Bic's View: UNC 2 - 1 UVA (9/22/06) and UNC 1 - 0 Elon (9/26/06)

Home victories over #1 ranked Virginia 2-1 and regional rival Elon 1-0 in extra time capped an exciting week for the Tar Heels. On Friday, UNC bested the Cavaliers for their first ACC victory of the season on the strength of goals from Scott Campbell and Eddie Ababio. Tuesday, Bill Dworsky put home a rebound about 5 minutes into the first overtime period to get the better of the visiting Phoenix. With the two victories, the Tar Heels push their overall record to 9-2-0 (1-2-0 in ACC play).

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TSF: Did the win on Friday night, particularly the way the Tar Heels played in the second half, boost the team's confidence and morale, which might have been flagging after the 0-2 start in the ACC?

Bic: Absolutely, beating a #1 ranked team, a conference opponent, and a rival such as UVA does wonders within the squad. It was a fantastic performance by everyone involved.

TSF: Elon proved to be yet another tough regional opponent. In fact, the Tar Heels seemed to have a tougher time breaking down the Phoenix than they did the Cavaliers. What do you see as the biggest difference between the two matches.

Bic: Elon defends well and defends with numbers. They are less likely to throw the same number of players forward on offense that UVA tends to throw. This leaves them less vulnerable to counter-attacks which is how we scored both goals against UVA.

TSF: We're about halfway through the season now we the ACC home stretch looming on the horizon. What type of training schedule do the coaches keep you on during the regular season.

Bic: We typically have saturdays off with training on every other day that we're not playing. The workload of the training session varies depending on the day of the week, the previous match, and the upcoming match.

TSF: On a related topic, how do you balance studies with the training, match, and travel schedule during the height of the season?

Bic: Currently we have roughly 6-8 hours of training per week with two matches. I'm in the weight room for about 45 mins-1 hour three times a week, and I must complete 4 hours of study hall that same week. Add that to 2-4 hours of class depending on the day and you have the life of your typical UNC college soccer player! After you figure out your schedule everything becomes automatic and isn't too difficult to figure out.

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Stephen Bickford, a sophmore forward at UNC and Green Hope (Cary) High School alum, will be sharing his thoughts on the Tar Heels season with Triangle Soccer Fanatics throughout the year.

Reprinted from Triangle Soccer Fanatics.