PAGE 14
SCOREBOARD
MAH ESTREICH
STREICH ZONE
A Devilish
rivalry has
been born
Rivalries don’t exist when
one team wins 60 of the
70 games ever played.
They certainly don’t exist when
one team goes 22 years without
ever beating the other.
And they definitely don’t exist
when it takes nearly a quarter
century for a team to stroll into
the opposing squad’s stadium
and steal a win on its home turf.
But any time North Carolina
or Duke makes the shortest drive
in the ACC to face the other, the
uncomfortable closeness and
ingrained hatred should prevail
regardless of history, right?
Well, when the Tar Heels
and Blue Devils face off in field
hockey, it usually isn’t a question
of “if” UNC will trounce those
poor sops from Durham it’s a
question of “how badly.”
In fact, North Carolina’s dom
ination of the Blue Devils in field
hockey has been so consistent
that the Tar Heels don’t con
sider Duke to be their top rival.
That distinction goes to Old
Dominion. And North Carolina
might even harbor more bad
blood for perennial-top-five
program Wake Forest than for
Duke.
At least, that used to be the
case.
All of those jaw-dropping
numbers mentioned above
they need to be accompa
nied by an asterisk —a Camie
Wilson-sized asterisk (pre-gas
tric-bypass).
In falling to the Blue Devils,
2-1, Friday at Henry Stadium, the
Tar Heels are in the midst of a
disturbing trend.
Despite holding a 60-9-1 all
time record against Duke, North
Carolina has dropped four of the
last five contests against its near
est neighbor. A 5-0 shutout in
October 2003 ended Duke’s 22-
year drought, and the Blue Devils
won in the ACC Tournament
later that year.
And the game that really
ignited this dead-as-disco rivalry
last November’s 2-1 stunner in
the second round of the NCAA
Tournament ended top-ranked
North Carolina’s season.
“When I first came to Carolina,
I don’t think it was as much of
a rivalry,” said senior goalkeeper
Katy Tran. “We hadn’t lost to
Duke in years. Now, they’re a
powerhouse.”
Especially after its most recent
win in Chapel Hill, it appears the
Duke program has finally pulled
even with the Tar Heels —and
perhaps has even surpassed
them.
“Duke’s come on very strongly,
and I think they’ve recruited
well,” said UNC coach Karen
Shelton. “And they’re playing
hard and tough... They’ve just
gotten a little bit better the last
few years.”
In the realm of Carolina-Duke
athletic rivalries, “Field Hockey:
The Final Frontier” finally seems
to fit. The majority of sports in
which this rivalry unfolds fea
ture typically well-matched and
ultra-competitive confronta
tions. Given the rise of Duke field
hockey in the past two seasons,
the Tar Heels might be able to
cast aside non-descript ODU and
finally insert the Blue Devils as
a sexier chief foe the way it
should be.
Gone are the days when play
ing Duke in field hockey was
significant only because the two
were token rivals.
“It’s always disappointing to
lose, especially at home, espe
cially to Duke,” Tran said.
Now with the balance of power
equal and the rivalry palpable,
those losses are tipping the scales
from embarrassingly rare to jus
tifiably frequent.
Whether or not Duke can
achieve a reversal of North
Carolina’s dominance, for now
this rivalry is here to stay.
Contact Matt Estreich
at estreich@email.unc.edu.
Sports Monday
WOMEN'S SOCCER IJNC 4 Miami 0
AFTERNOON DELIGHT
4 jf J W \
.. , , . . DTH/BRANDON SMITH
North Carolina defensive tackle Khalif Mitchell (94) celebrates the Tar Heel's 31-24 victory against N.C. State on Saturday afternoon. Mitchell,
and the rest of the UNC defensive front, held the Wolfpack to a mere 13 rushing yards, the fewest the team has allowed in almost five years.'
BY BRIAN MACPHERSON
SENIOR WRITER
RALEIGH This, they’d seen
before.
Two seasons ago, North Carolina
put up a valiant effort to hang tough
for one half at Carter-Finley Stadium
before a blown coverage paved the
way for an N.C. State touchdown and
eventual rout.
Faced with a similar situation
Saturday, however, the Tar Heels
Wouldn’t let that happen. With a quar
terback who suddenly couldn’t miss
and defenders who suddenly wouldn’t
relent, North Carolina stormed back
Edwards busts out with career game
BY JACOB KARABELL
SENIOR WRITER
RALEIGH A minute into
Saturday’s game, Barrington Edwards
tied his career high for rushing in a
game.
After the transfer from LSU plowed
up the middle for four yards on North
Carolina’s first offensive play, the
coaching staff called Edwards’ num
ber again on second down.
Shortly thereafter, the Tar Heels
had advanced from their own 24-yard
line to the N.C. State 14, a blistering
62-yard run that helped Edwards
equal his 66-yard effort in a 49-10
LSU victory against Louisiana Tech
on Nov. 1,2003.
“That’s been my longest run of
my college career, so I was excited,”
UNC tops Tigers despite
another lst-half snooze
BY DEREK HOWLES
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
Five minutes before North
Carolina’s men’s soccer game
Friday, the stands at Fetzer Field
were mostly empty.
Sure, the band had managed
to cobble together a few tuba
players and a guy with cymbals
and even
some wood
winds to play
the national
anthem. But
that was only
MEN’S
SOCCER
Clemson 0
UNC 1
about 20 members —and about
a third of the attendance.
The starting lineups were
read, and people clapped.
About five people. You could
tell because you could hear
the different sound each one
made.
