By R.L. Bynum
Set your DVRs!
It will be all Tar Heels victories on ACC Network on Friday, topped by the thrilling victory over Northwestern in the NCAA field hockey championship game and RJ Davis’ Smith Center-record 42 points in a men’s basketball victory over Miami.
Every ACC school — except for new members Cal, Stanford and SMU — will take turns taking over the ACC Network for 15 consecutive days, going alphabetically. It started with Boston College on Friday and concludes with Wake Forest on July 19.
Ten of the 11 games were home games, except for the football team’s 31–17 win in Charlotte at the Duke’s Mayo Classic on Sept. 2 over South Carolina. Four were wins over top-10 teams — the field hockey win over No. 2 Northwestern, the men’s lacrosse victory over No. 2 Duke, the women’s basketball win over No. 6 N.C. State and the women’s soccer win over No. 8 Arkansas.
Here’s a rundown of the featured games and the times they will air on Friday:
Midnight — UNC softball 7, Louisville 6
The takeover starts at midnight with the softball team’s amazing comeback to earn a 7–6 victory over Louisville to finish off a doubleheader sweep on April 20. The Tar Heels trailed 6–0 after two innings and were down to their final out in the seventh inning before they tied it on back-to-back home runs from Abby Settlemyre and Autumn Owen. UNC won when Sanaa Thompson singled and later scored on Destiny Middleton’s single to cap a five-run inning.
2 a.m. — UNC men’s soccer 2, No. 11 Duke 1
The unranked Tar Heels spotted the No. 11 Blue Devils an early goal, then got first-half tallies from Andrew Czech and Quenzi Huerman, and that was enough to pull the upset. Goalkeeper Andrew Cordes made three of his four saves in the final moments to preserve the victory.
4 a.m. — No. 15 UNC women’s lacrosse 16, No. 25 Duke 11
After No. 25 Duke took a brief lead with the game’s first goal, No. 15 UNC scored the next two and never trailed. Caroline Godine and Liv Pikiell scored three goals each to lead eight Tar Heels scoring goals. Caitlyn Wurzburger scored the first two of four consecutive UNC goals, giving the Heels a 19–9 lead with 11:28 left.
6 a.m. — UNC women’s basketball 80, No. 6 N.C. State 70
The Wolfpack came to Carmichael Arena ranked No. 6, and the Tar Heels were unranked, but UNC’s best perimeter shooting game of the season (making 11 of 21 3-point attempts) shot down the Pack. Graduate transfer Lexi Donarski led the charge with 23 points and five 3-pointers. Four other Tar Heels also scored in double figures.
8 a.m. — UNC gymnastics 196.650, Pittsburgh 196.125
The Tar Heels produced their best performance of the season to earn the first ACC victory in program history, led by Julia Knower’s 10th career all-around title. UNC won all four events to earn a season-high point total and the eighth-best in program history. The Tar Heels had season-highs on bars (49.3), beam (49.025) and floor (49.225).
9:30 a.m. — UNC men’s lacrosse 15, No. 2 Duke 12
Logan McGovern’s seven-point game led the Tar Heels to their first win over a top-three team in three seasons, which was also a win over Duke. The Tar Heels took a 9–4 halftime lead in their season finale as six players scored in a stretch of six consecutive goals, including three in the final 20 seconds of the first half.
11:30 a.m. — No. 4 UNC women’s soccer 3, No. 8 Arkansas 1
No. 8 Arkansas had a 1–0 lead for the first 40 minutes before the No. 4 Tar Heels took over with goals from Mia Oliaro, Ally Sentnor and Avery Patterson to get a win in a battle of national powers on a sweltering hot day despite playing without Sam Meza.
1:30 p.m. — No. 6 UNC baseball 4, No 24 LSU 3, 10 innings
It was Bosh Magic at its finest as the No. 6 Tar Heels clinched the Chapel Hill Regional title with a thrilling victory over No. 24 LSU, the reigning NCAA champions. Carolina rallied in the ninth inning for the second time in the regional. Colby Wilkerson tied it with an RBI single in the ninth inning, and Alex Madera’s RBI single in the 10th scored the game-winning run. Reliever Dalton Pence finished the game with 3⅔ shutout innings.
4:30 p.m. — No. 1 UNC field hockey 2, No. 2 Northwestern 1, 2 OTs
The Tar Heels capped Erin Matson’s first season as head coach the way they often did when she was their star player: with an NCAA title. Ryleigh Heck buried a stroke in the sixth round of a shootout to win the title over Northwestern after 80 minutes and two overtimes. The thrilling afternoon at Karen Shelton Stadium capped an 18–3 season.
7 p.m. — No. 21 UNC football 31, South Carolina 17
Drake Maye began his final college season by throwing for 269 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Tar Heels to victory in Charlotte and the Duke’s Mayo Classic. UNC pulled away in the third quarter with Omarion Hampton’s touchdown run and John Copenhaver’s touchdown reception.
10 p.m. — No. 9 UNC men’s basketball 75, Miami 71
RJ Davis put on a dazzling show, with 42 points and seven 3-pointers, both career-highs, to help the Tar Heels hold on to beat the hot-shooting Hurricanes. In the process, he scored more field goals than the rest of the team combined (14–13), with the largest disparity between the top two UNC scorers since 1957, as Harrison Ingram scored eight.
ACC Network UNC takeover schedule
Midnight — April 20 home 7–6 softball win to sweep a doubleheader over Louisville
2 a.m. — Sept. 24 home 2–1 men’s soccer win over No. 11 Duke
4 a.m. — April 18 home 16–11 women’s lacrosse win over No. 25 Duke
6 a.m. — Feb. 22 home 80–70 women’s basketball win over No. 6 N.C. State
8 a.m. — Feb. 16 home 196.650–196.125 gymnastics win over Pittsburgh
9:30 a.m. — April 27 home 15–12 men’s lacrosse win over No. 2 Duke
11:30 a.m. — Sept. 3 home 3–1 women’s soccer win over No. 8 Arkansas
1:30 p.m. — June 3 Chapel Hill Regional 4–3 10-inning baseball win over LSU
4:30 p.m. — Nov. 19 home 2–1 two-OT field hockey win over No. 2 Northwestern in NCAA championship game
7 p.m. — Sept. 2 Duke’s Mayo Classic 31–17 football win in Charlotte over South Carolina
10 p.m. — Feb. 26 home 75–71 men’s basketball win over Miami
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
tarheeltribune.com 