PAGE 12
SCOREBOARD
SPORTS BRIEFS
WOMEN'S TENNIS
: 9HHEH
DTH FILE/J B YOUNG
FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
ALTAMONTE SPRINGS. Fla.
North Carolina sophomore Sanaz
Marand defeated the nation's top
ranked singles player, but the fifth
seeded Tar Heels were unable to
overcome losing the doubles point,
falling to fourth seeded Clemson,
4-2, Friday morning at Sanlando
Park in the quarterfinals of the ACC
Tournament.
Katrina Tsang was also a winner
in singles for the Tar Heels, who will
now await an at-large bid to the
NCAA Tournament.
MEN S TENNIS
9 J
DTH file photo
ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. On
a hot Florida afternoon in the quar
terfinal round of the ACC champi
onships, the 25th nationally ranked
Miami Hurricanes outlasted the
11th ranked North Carolina Tar Heels
by the score of 4-3.
UNC was the only team among
Friday's top four seeds that had to
face a top 25 opponent in the quar
terfinals.
The Tar Heels await an NCAA
Tournament bid with a 19-5 record
and a 12 5 mark against top-75
teams.
WOMEN'S GOLF
JAMESTOWN. Va. The UNC
women’s golf team secured its fifth
place finish at the ACC Championship
on Sunday afternoon after firing a 10-
over par 298 in the final, round, bring
ing its final total to a 40-over-par 904.
Leading the way was junior Sydney
Crane, who fired a three-over-par 75
for a six over par 222 final total.
TRACK & FIELD
ATLANTA Junior Brie Felnagle
won a pair of events Saturday at the
ACC Outdoor Championships as she
heiped fuel the Tar Heel women to a
third-place finish. The UNC men on
the back of Charles Cox finished fifth
overall.
Virginia Tech and Florida State
copied their conference indoor per
formance as the Hokie women and
Seminole men captured the outdoor
titles.
THIS WEEK
TUESDAY
BASEBALL
at Charlotte
TIME: 6 p.m.
LOCATION: Charlotte
WEDNESDAY
BASEBALL
vs. High Point
TIME: 6 p.m.
LOCATION: Cary
SOFTBALL
at Winthrop
TIME: 3 p.m. and S p.m
LOCATION:Rock Hill, S.C.
THURSDAY
WOMEN'S LACROSSE
ACC Tournament
TIME: TEA
LOCATION: Chestnut H9L Mass.
TRACK Sr FIELD
at Penn
TtMt ail day
LOCATION: PhrlacMphta
Sports Monday
WOMEN'S GOLF UNC sth ACC Championships
A SWEET SENIOR SEND-OFF
BY POWELL LATIMER
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
North Carolina looked to be in
danger of a third straight blown
lead Saturday on Senior Day.
A resilient Hofstra squad had
reeled off three goals in less than
four minutes to trim UNC’s early
lead to only two by halftime.
But a little more than three
minutes into the third quarter,
junior Ben Hunt rifled a shot into
the back of the
net. Less than
a minute later,
Bobby McAuley
found a slash
ing Michael B.
MEN'S
LACROSSE
Hofstra 9
UNC 13
Burns in the middle of Hofstras
defense for another goal.
And just like that. No. 13 UNC
had the momentum back and did
not relinquish it, cruising to a 13-
9 win.
A large part of UNC’s suc
cess was the play of Shane
Walterhoefer. The junior was
unstoppable on face-offs, winning
20 of 25 and helping the; Tar Heels
maintain control of the game.
"Shane Walterhoefer is the best
out there,” senior Rob Driscoll
said. "If he keeps playing like that,
he'll make it a lot easier on us.”
On the strength of
Walterhoefer’s play, UNC (8-4)
won the first four draws, and
Hofstra didn't advance the ball to
UNC's side of the field until they
were down 4-0.
While Walterhoefer took care of
business on the face-offs, sopho
more Gavin Petracca dealt out the
punishment on the offensive end.
Petracca led the team with four
goals, and he scored or assisted on
four of UNC's opening five goals.
“He’s a great shooter, and we
just have to get him free to shoot.”
Driscoll said. “Sometimes it's
tough to get him open, and he was
getting himself open today. He
was putting the ball in the right
spot, every shot.”
Lacrosse s seniors show career improvement
Class of’oß has second straight winning year
BY RACHEL ULLRICH
SENIOR WRITER
Kenan Stadium seems to be a friend to
the North Carolina men’s lacrosse team.
