CARY, N.C. — Maycee Bell had been hearing it since December.
Though the first-year defender wasn’t officially a Tar Heel at the time, she understood the importance of the soccer team’s self-dubbed ‘revenge tour’. After coming up short last year against Florida State in both the ACC Championship game and the NCAA title game, one word has been on the team's mind: revenge.
When her older teammates let her know of the devastating losses, Bell, the ACC Freshman of the Year, made it clear that she was already well-aware.
“I was at the championship game when we lost,” Bell said. “I wasn’t on the team, but I just felt every emotion that they felt … They just told me that you can’t take any game for granted, and that we have to keep going for every game and fight every minute.”
And that’s exactly what Bell did this past Sunday during the ACC Championship final against top-ranked Virginia. It helped the Tar Heels slide by the Cavaliers 2-1 in double-overtime, winning the program’s 22nd conference title.
It was the largest stage of Bell’s young collegiate career. Still, she remembered not to take any moment, any possession or any play for granted.
In the sixth minute of the match, as junior defender Lotte Wubben-Moy sent a corner kick flying just outside the penalty box, Bell saw her opportunity. The 5-foot-11 defender soared up between two UVA defenders and used the side of her head to sneak the ball right past the right shoulder of goalkeeper Laurel Ivory, putting the Tar Heels on the board first.
“Before the game, (head coach Anson Dorrance) challenged me to go up when the ball’s in the corner,” Bell said. “So I just took the challenge, and it was awesome.”
