University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Wake Forest
Tar Heels Win ACC Regular Season Championship
October 31, 2010 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 31, 2010
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Courtney Jones and Crystal Dunn tallied goals Sunday afternoon as fourth-ranked North Carolina defeated Wake Forest 2-0 to wrap up the 2010 Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season women's soccer championship. UNC improved to 16-2-1 overall and 8-2 in the ACC while Wake Forest falls to 11-7-1 and 5-4-1 in the ACC.
The Tar Heels finished with 24 points in the ACC standings, two better than Florida State, Virginia and Maryland who all tied for second place with 22 points. UNC will be the No.1 seed in the ACC Tournament which begins Wednesday at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. The Tar Heels will be looking to win their sixth straight ACC Tournament championship.
Jones scored the game-winning goal for the second straight game for the Tar Heels while Dunn finished with a goal and an assist in the match. The Tar Heels finished with a 17-1 edge in shots and a 6-1 edge in corner kicks.
Carolina had the first good look at the goal at the 2:42 mark when Courtney Jones struck a ball from the left corner of the box that Aubrey Bledsoe knocked down and was able to corral before Crystal Dunn had time to run on for a rebound attempt. Wake Forest's best chance came at 10:23 as Katie Stengel won a 50-50 ball at the top of the box and tried to beat Hannah Daly near post but Daly was up to the task and recorded the save.
Jones had a shot go wide at the 12:25 mark but a little less than five minutes later Jones gave the Tar Heels the lead as she scored in her fifth straight game. Crystal Dunn sent a through ball from the midfield to Jones streaking down the right side. Jones dribbled into the box on the right side and pulled off a brilliant finish into the left side netting from 15 yards out. It was Jones' 11th goal of the season and her fourth of the weekend after notching a hat trick Thursday versus Duke.
There were only two more shots in the first half as Amber Brooks at 33:16 and Ali Hawkins at 39:43 took shots from distance that went high of the mark.
Jones had the first shot of the second half a little more than five minutes in but her strike from the top of the box slid wide of the left post. A little over a minute later, Kealia Ohai took a through pass from Megan Brigman and had a shot in the box but it also went just wide to the left. The Tar Heels continued to pepper the Demon Deacon net with shots with eight in the first 20 minutes of the second half but UNC was unable to convert in that time. Crystal Dunn had an excellent opportunity with 21:34 left but her shot from 14 yards out went just wide of the right post.
The Tar Heels extended their lead to 2-0 with 15:31 left on Crystal Dunn's fourth goal of the season. Meghan Klingenberg dribbled deep along the left side and tiptoed the endline to keep control. She sent the ball back to the top of the box to Ali Hawkins on the left side. Hawkins slid the ball across the top of the 18 where Dunn one-timed it on a rope into the back of the net.