In the last three years, the team's games
there have led to three wires for the Tar Heels,
including last year's monster upset against
eventual NCAA champions Johns Hopkins.
Saturday s Senior Day match, a 13-9 stomp
ing of No. 20 Hofstra, was no different
"We love playing in here," senior midfield
er Rob Driscoll said. “We wish we could play
here every game."
Tar Heels streak
past Eagles for
weekend sweep
UNC off to best
start since 1980s
BY MIKE EHRLICH
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
CARY Only a year removed
from two straight defeats in the
College World Series finals and
the loss of a talented core, most
teams would need to struggle
through a rebuilding year.
Instead, the North Carolina
baseball team
came back with
a tic for its best
start ever.
After domi
nating Boston
College on
Friday and
Saturday at the
USA Baseball
National
BASEBALL
BC 3
UNC 12
BC 0
UNC 6
BC 2
UNC 8
Training Complex, tire Tar Heels had
amassed a 33-7 record, which tied
the 1990 squad for the program's
best mark through 40 games.
That 1990 team lost its 41st
game. The 2008 Tar Heels cruised
to an 8-2 victory- Sunday to sweep
the series and increase their season
best win streak to nine games.
“It's a good accomplishment,"
sophomore Kyle Seager said of the
34-7 record. “But it doesn’t mean
www.dailytarheel.coin |
Eventually, Hofstras defense
started to lock things down, and
the UNC defense started to show
some holes as the Pride came roar
ing back to close the half.
“We sometimes let teams back
in the game, and that's our fault,"
senior Nick Tintle said. “We’ve
just got to keep the pedal down
and keep on going.”
After Hofstras second-quar
ter charge, UNC slowed things
down and retook control, scoring
five straight goals in the last eight
minutes of the third quarter and
the first half of the fourth.
“We just knew we had to possess
the ball a little bit more and take a
little air out of it,” Driscoll said. “We
were trying to score every time, and
we just had to settle it down.”
With UNC’s offense racking up
the goals, the defensive unit lim
ited the Pride's scoring opportuni
ties until the very end of the game.
Grant Zimmerman continued his
stellar play of late with 13 saves.
Just as important as
Zimmerman's play between the
pipes was the Tar Heels' ability to
minimize mistakes. Hofstra (6-5)
went l-for-3 in man-up opportu
nities and took double-digit shots
only in the fourth quarter after
UNC's bench had been.emptied.
Despite the win. UNC was slop
py for most of the day, recording
15 turnovers.
“We need to be crisper; we need
to better," coach John Haus said.
“In the last two games we’ve had
far too many turnovers to compete
at the highest level."
Haus’ statements are particu
larly unsettling given that the
ACC and NCAA tournaments lie
just around the comer.
“We’re going to be in two tour
naments, and they're both do
or-die," Haus said. “You gotta be
good. You can’t screw up.”
Contact the Sports Editor
at sports(g}unc.edu.
More important than that undefeated
record for these seniors, though, is the work
that brought them to such a feat.
UNC finished the season 8-4, not far from
last year’s 9-4 regular season, which culmi
nated in a run to the NCAA quarterfinals.
But only two years ago, the seniors were
underclassmen on teams that went 5-8 and
4-10 in their first two campaigns.
“In their first two years here, they weren't
real successful, and it was disappointing for all
of us," coach John Haus said.
“And now to see where we are and what
by any chance that w-e've arrived.”
The Tar Heels outscored Boston
College (19-21,5-16 ACC) by a 26-5
margin in the three-game set, and
no UNC relief pitcher allowed a
runner to score.
Six North Carolina relievers
appeared to throw a combined
eight innings of shutout ball.
“It’s been the strength of our
team,’ UNC coach Mike Fox said.
“We said it after the first couple
of weeks: *Whoa, our relievers are
really throwing well.' And here we
are in the eighth or ninth week of
our season, and they’ve continued
to really shine for us."
And it wasn’t just the bullpen that
shut down BC bats. Junior starter
Adam Warren blanked the Eagles
for seven innings in Saturday's 6-
0 win, and freshman Matt Harvey
fanned a career-high eight bat
ters Sunday. Alex White picked up
Friday’s decision in the 12-3 win.
"I’m surprised that we’ve pitched
as w-ell as we have and as consis
tently as we have for 40 games," Fox
said. “The coach in me keeps wait
ing for that to blow- up, but I don’t
think that’s going to happen."
