PAGE 14
SCOREBOARD
HUM
LM
DAVID MOSES
YOUR BOY
Roy looks
to break
drought
Roy Williams is a very good
coach.
But Williams is not a
great coach at least not yet.
Williams officially owns one
of the least desired monikers in
sports the best coach never to
win a national championship.
His 40 NCAA Tournament
victories put him at the top of
the list above Eddie Sutton for
the most victories without that
incredibly elusive title.
If he wants to go down as one of
the greatest coaches in college bas
ketball history, Roy will have to get
that monkey off his back against a
very talented Illinois team in a Phil
Mickelson-like performance.
Much of the talk leading up
to this weekend had been about
the four great coaches at this
year’s Final Four. The two with
national championships, Rick
Pitino and Tom Izzo, are gone, as
they couldn’t get their teams past
superior opponents.
But while Roy must have
given quite the halftime speech
and made some great midgame
adjustments, he’s certainly not
Dean Smith on the sidelines or
dare I say it, even Coach K.
“I think when it gets down
to this stage, there is the same
amount of pressure on everybody,”
Williams said earlier in the week.
“Somebody’s going to win two
games; who is it going to be?”
In his tenure at Kansas, Roy
took the Jayhawks to four Final
Fours, but was never able to cut
down the nets.
Probably the most memorable
experience was his team’s finals
loss to Carmelo Anthony and
Syracuse even though Kansas
had what many considered the
superior roster.
Granted, that team was with
out injured future All-American
Wayne Simien, but that wasn’t
Roy’s only disappointment in his
time in Lawrence.
His 1997-98 team started
22-0 and won the Big 12 by four
games, but it couldn’t make it
past the Sweet 16 and finished
the year 34-2.
Even though everybody puts
the pressure on Roy to win, he
said that team taught him that
winning isn’t everything.
“That (1998) team didn’t make
the Final Four, that team didn’t
win a national championship,”
Williams said. “When I’m 75 and
they’re 55, and I think of that
team, that’s what I’m going to
think about, and that’s about as
unhealthy as you can possibly be.
So I decided that was stupid.”
The very next year, Roy’s
boys were led by first-team All-
Americans Raef LaFrentz and Paul
Pierce —but they were unable to
even make it past the first week
end, as they were ousted in round
two and finished the season 35-4.
Some writers are already say
ing that Illinois has the advantage
because Roy stalks the sidelines for
the Tar Heels, and he has a pro
pensity to lose important games.
“We beat Georgetown (in 1982),
and I was so relieved because I
thought it would shut up all those
people that said Coach Smith
couldn’t win the big one, and I
said that to him,” Williams said. “I
said that when I hugged him out
on the court that I was so happy to
win because it would shut all those
people up, and he said, 1 don’t
really think that I’m really that
much better of a coach than I was
21/2 hours ago.’”
Tonight’s game is meaningful
so the seniors can come full circle
after the 8-20 season and so the
juniors can show they can play as
a team, but it might be even more
crucial for Williams’ coaching
legacy.
One game might not determine
a coach’s overall ability, but despite
that he says otherwise, this cham
pionship game is incredibly impor
tant for Good Ol’ Roy to show that
he can win the big one.
Contact David Moses
at dmoses@email.unc.edu.
Sports Monday
MEN'S TENNIS UNC 5 Virginia Tech 2
UNC FALLS TO JOHNS HOPKINS
Spellman can’t
save lacrosse team
BY DEREK HOWLES
STAFF WRITER
Less than a minute into
the third quarter Saturday,
Johns Hopkins midfielder
Kyle Harrison took a feed,
stepped right and spun back
left to fire a sidearm laser past
North Carolina goalkeeper Paul
Spellman that increased the No.
1 Blue Jays’ lead to 3-1.
But before the ensuing face
off, a severe weather delay
forced the teams off the turf at
Fetzer Field.
The 45-minute stoppage
threatened to erase JHU’s
momen
tum, and
when North
Carolina
midfield
e r Kyle
MEN'S
LACROSSE
Johns Hopkins 7
UNC 5
Henderson scored soon after
play resumed, the No. 17 Tar
Heels looked poised to defeat
the Blue Jays for the first time
in 10 years. UNC has not beat
a No. 1-ranked team since the
1996 season.
