It might be the first round of the NCAA tournament, but with no band and a small, polite crowd, Saturday’s game against Stanford feels perhaps more relaxed than it should.
But UNC is playing like it knows that this is its biggest stage yet.
The Tar Heels lead the Stanford Cardinal 2-0 at halftime on unassisted goals by Charlotte Craddock and Emma Bozek.
Craddock’s goal came off of a restart in the eighth minute. She dribbled across the top of the circle from left to right, shielding the ball from Stanford defenders, and hit a scorching shot into the cage.
Stanford wouldn’t be cowed into sitting back behind the ball so early, though. The Cardinal made several trips into the UNC circle, but goalkeeper Sassi Ammer kept her sheet clean.
Samantha Travers appeared to score in the 26th minute on a penalty corner, but her shot, which came from just inside the circle on a penalty corner, was deemed to be of dangerous height.
Bozek gave the Tar Heels some more breathing room in the 28th minute with her goal. This time, she worked right to left along the baseline and hit a reverse-sweep chip shot up and over Stanford goalkeeper Dulcie Davies into the net.
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