UNC showed up swinging hot
bats, as well. Four batters went deep
in Friday's win, led by two nearly
identical two-run bombs from
SEE BASEBALL, PAGE 11
WOMEN'S LACROSSE UNC 3 Northwestern 16
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wmMm ~in ~
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DTH/DAVID ENARSON
North Carolina junior Bobby McAuley powers past his Hofstra defender in the Tar Heels' 13-9 victory against
the Pride. UNC finished the regular season with an 8-4 record, one win shy of its 2007 regular-season record.
pT
BP* *
1
they’ve done to help regroup and get this thing
going the right way, it's a credit to them, as it Is
to everybody but really more those seniors.”
Nick Tintle said those two years of play have
been a big part of the senior corps’ strength in
the second halves of their careers.
“Our first two years as seniors, we weren’t
Softball shuts down State
BY JOHN DOUGHERTY
STAFF WRITER
Taking advantage of a record
Anderson Stadium crowd, the
North Carolina softball team used
solid pitching and timely hitting to
sweep N.C. State this weekend.
The three victories marked the
first time North Carolina has come
out victorious in a game against
the Wolfpack (27-23, 8-10 ACC)
since 2005. With the sweep. UNC
set a school record of 16 confer-
ence wins in a
year, surpass
ing last year’s
mark of 13.
The series
was the last of
the season for
No. 15 North
Carolina (45-
8-1, 16-1) at
their home
SOFTBALL
N.C. State 0
UNC 1
N.C. State 0
UNC 1
N.C. State 1
UNC 3
confines, and a record crowd of
I, was on hand to help the Tar
Heels honor their seniors before
Saturday's doubleheader.
"Having the crowd we had,
I think that was great for our
seniors," said UNC coach Donna
J. Papa. “You’re always going to
have that kind of a crowd with
State and Carolina. It’s just the
way that game is."
Until this weekend, however,
N.C. State held a commanding
11-2 lead in the all-time series.
In fact, the only UNC players
who had any firsthand experi
ence defeating the Wolfpack
were the trio of North Carolina
seniors who did it their fresh
man year.
“It's been three years coming,”
said senior Cassie Palmer after
SOFTBALL N.C. State 1 UNC 3
that good,” he said. “And so we’ve had a lot
of playing time, so we’ve been in there a lot,
and I think just the experience is showing."
It came in to play Saturday, at least, and
nine of the team’s 10 seniors saw time.
Midfielder Brian Connors notched his
first goal of the year during the second quar
ter to bring the Tar Heels to 6-1.
Goalie Andrew Moss closed out the game
for UNC, recording his second career save in
the process, and defenseman Tim Kaiser led
the backfield with five blocked shots.
And Tintle shone as well, leading the
team with three assists to accompany his
SEE SENIORS. PAGE 11
Senior Nick
Tintle
played his last
home lacrosse
game as a
Tar Heel in
Saturday's win.
I I I •,,
I !
MMfrsaM* .'•v’.-.'.v **•
i fTr i
DTH/KEIVIN YEUNG
North Carolina second baseman Cassie Palmer takes a swing at an
N.C. State pitch in the Tar Heels' 3-1 win Sunday against the Wolfpack.
the sweep.
Prior to this weekend, scoring in
itself had proven to be a tough task
for the Tar Heels in the recent past
against N.C. State, as UNC had
suffered four consecutive shutouts
against the Wolfpack.
The dry spell persisted deep into
Saturday's first game until Danielle
Spaulding cranked a sixth -inning
offering over the right-field fence
to break w-hat had been a score
less tie. Spaulding followed up her
smash by returning to the circle in
the top of the seventh and retiring
three straight batters to secure the
1-0 game one victory.
Saturday's second game was
much of the same, and both teams
struggled to score throughout the
first three innings.
The game's only offense came
in the bottom of the fourth inning.
JThr Daily Sar Hrrl
MONDAY. APRIL 21, 2008
when UNC junior Emily Troup
fired a double off the center field
wall. Advancing to third on a text
book sacrifice bunt, Troup’s pinch
runner. sophomore Anna Roberts,
slid home safely on a passed ball to
give UNC a one-run lead.
That run was all junior pitcher
Lisa Norris needed as she kept
the Wolfpack at bay all afternoon,
allowing zero runs on only one hit.
Still smarting from consecu
tive blankings the day before, the
Wolfpack came out swinging in
Sunday's finale. After singling to
left in the game's first at-bat, N.C.
State senior Shanna Smith stole
two bags and slid home under a
Brittany McKinney tag to give the
Wolfpack a 1-0 lead.
N.C. States first and only lead of
SEE SOFTBALL. PAGE II