Maybe it was the weather-delayed start.
Maybe it was the white jersey tops instead of the usual Carolina blue.
Maybe it was the lack of a band and a raucous student section.
Because whatever the North Carolina men's soccer team had in its 3-0 victory against Florida International it took 96 minutes to find against Virginia Commonwealth (0-2) on Sunday.
And make no mistake - it definitely was something.
As play got under way in a frenzied adrenaline-pumped atmosphere Friday night the Tar Heels (2-0) went straight to an attacking style that was absent for much of 2007.
The ball seemed to dart across and around the pitch with the Tar Heel midfield constantly switching the field to build the attack from the wings" creating chances in abundance.
""We wanted to come out with a punch Friday night"" senior midfielder Garry Lewis said.
We wanted to attack and bring it to them. It was about being direct and pressuring. The best way to do that is by constantly attacking.""
Junior Eddie Ababio and sophomore Cameron Brown did just that.
Their on-the-ball skills were precise and glamorous" with each of them cleverly using behind-the-back flicks shoulder feints and quickness to win individual battles.
The night left the Golden Panthers (0-2) in disarray and the Tar Heel faithful in the stands.
Minutes after Ababio scored the final goal with 8:08 left in the second half he led a long procession of Tar Heels in a gleeful sprint toward and into the stands.
It looked like Sunday was going to be a breeze after such a performance.
Wrong.
On a water-logged Fetzer Field the Tar Heels came out flat-footed sloppy and indecisive.
Coach Elmar Bolowich's new offense was nowhere to be found.
Passes were played behind or over the head of Tar Heel teammates.
Mistimed chest traps led to balls scampering away from player's feet. Crosses sailed over the near post nowhere near their designated targets.
When halftime rolled around the 11 starters left the field resembled a funeral march. In fact only two starters uttered any words at all.
And things didn't get easier. The next 45 minutes brought much of the same.
Like normally reliable scorers missing chances they usually bury.
Like two yellow cards for badly timed tackles.
Like forwards standing behind an opposing defender in an offside position killing attack after attack.
However even with all these struggles the Tar Heels kept coming.
They kept to their controlled style and continued looking for through balls to streaking midfielders in hopes of creating a goal.
And when senior captain Michael Callahan scored six minutes into overtime they kept to their celebratory style of charging the stands.
After a weekend of such black-and-white performances" Lewis had a one-word summary for the team's performance this weekend:
""Persistence.""
Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
