UNC women's soccer hosts Notre Dame in title game rematch

The North Carolina women’s soccer team has had one game circled on its calendar all offseason. And today, the Tar Heels will have a chance to get back at a familiar foe.

No. 1 Notre Dame visits Chapel Hill this weekend — the same team that bounced UNC out of the NCAA tournament last season with a 4-1 win. The Fighting Irish went on to win the national title while the Tar Heels were denied a chance at a three-peat.

“This team embarrassed us last year,” Crystal Dunn said. “We want to come out strong because this game means so much to us. “We want to take back our title.”

But in order to do that, No. 3 UNC will need to find an answer for Notre Dame’s Melissa Henderson.

The senior All-American has 53 career goals to her name and helped defeat the Tar Heels last season with a goal and an assist.

“Henderson’s a really good forward,” junior Ranee Premji said. “She’s fast, she’s pretty skilled, and last year she gave us a little trouble, so we’re expecting the same as last year.”

Bolstering Notre Dame’s attack is senior Courtney Barg, a 2009 All-American who missed the first two months of last season with an injury.

Barg will play in the midfield where she will not only support Henderson and the Notre Dame offense, but will also help the defense try to stave off a dangerous Tar Heel frontline.

“They’re going to play with four back, and we’ll have three up front,” coach Anson Dorrance said. “The way we attack is to rely on one of our wonderful front runners.”

UNC will lean heavily on forwards Kealia Ohai and Courtney Jones to beat defenders one-on-one.

Assisting Barg in stopping UNC’s forwards is three-time team captain Jessica Schuveiller. She leads a defensive backline that shut out Wisconsin in the Fighting Irish’s first game of the season.

Notre Dame returns seven starters from last year’s championship team.

“They have a lot of fine veterans in many positions,” Dorrance said. “(Henderson) is one of the best in the country… but they’re also going to be very well organized.”

On top of the talent both teams will bring to the contest, emotions are expected to be running high.

UNC is still bitter about last season’s contest in which the Tar Heels lost by more than one goal for the first time since 1985.

“We know what they did to us last year,” Premji said. “And you never want to repeat that, especially not on our home field.

Facing the nation’s top-ranked team will be an early test for the Tar Heels, who defeated Nebraska 2-1 in their first match.

Dorrance expects the game to not only be an entertaining match, but also a learning experience for his squad.

“They’re going to be a formidable opponent,” he said. “They’ll give us all we can handle and hopefully share with us this early in the year where we need to work in order to compete to beat all the best teams in the country.”

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