But after 10 minutes had
elapsed, a few more people were
there. And then a few more. And
by halftime the bleachers were
tending less toward empty and
more toward full.
Maybe they had the right
www.dailytaiheel.com
from the brink of disaster for a 31-24
win.
“They have confidence, they believe
that they can win and they prepare
well,” said UNC coach John Bunting.
“As long as you do those things, you
always have a chance.”
But early in the third quarter it
didn’t appear the Tar Heels (1-2,1-1
in the ACC) had a chance.
N.C. State quarterback Jay Davis
found a wide-open T. J. Williams for
an easy 39-yard touchdown and a 24-
14 lead, and the Wolfpack (1-2, 0-2)
appeared to be cruising to a repeat of
2003.
Edwards said. “I could have walked
through that hole they had great
blocking up front.”
At that juncture, observers might
have wondered if this was the same
North Carolina ground attack that
sputtered through its first two games
of the season. Edwards accumulated
22 yards on seven carries against
Georgia Tech in the season opener,
and the sophomore upped that to 37
yards on 11 tries against Wisconsin
on Sept. 17.
Yet, when quarterback Matt Baker
placed the ball in Edwards’ hands on
the game’s second play, an adjustment
by the Tar Heels’ offensive line helped
Edwards to break into the wide-open
left side of the Carter-Finley Stadium
field.
DTH/LOGAN PRICE
North Carolina midfielder Dax McCarty (8), who assisted on the game's
only goal, slices the defense in Friday's 1 -0 win against Clemson.
idea: skip the first half, which
typically has been boring, and
show up for the second, which
typically has had scoring.
It was no surprise here
—a tale of two halves for the
No. 3 Tar Heels again, as they
got a goal from freshman mid
fielder Scott Campbell in the
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY UNC, 21st
UNC 31 N.C. STATE 24
To make matters worse, a short
run and an incomplete pass left
North Carolina facing a critical
third down deep in its own territory.
Quarterback Matt Baker hadn’t com
pleted a pass in nearly 17 minutes
of action, and his receivers showed
no signs of coming to his rescue any
time soon.
And with seven yards to go for the
first down, the senior had to throw
the ball.
“When you’re in second-and-long,
third-and-long, it’s a pass,” he said.
“Everyone in the stadium knows it’s
a pass.”
The Wolfpack had positioned
their linebackers more to the right
than UNC expected, setting up the
planned right-to-left run perfectly.
This shift permitted center Steven
Bell to nullify the safety instead of
a linebacker, creating considerable
space for Edwards before Wolfpack
safety Miguel Scott finally caught up
with him downfield.
“That was pretty big,” Bell said.
“Everyone got their man, everyone
did their assignment and Barrington
just went through there and ran down
the field. It really got the offense fired
up. It set the tone for the game on
offense.”
Edwards went on to tally another
SEE EDWARDS, PAGE 13
62nd minute and held off 17th
ranked Clemson for a 1-0 win
and their best start since 1991,
when they also began the year
6-0-1.
“For some reason we’ve
been dead in the first half, like
SEE SOCCER, PAGE 13
MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY UNC, 9th
With his receivers spread wide and
his offensive line providing perfect
protection, Baker stepped forward
and rifled an 11-yard pass to Mike
Mason across the middle.
First down, and the Tar Heels were
back in business. Three complete
passes and three Barrington Edwards
runs later, they scored a tide-turning
touchdown.
“Maybe they thought, We’ve got
’em now. We’ve got ’em now,’” said
Wolfpack coach Chuck Amato. “But
we didn’t. That’s why the game lasts
SEE FOOTBALL, PAGE 13
j . .jagg.
DTH/BRANDON SMITH
North Carolina running back Barrington Edwards (32) dodges
would-be 'Pack tackier J.J. Jones (4) during Saturday's game.
Duke outduels Tar
Heels late in game
Radford feels wrath of determined
field hockey team in blowout victory
BYALKILLEFFER
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
The North Carolina field hock
ey team was not pleased Friday
night after its 2-1 loss to Duke
at Henry Stadium it was the
team’s first loss
of the season
and it came at
the hands of its
arch-rivals.
What’s
more, it was
the No. 5 Blue
FIELD HOCKEY
Duke 2
UNC 1
Radford 0
UNC 4
Devils (7-2,1-1 in the ACC) who
had knocked North Carolina out
of the second round of the NCAA
Tournament in Chapel Hill just
one year before.
Needless to say, the No. 3 Tar
Heels (8-1, 0-1 ACC) were some
what upset.
“I always want to beat Duke,”
said senior goalkeeper Katy Tran.
“They beat us here last year to end
our season, and to me it’s almost
unacceptable that we allowed it to
Zht Hatty ®ar HM :
SEPTEMBER 26, 2005
happen again.”
After a productive first half in
which the Tar Heels outshot their
Tobacco Road rivals, 5-1, putting
them ahead, 1-0, they had trouble
scoring again in the second, while
trying to deal with a re-energized
Duke squad at the same time.
When the Blue Devils tied
the score just six minutes into
the second half, the fans moved
to the edge of their seats and
remained there for the rest of
the game.
But when Duke pulled ahead
with only 1:13 remaining, their
hopes were dashed.
Those members of the crowd
that returned for UNC’s game
on Sunday, however, witnessed a
much different display.
Still steaming from Friday’s
loss, the Thr Heels used unranked
Radford as a punching bag, out
shooting the Highlanders, 18-4,
SEE FIELD HOCKEY, PAGE 13