Nothing fazes the Tar Heels

• by Soccer America , Aug 23, 2010

[NORTH CAROLINA WOMEN] Much has been made of the seven starters North Carolina lost from its 2009 championship team. But it still has four starters back, and they were instrumental in in the Tar Heels' 3-0 win over Texas A&M Friday night at Aggie Soccer Stadium, site of their triumph over Stanford in the 2009 Women's College Cup final.

It took UNC just 129 seconds to score, silencing the crowd of 2,822 on a 30-yard shot by Meghan Klingenberg.

The Tar Heels made it 2-0 in the 20th minute when senior defender Rachel Givan fed a perfect ball into the middle of the box where Ali Hawkins headed it down and on frame inside the right post.

The third goal came off the head of sophomore midfielder Amber Brooks for her first career tally.

Klingenberg, Givan and Brooks were all starters in the 2009 championship game, while Hawkins, winner of three national titles, has started 61 games in her career. The other returning starter is forward Courtney Jones.

Freshman Anna Sieloff became the first Tar Heel goalkeeper to start her career with a shutout since Jenni Branam in 1999.

Anson Dorrance also started two other freshmen, defender Crystal Dunn and midfielder Meg Morris, both U.S. U-20 World Cup players.

UNC followed up its win over A&M with another 3-0 win over Michigan State Sunday.