Following on the heels of last week's Cross Country ACC Tournament, the men's and women's soccer conference championships are getting underway. The Heels are the top seed on the women's side, as is to be expected after an undefeated conference season. Five members of the team are ACC All-Conference, including Offensive Player of he Year Yael Averbuch and 1st team member Heather O'Reilly. Carolina will start its attempt at an 18th championship in 20 yars against 8th seeded N.C. State at noon in Cary.
The men's team enters the tournament a seventh seed, and will face second seed Wake Forest also at noon. UNC was a mere 3-4-1 in conference, yet are still 10th in the nation. Of course, Wake Forest is currently ranked number one in both polls, despite their second seeding. I don't really understand that.
The six-team ACC Field Hockey Tournament - just think of it as soccer with sticks - is also this weekend, with 6th seed UNC meeting 3rd seed Duke Thursday at 4 at the Francis E. When-Did-It-Stop-Being-Called-Navy-Field Henry Stadium in Chapel Hill. The Heels had a rough conference season, going 1-4, but are 12-7 overall and ranked eighth in the country. Field hockey is not all that deep a collegiate sport - five of UNC's seven losses are to the top four teams in the country.