But it was not to be. Five
minutes later, Johns Hopkins
attackman Peter LeSeur flicked
in a one-handed shot from his
knees after being pushed to the
ground. He struck again one
minute after that, and the Blue
Jays went on to win 7-5.
“First half, we did really
well defensively, and (I) got
some easy saves in the cage,”
Spellman said. “Second half,
they got some better looks, and
when they had opportunities
they canned it.”
The Tar Heels (2-6) dropped
Tar Heels outlast
Cavs in rainy sweep
BY GABRIELLE DE ROSA
SENIOR WRITER
Who knew baseball could be viewed as an endur
ance sport?
The North Carolina and
Virginia baseball teams dem
onstrated the new athleticism
the sport requires after playing
a 12-hour, 40-minute series,
including Saturday’s two rain
delays, as the Tar Heels swept
the Cavaliers.
“You don’t hear that much
in baseball about stamina,”
said UNC coach Mike Fox. “I’m
proud of (my players) for sus
taining that and having enough
BASEBALL
Virginia- 2
UNC 3
11 INNINGS
Virginia 5
UNC 10
Virginia 7
UNC 8
14 INNINGS
energy and mental capacity to get it done.”
Right fielder Jay Cox was largely responsible for
keeping UNC (24-5, 8-2 in the ACC) in Friday and
Sunday’s extra-inning games.
After the Cavaliers’ Matt Street
launched a solo home run in the
top of the 10th Sunday, putting
his team up 2-1, Cox hit a sharp
single to third base with two men
on to tie the score again at 2.
UNC kept the Cavs (19-9,4-6)
at bay in the top of the 11th. Then
INSIDE
Four starting
freshmen help
power the Tar
Heels on offense
PAGE 13
Tar Heel Matt Ellington stepped up with runners at
the comers and two outs. The sophomore hit an RBI
blooper to right center field, winning the game 3-2.
Cox was responsible for putting the Tar Heels in
extra innings Friday on a sacrifice fly to tie the game
in the ninth and sealing the deal in the bottom of the
Hoyas fend off late surge
BY MARY DUBY
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
The North Carolina women’s
lacrosse team dug itself into the
ground in the second half against
Georgetown on Sunday.
But with
the help of a
4-0 run in the
game’s last
seven min
utes, it looked
as if the No.
3 Tar Heels
might manage
WOMEN'S
LACROSSE
Georgetown 11
UNC 10
Oregon 8
UNC 21
to claw their way back.
But the hole was just too big,
and UNC dropped a frustratingly
close 11-10 contest to the No. 8
Hoyas at Fetzer Field.
“You can’t have lapses like we
had (Sunday),” said UNC coach
Jenny Levy. “I was disappointed
www.dthonllne.com
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Johns Hopkins Kyle Harrison (right) slices through the North Carolina midfield during the Blue Jays' 7-5 victory against the Tar Heels on Saturday.
their second straight game, after
getting handled by Maryland
last weekend in College Park.
However, all six of North
Carolina’s losses come at the
hands of teams ranked in the
nation’s top 11.
Neither squad managed to get
on the board in the first quarter,
largely because of the stellar play
of both teams’ goalies.
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COURTESY OF UNC ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
North Carolina's Jay Cox (21) knocked in the
game-winning run against Virginia in the 14th
inning Friday to give the Tar Heels the 8-7 victory.
14th with a game-winning single in the 8-7 victory.
“Friday night, I got behind in the count,” Cox said.
“But I don’t change nothing if you’re down a run or
up a ran. I just try to stay the same in the batter’s
SEE BASEBALL, PAGE 13
to see that in the beginning to the
middle of the second half we were
asleep and gave up alot of stuff and
weren’t playing very disciplined.
“It’s great to have the surge
and all, but you gotta to be in the
whole game. You can’t rely on
coming back, tying it to win it in
the thriller you just can’t. It’s
getting later in the season, and
(the other teams are) going to
play a whole 60 minutes, and we
have to too.”
UNC (9-3) had won its last
three games in a row, including a
21-8 slaughtering of first-year var
sity program Oregon on Friday.
