After a third-minute goal from the UNC's Maggie Tomecka, the Tar Heels and the Demon Deacons spent the next 87 scoreless minutes shoving, slide tackling and diving across a wet Fetzer Field.
There were countless scenes to pick from. At one point, Wake defender Liz McDowell, older sister of Tar Heel freshman Mary McDowell, flung her sister's teammate, Elizabeth Ball, on top of fellow Deacon Sarah Kate Noftsinger, who was already on the ground from another battle.
Midfielders Anne Felts of UNC and Katherine Winstead of Wake were fully seated on the turf on another occasion in a crab soccer-esque fight for the ball.
In the 65th minute, the Demon Deacons' reserves leapt from the bench after a sharp Leslie Gaston high kick nearly found a teammate's head.
And goal attempt after goal attempt ended with offensive and defensive players tripped up and rolling on the turf.
"Any soccer team worth its salt is going to have a kind of nastiness to them," said UNC coach Anson Dorrance. "We're not afraid to mix it up. We can mix it up if we need to."
And Tomecka was one of many players Dorrance listed as exceptionally physical.
"We have to step up and play," Tomecka said. "If they come out physical, then we have to go right back at 'em."
Tomecka cited revenge (for last season's 1-0 loss to Wake) as a big motivator for the game. However, she attributed the game's physical nature to fatigue from the busy schedules of both schools. When teams get tired, she said, they get more physical.
