Sept. 6, 2009
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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -
Junior midfielder Cameron Brown's 85th-minute bicycle kick sealed a 4-0 win for No. 1 North Carolina over Evansville and delivered the 2009 Carolina Nike Classic title to the Tar Heels Sunday in the tournament finale at Fetzer Field. Brown, who also scored in the ninth minute, notched his first career multi-goal game, and Enzo Martinez and Michael Farfan also found the back of the net for Carolina (2-0-1).
The Tar Heels' defense stifled the Purple Aces (1-2-0), allowing just four shots, only one of which was on goal. Senior goalkeeper Brooks Haggerty went the distance in net to earn his second shutout in three chances for the Tar Heels, who gave head coach Elmar Bolowich the 250th win of his career with the victory.
Brown's goal was the tourney clincher for the Tar Heels, who edged Northern Illinois on goal differential by a 4-3 margin. Carolina and NIU both finished with a 1-0-1 record on the weekend and tied their head-to-head meeting, 1-1 on Friday. However, the Tar Heels earned the title with a 5-1 goal differential margin, compared to a 5-2 margin for the Huskies, who posted a 4-1 victory over UNC Greensboro in Sunday's first game.
Brown, Haggerty, and defenders Zach Loyd and Drew McKinney earned spots on the Carolina Nike Classic All-Tournament Team for their efforts this weekend.
With the Tar Heels leading 3-0 and needing a fourth score to claim the tourney title, Brown pulled off a world-class tally to close the scoring. Loyd set up the play with a throw in from the right side that found Brown on the left side of the box. He went airborne and bicycled the ball into the left side of the net from 16 yards for his second goal of the day and the eighth of his career.
Brown also opened the scoring in the first half when his goal at 8:52 staked the Tar Heels to an early lead they would carry into intermission. The Garland, Texas, product fired from 30 yards on the left side, sending a shot off the hands Evansville goalkeeper Phil Boerger and into the net at the near post for the first of his two goals.
Neither side managed much offense over the rest of the first half, as the Tar Heels posted a 7-2 edge on the shot chart. Evansville's best chance was thwarted when Haggerty stopped a point-blank header by Justin Sass late in the opening period.
Carolina doubled its lead at 57:40 when Farfan pushed forward to the 18 and had a shot blocked by the Evansville defense. The deflected ball found Martinez, who tapped it into an open net, for a 2-0 Carolina lead and his second goal of the week.
After setting up Martinez's goal, Farfan found one of his own at 66:55 to extend the Carolina lead to three goals. Midfielder Kirk Urso fed forward Alex Dixon on the left flank to set up the score. Dixon then crossed the ball to the middle of the pitch, Farfan collected and finessed a 20-yard shot over the outstretched keeper for his second goal of the tournament.
The Carolina defense tightened in the second half and did not allow a shot after the 49th minute, as the Tar Heels mounted their charge on the Evansville goal, which culminated with Brown's highlight-reel strike.
The Tar Heels return to action Saturday, Sept. 12 in their ACC Tournament opener against NC State at 7 p.m.
2009 Carolina Nike Classic All-Tournament Team
Tad Kreamalmeyer, Evansville
Justin Sass, Evansville
Cameron Brown, North Carolina
Brooks Haggerty, North Carolina
Zach Loyd, North Carolina
Drew McKinney, North Carolina
Jordan Godsey, Northern Illinois
Tim King, Northern Illinois
Danny Lopez, Northern Illinois
E.J. O'Keefe, UNC Greensboro
A.J. Nelson, UNC Greensboro
