Tar Heels’ Dunn not done yet

Also: UNH gets pair of hat tricks; Collins catches five for TDs




November 26, 2012 12:15 GMT By Amy Farnum


The North Carolina women’s soccer team is back where it belongs – in the NCAA Women’s College Cup.
After two years of not advancing past the third round, the perennial title contender edged top-seeded BYU 2-1 in overtime on Friday to claim their first College Cup berth since 2009. The Tar Heels will be heading to the College Cup for the 26th time since the championship began in 1982.
Junior Crystal Dunn, the Atlantic Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year, has been an integral part of the Tar Heels’ NCAA run this season. Dunn, who did not score a goal during the regular season, has tallied five in four postseason contests, including both scores against the Cougars on Friday.

Dunn, along with five other UNC players, missed the first six games of the season playing for the U.S. U-20 Women’s World Cup. When she returned in mid-September, North Carolina’s defense was in need of a boost after losing two players to injury.
Head coach Anson Dorrance looked to the versatile Dunn, also voted the ACC Defender of the Year as a freshman, to fill a necessary hole.
“We had all of these issues in the back, so we dropped her right in the middle of the defense,” Dorrance said. “She corrected those issues immediately.”
Once Caitlin Ball returned to the lineup in late October, Dorrance was able to move Dunn around, and start her at the attacking midfielder position giving her the opportunity to contribute to the offense like she did in her first two seasons (12 goals).
“At a collegiate level, we waste her in the back,” Dorrance said. “Why would you ever have a player with this extraordinary dribbling ability as your center back?”
Dunn netted her first score of the year in a 2-0 first-round victory against Radford, then added a tally in UNC’s 9-2 drubbing of Illinois in the second round. She scored the lone goal in the third-round tie against Baylor as the Tar Heels advanced on penalty kicks. In Dunn’s latest effort against BYU, she scored her first goal three minutes into the game, and then finished off the match in overtime.
“She can take the game over,” Dorrance said. “She’s not a classic play-making midfielder. She is a dribbling midfielder, and they basically don’t exist except here at the University of North Carolina. What makes it so hard for these teams is that they can scout her, they put great players on her, but they can’t stop her.”
The Tar Heels advance to the NCAA semifinals to play top-seeded Stanford at San Diego’s Torero Stadium on Nov. 30. Penn State and Florida State will meet in the other semifinal.
North Carolina will be vying for its 21st NCAA title.