Tar Heels split weekend games

If there was ever a good day to face the No. 3 North Carolina women's soccer team Kentucky surely didn't pick the right one.

Fresh off a disappointing 1-0 loss Friday against No. 5 Notre Dame" the Tar Heels came out on fire against the visiting Wildcats on Sunday with two goals in the first 10 minutes of the game en route to a 4-0 beatdown.

""We didn't feel like we dominated the game like we know we can"" senior Yael Averbuch said of the game against Notre Dame.

Coming into this game we just wanted to have a dominant performance to send a message to ourselves and our fans that we can do it.""

The game was played almost exclusively on Kentucky's side of the field as UNC controlled possession and dictated the pace from start to finish.

Every time Kentucky seemed to mount an offensive threat"" Tar Heel defenders made quick work of the Wildcat charge and sent the ball back towards the opposing goal and their potent offensive attack. North Carolina racked up 24 shots to Kentucky's two.

""We've had moments where we've looked good" but we haven't really put it together for 90 minutes" Averbuch said.

Today I thought for the majority of the game we played well and were dominant. It was a good feeling to finish our chances and really put a team away.""

It was a scene that could not have been any more different than the one two days before" the weekend's marquee matchup against a powerful Notre Dame squad.

In the first game clouded by Hurricane Hanna North Carolina found itself on its heels against an aggressive attack" and the back of the net was much more difficult to reach for both sides.

That was opposed to the sunny skies and plentiful scoring chances of Sunday's game.

Junior Casey Nogueira said that the team came out softer and more tentative against Notre Dame due to the opponent's high ranking and that the Irish were able to take advantage.

""They pressed us how we usually press teams" and it caught us a little off guard and made us all a little nervous and frantic" she said.

Though the Tar Heels outshot the Fighting Irish 10-9, most of their shots were from long distance and inaccurate.

UNC coach Anson Dorrance compared Notre Dame's defensive effort to a basketball team always putting a hand in the face of an opposing shooter. He said defensive pressure works the same way in soccer.

Notre Dame dogged us in all of our shots" he said. Maybe we rushed them maybe their pressure caused us to miss the frame" so you have to credit Notre Dame.""

Dorrance also said he was not very pleased with his own team's defensive display.

He said he thought that Notre Dame could have won the game by two goals if not for an extraordinary effort by UNC keeper Anna Rodenbough.

But Dorrance managed to glean a silver lining from the defeat.

He said the benefit of a tough nonconference schedule is that it identified a weakness he might not have caught against a less talented squad.

""We weren't as aggressive or dominant defensively (Friday) as we can be and as we were today and that's just effort" he said Sunday.

That has nothing to do with talent or tactics that has to do with what's in the middle of your heart" are you going to go after it or sit back.

""I thought in too many duels against Notre Dame we sat back.""



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