Dunn lifts women's soccer team to ACC Tournament semifinals

Crystal Dunn is listed on North Carolina’s roster at 5-foot-2, putting her in a tie for the shortest player on the team.

But in the 40th minute of UNC’s 1-0 ACC quarterfinal win against Boston College, when a ball rebounded off the top of the post and floated her way, 5-foot-2 was just enough.

Dunn leapt up, elevating herself a full head higher than any defender near her, and headed the ball right into the goalie’s hands. But in the commotion of the play, Boston College’s goalie had stepped backward into the goal, and by the time she caught the ball, it had already crossed the line.

“I saw the ball coming down and I thought ‘Why not just try to jump and get something on it,” Dunn said.

After she saw the goalie grab it, she was disappointed. She didn’t think it was a goal.

But the sideline referee raised his flag, signaling that it was indeed a goal, and the only goal the Tar Heels would need to get the win — a win that broke UNC’s three-game losing streak in past ACC Tournament games, and sent the Tar Heels to the semifinals where they will face Florida State Friday.

Coach Anson Dorrance laughed when asked about the leaping header from his shortest player, but pointed quickly to the reasons why Dunn won the ball.

“She’s just a phenomenal athlete, but also she’s just a great competitor,” Dorrance said.

“It was kind of interesting that the goal for us today was our shortest player out-jumping everyone.”

North Carolina finished the shutout with five saves. But for the first time this season, the shutout belonged to only one goalie.

Senior Anna Sieloff played all 90 minutes in goal for the Tar Heels Sunday, breaking the “keeper-by-committee” trend that UNC has employed all season.

“It was a good competition, I thought (sophomore Bryane Heaberlin) did some really good things this year,” Dorrance said. “I thought Sieloff did a little bit better.”

Dorrance pointed to the fact that Sieloff has given up just one goal in ACC play as a factor in his decision as well.

Sieloff wasted no time in proving it was a good decision, and she made several diving saves to preserve the shutout victory.

“It’s a good feeling,” Sieloff said. “Boston College is an excellent team, and they had a lot of good opportunities so to shut them out as a team was awesome.”

Moving forward in the ACC Tournament is one of the team’s goals, but Dorrance has his eyes set on a bigger prize — a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

“We want to compete for conference honors and conference championships,” he said. “But that’s never a concern of mine.

“Our ambition is to win national championships.”

And when your ambition is to win national championships, UNC could use more players at 5-foot-2 playing like they’re six feet tall.

sports@dailytarheel.com