With North Carolina women's soccer, little has changed

The word "dynasty" might be an understatement when applied to North Carolina women's soccer.

Since the program's inception in 1979, the Tar Heels have an overall record of 715-39-24. Since it joined the NCAA in 1982, North Carolina has won 20 national championships and appeared in three others.

And the dominance trickles down from there, to the ACC and the Terrapins women's soccer team, which hosts the No. 11 Tar Heels tomorrow night at Ludwig Field with an ACC Tournament berth on the line.

The Tar Heels have 20 ACC titles to their credit and have won 147 of the 163 ACC games they have played.

Against the Terps, it's even more stark.

The No. 16 Terps, who began play in 1987 and have faced North Carolina every year since, didn't record their first goal against the Tar Heels until 2001, the teams' 20th meeting.

The following year, the Terps managed a 1-1 tie, the first non-losing effort in the series.

And last year, the Terps won their first game against the Tar Heels — in Chapel Hill, N.C., no less — a 2-1 victory that saw forward Sade Ayinde score two goals in the final 30 minutes of play to earn the victory.

Overall, the Terps have a 1-30-1 record against North Carolina, with the Tar Heels owning a 114-7 margin in aggregate goals.

It makes tomorrow night's game a tall task for a team on the brink of having a season of high expectations stopped well short.

"Everyone knows about North Carolina," forward Jasmyne Spencer said. "They're arguably the greatest women's soccer program in the history of women's soccer. I think every time you go into that game, you think, you're playing UNC. But as far as our specific history, I don't think it changes from any other ACC team. It's just an opportunity to play another great team."

The Terps aren't the only team playing for something tomorrow night. North Carolina has an opportunity to clinch the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament with a win and a Virginia loss tomorrow.

"They're still UNC and they're still the program with the biggest target on their back," coach Brian Pensky said. "People want to say they're having a down year. They have some pretty impressive results this fall and they have a very quality roster. There's no question it's going to take a huge effort from us Thursday night to win. UNC is UNC. That hasn't changed."

But while North Carolina is North Carolina, parity in the ACC in recent years has evened the playing field. Three ACC teams are ranked higher than the Tar Heels in the most recent top-25 poll, and Wake Forest knocked off the 20-time league champion in the ACC Tournament semifinals last season.

"Any of the ACC teams we play are top teams, so I think we've kind of prepared ourselves in that way," midfielder Olivia Wagner said. "So I think we just need to play like we know how we can play and just focus for 90 minutes and really just leave it all out there this Thursday."

History, albeit very recent, is also on the Terps' side. After last season's breakthrough, they are no longer looking for a first win against the Tar Heels. Instead, they can focus on winning a game, not making history. And tomorrow night, the Terps need only to do that to make the ACC Tournament.

"I hope it gives us some confidence, yet it's also going to fire them up," Pensky said. "It's kind of a double-edged sword. Yeah, we should feel like we can beat the University of North Carolina, but they're pissed. We've got some kids who are good friends with them, and supposedly they've been talking for a long time about how they can't wait to get a little revenge from last year. I think our kids will go in feeling like they have a chance to win."

dgallen@umdbk.com