UNC Splits on Virginia Shoreline

The Tar Heels' (14-5) elder players helped beat the Tribe 2-0 on Sunday after losing to Old Dominion on Saturday.

With the weekend split, UNC moved closer to locking up home-field advantage for the NCAA Tournament on

Nov. 10 and 11.

But it didn't come without any struggles.

In fact, UNC was held without a goal until 11 minutes, 36 seconds remained in the contest. The Tar Heels outshot the Indians 21-2 and outcornered them 9-2 but still found themselves scoreless through three-quarters of the contest.

"Like any game, there are always opportunities you don't get," senior Carrie Lingo said. "But we got the two that we needed, and we got the win, and that's the important thing."

UNC finally opened the scoring in the second half on its seventh penalty corner.

Abby Martin unleashed a 15-yard smash on the corner. Her shot ricocheted to Carrie Lingo, who found herself open in front of the net and pushed home the goal that would prove to be the game winner.

The Tar Heels weren't finished. With 40 seconds remaining in the game, Meredith Keller added an insurance tally when she pushed home an open 10-yard shot off an assist from Kerry Falgowski.

The Tar Heels fell to Old Dominion 6-4 on Saturday.

The Lady Monarchs avenged their

2-1 loss to UNC on Oct. 17 in Chapel Hill. ODU was led by junior Tiffany Snow, who scored four goals. Old Dominion kept North Carolina goalkeeper Amy Tran busy all day, firing 16 shots on goal, including 13 in the first half. The Tar Heels took 10 shots.

"I just think we broke down on the defensive end; it's nothing more than that," Martin said. "We just weren't recovering fast enough. We weren't getting our people behind the ball."

ODU jumped out to a 4-1 lead late in the first half when senior Julie Miracle scored two goals.

But North Carolina answered by closing out the half on a goal from Lingo off a penalty corner with no time remaining.

However, just after intermission, Old Dominion cushioned its lead with two more Snow goals.

The Tar Heels showed fight in the closing minutes, but by then it was too little, too late. Lingo and Martin both scored off penalty strokes to cut the lead to two, but UNC could get no closer.

Despite the loss, the Tar Heels took solace in their late comeback.

"There's no question that I am encouraged by the fight in our team, that we did not fold when we got down big at Old Dominion," Shelton said.

UNC will now look towards the ACC Tournament at Henry Stadium. The Tar Heels face Wake Forest, a team that twice has defeated the Tar Heels this season, on Friday.

"Wake Forest is another team (like ODU) that is kind of blue collar and works very hard and is tough," Shelton said. "Our team grew in terms in being physically and mentally tough today, and that is important going into the ACC Tournament."

The Sports Editor can be reached at sports@unc.edu.