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UNC Ekes Out Another Victory
BY ADAM DAVIS
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
Though North Carolina’s football team never
dons silver and black, the Los Angeles Raider
phrase “just win baby," has been an appropriate
rallying cry re
cently.
A week after edg
ing SMU 28-24 on
Football
UNC 31
Georgia Tech 24
the road, the No. 15
Tar Heels (4-1,1 -1 in the ACC) again struggled
against a 1 -3 team but again made the key plays
they needed in the fourth quarter to beat Geor
gia Tech (now 14,0-3) 31-24.
The margin of victory came on Leon
Johnson's one-yard plunge into a mass of hu
mans, which capped a 74-yard drive and broke
a 24-24 tie with 2:27 left in the game.
The UNC defense, which was victimized by
Tech quarterback Tommy Luginbill for 313
passing yards on the day, then held the Yellow
K
~. . ... .
DTH/DAVID ALFORD
Curtis Johnson (32) scores on a 1-yard run to put UNC ahead 17-7 in the second quarter. Fullback Chris Watson provided the block on Tech's David Hendrix to spring Johnson.
ONTHEROAD
No. 1 Field Hockey Loses
For some unknown reason, Massachu
setts has North Carolina’s number.
Almost a year after UMass upset the
No. 1 UNC men’sbasketball team, it pulled
off another shocker Sunday at Westfield,
Mass., when it beat the top-ranked field
hockey team 1-0 in overtime.
The previously unbeaten Tar Heels
doubled UMass’ shots on goal, but just
6:14 into overtime, the Minutewomen
came up with the shot heard ’round the
Monday, Oct. 10
Men’s Golf: at Northwestern
Invitational, in Chicago, all day
Tuesday, Oct. 11
Men's Soccer vs. UNC-Asheville, 7
p.m.
Men's Golf: at Northwestern
Invitational, all day
Wednesday, Oct. 12
Volleyball: at N.C. State. 7 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 13
Men's Tennis: at All-American
Championships, in Austin. Texas,
all day
Friday, Oct. 14
Men's Soccer vs. South Carolina, at
South Carolina Met Life Classic, in
Columbia, S.C., 7 p.m.
Women's Soccer vs. Vanderbilt at
Texas Challenge Collegiate Classic, in
Houston, TBA
Men's Tennis: at All-American
MEN'S SOCCER Page 7
Over the Wall
The Tar Heels extended their winning streak to
six games with a 3-0 shutout against The
Citadel Sunday. The water boy didn’t get into
the game, but almost everyone else did as
coach Elmar Bolowich saved his players with
three more games on the horizon this week.
Jackets to seven yards on four plays to seal the
victory.
Although squeaking byateamthathasbeaten
only Western Carolina is less than impressive,
UNC coach Mack Brown said it was no ordi
nary 1-3 team.
“I’m very pleased with our football team,”
he said. “Georgia Tech has a good team, and
it’s probably the best team with a record like
theirs in the country. I thought, as well as
(quarterback) Jason (Stanicek) play ed, Luginbill
played probably as well as any quarterback in
America (Saturday) in a losing effort.”
Besides the ultimate accomplishment
winning the game there were two more
major accomplishments for UNC Saturday.
First, you can take the Johnsons off the milk
carton. Neither UNC tailback, Leon or Curtis
Johnson, had rushed for 100 yards in ’94. But
against Tech, the Tar Heel running game was
dominant. Curtis rushed for 111 yards and a
touchdown on 23 carries and Leon picked up
field hockey world.
Sophomore midfielder Kyle
Rothenberger fired a shot from the top of
the circle past UNC goalie Jana Withrow.
With the win, No. 9 UMass improved
to 7-1-3, while the Tar Heels dropped to 11 -
1.
North Carolina almost avoided the over
time session with 16:21 remaining in the
second half.
Massachusetts goalie Hillary Rose had
to defend a penalty stroke after UN C forced
Please See WEEKEND, Page 9
Championships, all day
Saturday, Oct. 15
Football: vs. Maryland. 1:30 p.m.
Field Hockey: vs. Maryland, at
Charlottesville, Va., 1 p.m.
Volleyball: vs. Pennsylvania, in
Carolina Fall Classic, at Chapel Hill,
12:30 p.m.
Volleyball: vs. Hofstra, in Carolina Fall
Classic, 7 p.m.
Men’s and Women's Cross Country:
at State Championship, in Charlotte.
