l said. I think Ive definitely gotten more confident over the years. Ive realized how a lot of preparing for games is mental and most of that is just confidence. Thats something Ive worked on a

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- University of North Carolina coach Anson Dorrance has some experience when it comes to the NCAA Womens College Cup. The coach has so much experience, in fact, that he has won three times as many national championships in the San Jose-Santa Clara area alone as the other three semifinalists now settling in at Avaya Stadium have won in total.But even Dorrance hasnt been a part of the seasons final weekend since 2012, the longest absence in his decades in charge of the dynasty from Chapel Hill. Not to worry. If he wants a refresher on how this all works, he need only ask Tar Heels redshirt junior defender Maggie Bill.It was just six months ago, after all, that Bill celebrated an NCAA title. And it was just 18 months ago that she felt the sting of coming up one game -- one goal -- shy of that accomplishment.Both moments came through lacrosse, a sport in which Bill is one of the best players in the college game. Good enough to have played for the United States womens national team and nearly earned a roster spot on the team that will try to win a world championship next year. But if she is less well known in soccer, and if the position she plays was largely unknown to her until recently, these Tar Heels are competing for a 22nd NCAA soccer title because she is no dabbler.Shes one of the reasons weve had this kind of year, said Dorrance, whose team plays West Virginia in Fridays semifinals. If she werent with us, I cant imagine where we would be.That Bill cant imagine life without both sports is why she is in California this week. The divided loyalties with lacrosse, which plays a spring season, arent unprecedented for the Tar Heels, but Bill is the first since Elizabeth Lancaster pulled it off a decade ago.When it came to choosing a college, Bill recalled that a lot of lacrosse programs were hesitant to share the Long Island product with their soccer counterparts. A few flat-out told her they wouldnt let her. She was ready to commit to lacrosse-power Northwestern, which was at least open to the two-sport idea if not, by her estimation, entirely enthusiastic, when her high school lacrosse coach advised her to check out North Carolina. In lacrosse coach Jenny Levy, who sought Dorrances counsel when she started her program from scratch two decades ago, she found someone who was not just willing but enthusiastic to make it work. So while Bill attends North Carolina on a lacrosse scholarship, her falls belong to soccer.Whether Bo Jackson playing football and baseball at Auburn or Marion Jones competing in track and basketball at North Carolina, even great two-sport athletes are generally better in one sport than the other. In one, they dominate by physical ability. They are better than everyone else. In the other, they compete as if that should produce the same result. Sure enough, it often does.Bill said Dorrance is often surprised at how much confidence a part-time soccer player shows.I have a little bit more confidence in my abilities with lacrosse, just because I have more, I guess, results to go off of with that, Bill said. I think Ive definitely gotten more confident over the years. Ive realized how a lot of preparing for games is mental and most of that is just confidence. Thats something Ive worked on a lot, just making sure I believe in myself.That trust in herself is also part of the reason Bill wasnt on the field when the Tar Heels won the lacrosse title earlier this year. After earning All-American accolades the previous season and leading the lacrosse team in scoring when it lost the title game by a single goal to Maryland, she redshirted the subsequent soccer season, in the fall of 2015. Then she did the same in the most recent lacrosse season, in the spring of 2016. She wanted to focus on academics, but she also knew she needed a mental break.Ive been going and going since I was in maybe eighth grade, just constantly playing games, constantly practicing, said Bill, who was competing in basketball, lacrosse and soccer at a varsity level by the time she was in middle school. Ive never really had a break. Id have a month during December and a little bit of the summer, but I think I needed to take a step back and just kind of hit the reset button, I guess. I felt like I had a lot more to offer, both in soccer and lacrosse, and I think I needed to clear my head and focus more on my mental outlook and how I feel mentally in order to be able to perform the way I know I can athletically.I think I could have played both seasons out and kept going, but I feel like I wouldnt really be able to get closer to my potential.She continued to practice with both teams during their respective seasons. She was there outside Philadelphia when the lacrosse team won it all at the end of May. But stepping away from the actual games, from the mental energy required to prepare for and decompress from them, brought peace of mind.Just as they were willing to share her, Dorrance and Levy were willing to wait for her.With most of his lineup up for grabs after the departure of five seniors and the absences of three more likely starters because of the Under-20 World Cup or medical reasons, Dorrance was happy to have her back on the field