us (UNC) and also because I think it robs the opposing team of the opportunity to face our attack (a learning experience). Also... some say it is more humiliating to the opponents. Back in the old days before the "stop at nine" rule UNC ran up a huge score against Warren Wilson College. This is a point of (reverse) pride for us since our daughter played on the Warren Wilson team (although not at that time). So... what do you think, Crazy (did you hear us yelling "go crazy" at the game?). Also... GoCourage -- got any pictures from the match?
9-0 That was the final score. Here's the TarHeelBlue write-up: link. There's also some info in it on the Duke loss to U.W.
We kind of knew it was coming. I heard a couple random "Go Beth"s...but not the "Go Crazy" thing...but its hard to listen to the crowd when you're playin.
My two cents I had been eagerly anticipating a first look at the team all summer. Despite poor Guilford College not matching up competitively--I must say it was a great evening. Tarpley is unquestionably starting material, and I would be surprised if she doesn't start every game this season. Her deft passing and heading skills and movement off the ball are world class. Sure enough, she scored two goals, and Anson took her out so that everyone else could have a chance. Note to opposing teams: Kacey White is as slick as any I've seen in that center middie spot--watch out. She is GOOD. She had a great shot before being subbed off, but it smacked the crossbar. Mary McDowell looks like a different player (work it!!) out there, and was really punishing Guilford's defense for the first 20 minutes. Her brother Jake had "guest coaching" duty on the bench beside Anson. Didn't see Rebekah, though, one of my favorites from days past! With this kind of depth, I can't imagine any other team that will be able to compete for 90 minutes (OR BEYOND) with that much speed and intensity. For the Tar Heels, it's all gonna come down to finding the right chemistry to win the championships...
The game turned out probably as most people expected, I was eagerly anticipating watching the new additions to the team play their first home game. Tarpley and White both looked sharp in their debuts. Fletcher had a quiet evening but she didn't get a lot of action since the ball was usually on the other side of the field. Of course, we also saw Lori Chalupny, Corrine Black, Brynn Hardmann, Leea Murphy, and Tyler Griffin make their debuts as well. I think that Black probably assisted on one of Tarpley's goals. I would like to see the freshmen play against a highly ranked opponent to get a better feel for their impact on this year's squad. Unfortunately, Sunday may not be that game even though UW is highly ranked. If Hope Solo (UW's goalie) survives the national team tryout for the next US friendly, we won't be seeing the best UW team on the field. I miss the days of seeing Notre Dame, Santa Clara and Stanford play UNC in Chapel Hill.
The Tarheels catch a break... UNC will not have to face Hope Solo in their game, as she will be starting for the NWT... http://www.collegesports.com/sports/w-soccer/stories/090702aat.html
and don't forget to set your VCR since the WNT game is on TV at the same time as our game here in Chapel Hill...
New players GoCourage's latest collection of photographs, cited and linked above by Heeligan2, includes some good ones of many of our new players. I was hoping for some of our two new goalkeepers, Aly Winget and Tyler Griffin, but they just weren't in on the action very much last night, and he didn't catch Leea Murphy in this one either. But, all that said, ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce to you? Kacey White Lindsay Tarpley Lori Chalupny Kendall Fletcher Brynn Hardman Corinne Black Thanks, GoCourage!
I was there! I was there and I was IMPRESSED! UW was giving us a game through much of the first half, but we got into a good rhythm near halftime and kept it for most of rest of the match. It was hot out on that field; don't know how those players can do it. Oh to be twenty again! I'm a little uncertain about my scoring, so you will want to double-check this against what TarHeelBlue puts up before too much longer. 30th minute or so -- McDowell, assisted by White and Ramsey 42nd or so -- Tarpley, assisted by Ball and Walker 44th or so -- Fletcher, assisted by Chalupny 55th , I think -- Randolph, assisted by Bush time? maybe 75th? -- Ramsey, assisted by Tarpley We were having too much fun in the stands and I just wasn't keeping good notes!
Washington's goal was on an own goal. After a shot, save by Winget, the ball was heading toward the goal and we were trying to clear it. I was at the opposite side of the field so I could not see what was going on too clearly. White is going to be our little Hege Riise. She was very impressive. So was Tarpley. Susan Bush was outstanding and as always Ramsey was a force. Leslie Gaston did very well and had some fantastic headers. She was called for a foul at one point when all she did was descend back to the field from the great height at which she had just headed the ball. oh well. The others had strong games too. Early on we weren't coordinated... folks weren't sure where to run and we were bunching up in the corner. We dominated though... the game was never scary even in the first part of the first half when we couldn't get our act together and were also a bit sloppy. It seemed in the late part of the second half we may have lost intensity, although we had a goal that was called back due to a foul and also there was an "almost" goal (Some of us thought it had crossed the line but the ref said it had not).
What's the hold-up? All this time has passed and still no more info. OK, I'll say a little more. Jenni started in goal and played the first half, when Aly came in. Our starting back line was the same as Friday night: Leslie, Cat, EB. Carmen was the first defensive sub, in for EB. Starting midfield was Maggie in back, Sara R. on the right, Mary Mac on the left, Casey White attacking. The subbing was a little hard for me to follow (and remember) as people moved around to different postions. Casey played on the right flank a lot, Lori Chalupny played at attacking CMF and I think that Kendall Fletcher subbed in for Maggie (?) well, I know she subbed in and she played a lot, somewhere in the vicinity of our back line. The starting forward line was Anne Felts, Alyssa, and Susan. Tarp was the first sub, with Anne going out. Jordan Walker got a fair share of playing time in the midfield and so did Annie Morrell up top, and both of them sat out the Guilford match. (Oops. Wrong. Morrrell came in in the second half against Guilford.) I could praise all of our players, but I will only single out Susan Bush, Elizabeth Ball, and Kacey White. All the freshmen are awesome, no lie. You've got to see these guys play!
In the last 10 years or so that I've been going to games, this is the deepest UNC team that I remember. There likely will be some changing throughout the year in who starts, but it won't matter because the new subbing rules in the first half make it look like a basketball game and play to UNC's strength. UNC's current "second" 11 will be 90% of the teams in Div 1, and occasionally they'd beat UNC's first 11. I thought the UNC seniors let the team down a bit last year in the finals; it won't happen this year as by the finals the team won't need to rely on any one or two people. UNC's dominance is so overwhelming, that the students' obsession with belittling the Duke Women's team (or any other team) as they did this weekend make the UNC students look silly and arrogant. The long-standing UNC Women's soccer fans know how tough it is to maintain this high a level of play and that success is never guaranteed.
Pictures Up GoCourage has posted the pictures of todays game. Thank you very much from a fan who can't make it to Chapel Hill as often as desired. www.nc-soccer.com The link on nc-soccer.com/carolina leads to Fridays pictures.
I'm going to reply to David's notes about the behavior of the studnet section. Especially since I was annoyed by the Duke fans last year. I'm hoping the UNC student cheering area won't be a regular feature of the matches. I was embarrassed by their rudeness. Is it wrong to think you can attract a crowd at a college sporting event without bringing with it degrading behavior? Anne Morrell looked great at the end of both halves. Picking a starting three among she, Susan (who looked as sharp as she did the game before her injury last year), Train, and Anne Felts is not going to be fun. Hopefully Anson can figure out a rotation to keep them happy because they should be able to put a lot of goals on the board. Did anyone mention that Cat was playing forward at the end of the game. It seems crazy to think that this team can go 11 deep. Wouldn't is be a hoot if in this year of incredible depth they are also free of injury?