10 am.
Men’s Tennis: at All-American
Championships, all day
Sunday, Oct. 16
Field Hockey: at Virginia. 1 p.m.
Men's Soccer vs. Davidson, at South
Carolina Met Life Classic, noon
Women's Soccer: vs. Stanford, at
Texas Challenge Collegiate Classic.
TBA
Men's Tennis: at AlFAmerican
Championships, all day
SPORTS
GJljr Daily 3ar Mrrl
110 yards and two TDs on 22 totes.
Stanicek added 54 yards on 14 carries, and
overall, the Tar Heels gained 342 yards on a
whopping 72 carries. This allowed UNC to
possess the ball for 41:32, compared to Tech’s
18:28.
“That’s our offense Leon and Curtis get
ting 100 yards,” Stanicek said. “They haven’t
had it this year yet, but I think the offensive line
is starting to jell a little bit, and Curtis and Leon
are gonna get some more 100-yard games.”
Stanicek completed the other accomplish
ment late in the first quarter. On a first-and 4
from the Tech 35, he dropped back, avoided the
rush and scrambled to the right sideline for nine
yards. That gave him 4,884 yards for his career,
five more than the former UNC record holder,
Charlie “Choo Choo” Justice.
“I actually messed up on the play because it
was a pass play, and they blitzed, and I didn’t
see the blitz, so I just ran the ball,” Stanicek said.
Despite the historic achievement, the game
Women’s Soccer Returns to Winning Ways
BYTODD GRAFF
STAFF WRITER
DURHAM The Ohio State bench
erupted in jubilation as the ball fluttered
over Tracy Noonan’s head and fell into the
back of the net.
The Buckeyes' exultation implied they
had scored an historic goal against the
nation’s best team. However, the goal
merely cut UNC’s lead to 3-1 and was
relatively meaningless in UNC’s 6-1 anni
hilation Saturday afternoon. But it clearly
demonstrated the respect this juggernaut
receives from its competitors, when an
inconsequential goal is a fabulous moral
victory.
But the ex
citement was
short lived for
Ohio State,
now 6-8-2.
Three minutes
later, Robin
Women's Soccer
UNC 6
Ohio State 1
UNC 2
Geo. Wash 0
Confer followed a missed penalty kick and
netted UNC’s fourth goal, effectively stop
ping any potential rally.
The victory capped a 2-0 weekend at the
Duke Women’s Soccer Classic for the 13-
0-1 Tar Heels, who shut out George Wash
ington 2-0 Friday.
Confer performed well Saturday in only
herthird starting role, tallying one goal and
one assist, but the weekend’s star and
UNC’s MVP was converted midfielder
Keri Sanchez.
Sanchez’s goal on Saturday, which gave
UNC a 3-0 lead, typified her unfailing
intensity and desire as she simply outran
her defender to a loose ball, after starting
four yards behind, and headed it into the
back of the net.
“Keri Sanchez is having a wonderful
senior season,” head coach Anson
Dorrancesaid. “And the coaching staff felt
continued, and the record was not announced until
after Tripp Pignetti's 23-yard field goal gave UNC a
10-7 lead. Thus, Stanicek was deprived of the chance
to imitate his childhood idol, Walter Payton, who
broke the NFL career rushing record.
“I didn’t know what they were gonna do,”
Stanicek said. “I wanted to be on the field when they
announced it because my dream was—when Walter
Payton broke his record, he gave one of his team
mates a high-five at the middle of the field, and I
wanted to do the same thing. But it didn’t work out
that way.”
If not for the record, it would have been an
ordinary day for the admittedly nervous Stanicek,
who was 11 for 24 for 120 yards, one TD and two
interceptions.
The TD pass, a 19-yarder to a wide-open Darrin
Ashford, tied the game 7-7 just 2:59 after kickoff.
The Jackets had struck first on Luginbill’s 77-yard
strike to Omar Cassidy on Tech's second play from
Please See FOOTBALL, Page 9
UNC’s Next
Premiere
Soccer Star
BY SCOn WEAVER
STAFF WRITER
Many of the best players in colle
giate women's soccer have come
through Anson Dorrance’s system.
April Heinrichs, Kristine Lilly, Mia
Hamm, Tisha Venturini... and Debbie
Keller.
Keller, just a sophomore, is proving
that she is on the road to becoming
North Carolina’s next great superstar.