this fall. And happy to continue to play her at center back despite a background that was almost exclusively as an attacking player until she got to Chapel Hill.We were trying to figure out a way to put a team on the field that could compete, Dorrance said. So we were looking at all the different pieces. We throw her in back there, and at first it was a bit rough -- it wasnt just rough for her, it was rough for the team.Slowly but surely, because she is an elite athlete but also incredibly coachable, she and the rest of the roster kept getting better.Bill plays between Julia Ashley and Hanna Gardner in the back of North Carolinas trademark 3-4-3 formation. That isnt an easy job even for someone who has the entire spring practice season to work at it. When the United States womens national team recently experimented with a back three, co-captain Becky Sauerbrunn described it as intimidating. And Sauerbrunn is as good as there is in the world. Defenders in a three-back formation have less protection and more responsibility. Get it wrong and, well, things like a 3-0 loss to USC happen. But in the past eight games, spanning the regular-season finale against Florida State, the ACC tournament and the first four rounds of the NCAA tournament, the Tar Heels have conceded just a single goal.Credit for that can be spread across the field, from Lindsey Harris in goal to the midfield work of players like co-captain Darcy McFarlane. But credit also the immovable object in the middle of the back line, a brilliant one-on-one defender nonetheless perfectly in sync with Ashley and Gardner.Not bad for a part-timer.In addition to her athleticism, she also has this incredible composure about her, McFarlane said. Which says a lot about her as an athlete. She can come from her lacrosse season and jump into soccer right away and doesnt skip a beat. Shes a really solid, composed presence in the back.She will be back on the lacrosse field this spring, although at Dorrances urging, professional soccer likely beckons when her time in Chapel Hill comes to an end. Should she finally pick a sport on which to focus fully, an idea that intrigues her, she may be North Carolinas best pro prospect.For now she is trying to heed the advice she would give the freshman version of herself.Dont worry about yesterday or tomorrow, Bill said. I think it would just be to really stay in the moment because, to me, its gone so fast and Ive had such a great time. But there are some moments where I wish I kind of was more present in that moment, instead of worrying about something else -- how I played before or being nervous about a game in the future.That moment affords her an opportunity this weekend to be a part of a second national championship in a matter of months, this time from the field. Mark Messier Jersey . -- The Sacramento Kings are set to become the first major professional sports franchise to accept Bitcoin virtual currency for ticket and merchandise purchases. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Jersey . 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Mike Scott scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half. An MRI on J.R. Smiths left knee on Tuesday showed no structural damage, and the?Cleveland Cavaliers?said the guard will be day-to-day with what was diagnosed as a knee contusion.Smith, who will miss Wednesday nights game against the host New York Knicks, bruised the knee during the Cavs victory over the Toronto Raptors on Monday.Great news, great news, Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said of Smiths status before shootaround Wednesday at Madison Square Garden. I talked to him [Tuesday] night. He feels normal, thats a good sign and the MRI being negative. ... The way he reacted and the way he fell, I thought he was going to be out for a long time.Smith, who had been battling soreness in the knee for several weeks, returned to Cleveland to have the knee examined instead of going to New York with the Cavaliers.Smith had surgery on the knee in 2013, when he was a member of the Knicks.Although Smith is day-to-day, Lue hinted that he ccould hold him out of the lineup for an extended period of time for recovery, if necessary.dddddddddddd.Whatever he needs to get his leg right, Lue said. Thats the important thing, looking at the long haul, down the stretch.Lue added that?DeAndre Liggins?will start in Smiths place. It will be Liggins second start, in the 69th game of his career.Just like the energy he brings, Lue said. I think high energy from a guy, its contagious. Guys tend to play harder, seeing him flying around the floor, picking up full court. Thats the juice and spunk we need.Smith, 31, signed a four-year, $57 million deal in October to remain with the defending NBA champions. He has struggled this season, averaging 7.8 points and shooting just 31 percent.Information from ESPNs Dave McMenamin was used in this report. Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys China NFL Hoodies Cheap NFL Jerseys Camo Wholesale Jerseys 2019 NFL Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic NFL Jerseys From China Discount NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys From China Cheap NFL T-shirts Wholesale NFL Gear NFL Jerseys China NFL Jerseys Cheap Cheap Jerseys 2020 Cheap NFL Jerseys NFL Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Autographed Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Cheap Jerseys ' ' '