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Tar Heel Down

CARY, N.C. -- All season long, Virginia coach Steve Swanson has said one of his goals is for the Cavaliers to "make history." Yesterday afternoon, that is just what they did.

After two scoreless sudden death overtimes, Virginia defeated North Carolina in penalty kicks (5-4) to win the ACC tournament championship for the first time in school history. Not only is this Virginia's first ACC tournament title, but it is only the second time in tournament history that a team other than North Carolina came away victorious.

"I don't think it has sunk in yet," Virginia senior Lindsay Gusick said. "We're so proud of each other. We worked hard all year, and we believed in each other. And to do it against UNC, I'm just so happy."

Virginia struck first in the 24th minute when Sarah Huffman (tournament co-MVP with teammate Christina de Vries) received a pass from Gusick just inside the top right of the box. She split two defenders, dribbled toward the end line and laid a perfect ball back to Gusick, who buried it in the back of the net. Following the goal, North Carolina pounded Virginia's defense for the remainder of the half but failed to break through as the Cavaliers forced the Tar Heels into eight first half offside penalties.

"I thought our back four were superb," Swanson said. "If there is a definition of synergy, they are it. They are all great individual players, but the beauty of them is that they play so well together."

Despite Virginia's stellar first half performance, there was game left to be played as the Tar Heels came out in the second half looking to even the score. North Carolina's Jaime Gilbert repeatedly broke through Virginia's defensive line but was unable to finish any of her opportunities. In the 56th minute, UNC's Elizabeth Guess dribbled the ball inside the Virginia box when an opposing player supposedly fouled her. The call was questionable, but the resulting penalty kick was not, as North Carolina's Kacey White evened the score at one apiece.

Throughout the majority of the second half, Virginia struggled to keep pace with the fresh legs of the Tar Heels. Whereas the Cavaliers only used a single substitute (freshman Sarah Curtis), the Tar Heels repeatedly shuffled in as many as three replacement players at a time. But to the Cavaliers credit, following a lull at the beginning of the second half, Virginia's starting 11 kept pace with the high-powered Tar Heel arsenal throughout the remainder of play.

"I thought we played well in the first half," Swanson said. "We were bailing pretty hard in the boat in the second half, but somehow we found a way to plug it."

Tied one to one, Virginia and North Carolina battled through two 10-minute overtime periods with neither team gaining an advantage. Both teams experienced chances to end the game in regulation, but neither team had enough left in the tank for a game-winning goal.

Subsequently, the contest officially went down as a tie with penalty kicks deciding the eventual champion. From the very get-go, the Cavaliers appeared more comfortable taking penalty kicks than their opponents, who had not been in such a situation in the ACC tournament since 1988. Coincidentally, that was the last time North Carolina was not crowned ACC tournament champion.

"It helps a lot [to practice a penalty kick situation]," de Vries said. "I have to face shots against the best in the nation at practice everyday. The repetition really helps a lot."

The Cavaliers begin NCAA tournament play next weekend and maintain that they still have goals to accomplish. But for one night in North Carolina, this year's Virginia team can leave knowing they did something Virginia has not done in quite some time: make history.

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