“Debbie Keller is a great player,”
said DotTance, UNC’s head coach. “She
has her own style. She’s the kind of
player we’ve never had here. She's sur
passed my expectations for her.”
Keller is definitely defying the curse
of the “sophomore jinx.”
Please See KELLER, page 9
she was the best player on the field this
weekend.”
Sanchez’s move to the midfield has al
lowed her to utilize more than her incred
ible defensive presence, showing her tre
mendous playmaking ability. After start
ing the season at back and managing only
three points in 10 games, she might be the
team's hottest player right now with 10
points in her last four games.
“We switched her to left half, and she’s
giving the presence that Danny (Egan) has
NFL Scores NCAA
Atlanta 34 Green Bay 24 San Diego 20 Miami 34
Tampa Bay ....13 L.A. Rams 17 Kansas City 6 Florida State.. 20
Buffalo 21 San Francisco 27 L.A. Raiders ...21 Boston C 011.... 30
Miami 11 Detroit 21 New England 17 Notre Dame... 11
Chicago 17 Denver 16 Philadelphia... 21 Colorado St... 21
New Orleans... 7 Seattle 9 Washington... 17 Arizona 16
N.Y. Jets 16 Dallas 38 Monday's Game: Louisville 35
Indianapolis 6 Arizona 3 Vikings at Giants N.C. State 14
DTH/DAVID ALFORf)
UNC quarterback Jason Stanicek sports a Heisman
Trophy-like pose in eluding Georgia Tech tacklers in the
Tar Heels' 31-24 win in Kenan Stadium Saturday.
Johnson Tandem
Returns Against
Weak Jacket Line
BY ALISON LAWRENCE
ASSISTANT SPORTSATURDAY EDITOR
They really don’t agree on how they did it or why it happened
when it did, but Leon Johnson and Curtis Johnson do agree that
their explosive running game reached its potential in Saturday’s
31-24 win against Georgia Tech.
Maybe it was a top-notch performance by the UNC offensive
line.
“Our offensive line really stepped up the play, and as a running
back group, both of us came out, and we played really hard, ” said
sophomore tailback Leon Johnson. “When you do that, some
times things click your way.”
Or maybe Tech’s defense left too many holes for the Tar Heel
runners to slip through.
“I think we were running hard and keeping time of possession
in our hands which kind of helped," Curtis Johnson, a junior
tailback, said. “All I know is that I saw some really big holes out
there.”
Curtis and Leon each rushed for more than 100 yards, marking
the first time this season either had reached the century plateau.
The duo’s performance was reminiscent of last season’s 1,000-
yard tallies by both men, which were crucial to the Tar Heels’
success.
“Me and Curtis didn’t have that 100 yards, and then we got it,”
Leon said. “It was a real confidence booster just knowing that we
can get 100 yards.”
Leon and Curtis had almost identical statistics. Curtis rushed
23 times for 111 yards and one touchdown, while Leon rushed 22
times for 110 yards and two touchdowns. Together, they scored
the majority of UNC’s points.
Power and confidence were two of the keys to the success at
tailback.
“I think me and Curtis came out and played very powerful,”
Leon said. “We played the way we need to. We came out in this
game, and we really ran aggressively, and that’s what we need to
do."
Not only did Curtis and Leon get the job done, but the rest of
the Tar Heels rushers proved to be effective as well. North
Please See JOHNSONS, Page 7
\ ipr I
DTH/DAVID ALFORD
North Carolina's Debbie Keller flies over Ohio State goalie Nicole Morris at the
Duke Women's Soccer Classic. UNC blinded the Buckeyes 6-1 Saturday.
given on the flank,” Dorrance said. “This
weekend she had one goal and four assists,
which is tremendous production from the
flank.”
On Friday, Sanchez set up Tisha
Venturini in the 30th minute for the game
winner against the Colonials, now 84. It
was Venturini’s fourth game-winning goal
of the season, and she finished the week
end with 12 goals and 10 assists for the
season.
Although seemingly a close game, the
Monday, October 10,1994
final score was misleading because UNC
outshot George Washington 28-2, and
Shelley Finger recorded only one save.
Saturday’s game provided a similar of
fensive outpouring as UNC outshot the
Buckeyes 27-3, and Finger again recorded
only one save. Senior midfielder Angela
Kelly and Sanchez led the scoring attack
with one goal and two assists each.
The two connected on a beautiful goal
Please See WOMEN’S SOCCER, Page 9
12