The Tar Heels came within
one after a Georgetown defend
er lost control of the ball. UNC
attacker Christina Juras came up
with the possession and took off
in a footrace towards the goal.
WOMEN'S GOLF Duke Ist UNC 12th
Spellman, in particular, was
remarkable throughout the first
half, stoning three would-be
scorers on point-blank shots. The
senior finished the game with 10
saves.
“Paul’s had a great year up to
this point, and he’s been very
consistent for us,” said UNC
coach John Haus. “He’s played
outstanding, and I think at the
Finding herself one-on-one with
the goalie, Juras quickly netted
the ball with 3:36 remaining in
the game.
Despite winning the following
draw control, UNC turned over
the ball, and Georgetown (6-2)
stalled away the final minutes on
the clock to seal the victory.
“I think the defense played
a really good offensive team
(Sunday),” Levy said. “We didn’t
do a good job on them.”
The Hoyas controlled the pace
for the majority of the game and
beat UNC on groundballs 31 to 22.
Georgetown jumped out to a 3-0
lead, as Coco Stanwick netted the
team’s first goal eight minutes into
the game. The sophomore attacker
led the Hoyas with five goals.
SEE GEORGETOWN, PAGE 13
SOFTBALL UNC 3 Florida Atlantic 0
defensive end we’re getting bet
ter.”
But North Carolina’s defense
couldn’t shut down the vaunted
Blue Jay offense forever.
Just minutes into the second
quarter, midfielder Paul Rabil
who notched three goals in the
game split-dodged to his left
and deposited the ball into the
back of the net. He struck again
FSU and Elon
prove no match
for No. 16 UNC
BY GABY REMINGTON
STAFF WRITER
The No. 16 North Carolina
women’s tennis team defeated
both Florida State and Elon on
Saturday at the Cone-Kenfield
Tennis Center, winning 6-1 and 7-
0, respectively.
The Tar Heels (15-6, 3-1 in
the ACC ) got off to a solid start
against the No. 32 Seminoles,
winning the doubles point and
losing only one match at the No. 1
seed in singles. UNC is still unde
feated at home this season.
North Carolina freshman
Charlotte Tansill played an
endurance match against Florida
State’s Amberly Tantee at the No.
6 seed. The match went to three
sets with Tansill taking the first
and third.
“I felt really good about how I
played today,” Tansill said. “I think
it’s good to win a three-setter men
tally.”
Tansill kept up the positive
mentality in her second match
against Molly Cade of Elon (4-8),
this time playing at the No. 4 seed
due to the injuries of fellow team
mates Aniela Mojzis and Sara
Anundsen.
“I just want to play at a high
percentage for every point and
not give up any three points,”
Tansill said. “I wanted to make
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DTH FILE PHOTO/BRANDON SMITH
North Carolina standout Aniela Mojzis missed this weekend's matches
against Florida State and Elon, but UNC still pulled out two easy victories.
(Bhe lailg (Bar Rrrl
APRIL 4, 2005
about two minutes later, beating
Spellman with a sidearm shot off
another split dodge to give JHU
(6-0) a 2-0 cushion.
“No one took anything upon
themselves,” Rabil said. “We just
try to put the ball in the goal a
lot, and it happened to be me in
the first couple shots.”
SEE HOPKINS PAGE 13
“We dominated
today as far as
the score , hut we
also put in a lot of
energy and focus.”
BRIAN KALBAS, UNC COACH
her play and not take her for
granted.”
Teammate Jenna Long was
also victorious against opponents
Lindsay Deason of Florida State
(9-7, 4-3) at the No. 3 seed, and
then again against Elon’s Elizabeth
Kernodle at the No. 2 seed in the
afternoon.
“It was real hard to refocus after
FSU,” Long said. “I think the whole
team was pretty focused with FSU,
and then everything was pretty
solid for the most part, so it was
a fun day.”
The Tar Heels are looking for
ward to a promising ACC tour
nament .with new confidence
after defeating FSU (9-7, 4-3)
on Saturday and Wake Forest on
Thursday two teams that North
Carolina struggled against last
season.
“I feel like we got a lot of
SEE TENNIS, PAGE 13