North Carolina
Virginia
North Carolina Tops Virginia, 5-1
September 21, 2003 | Field Hockey
Sept. 21, 2003
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The North Carolina field hockey team completed a challenging weekend with a 5-1 win over No. 13 Virginia Sunday afternoon at Francis E. Henry Stadium. The second-ranked Tar Heels defeated No. 5 Old Dominion 4-0 on Saturday and are now 8-0 on the season.
"This was an important weekend for us, with two tough opponents back-to-back," UNC coach Karen Shelton said. "We talked about treating these games like tournament play. We made some mistakes, but I was very happy with the team over the course of the weekend. We played hard and tough, and played together."
Virginia fell to 5-2 with the loss. The game does not count in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings. (The OCt. 12 game in Charlottesville is this season's designated ACC matchup.)
The Cavaliers got on the board first, when Katie Phillips scored on a penalty corner with 18:38 remaining in the first half. It marked the first time the Tar Heels have trailed all season. UNC has given up just three other goals and an opponent had never scored first. Virginia hung onto the lead and was poised to take it into halftime, but Carolina freshman Rachel Dawson scored with two seconds on the clock to tie the game and send it into the break 1-1. "That was a huge momentum swing for us," Shelton said. "It's a back-breaker for any team to give up a goal with two seconds to play. That took the pressure off of us."
The Tar Heels exploded for four more goals in the second half, while holding Virginia to just one shot. Junior Katy Potter scored on a penalty corner with 26:13 remaining when she put in a ball that had bounced off the pads of Virginia goalkeeper Logan Carr. UNC's third goal of the game came on a penalty stroke by junior Kelsey Keeran, who has converted on both of Carolina's stroke opportunities this season. Junior Amber Chambers came off the bench to score the next goal with 11:28 to play, and junior Laura Douglas tallied the final one with 1:40 remaining in the game.
Carolina gets just one day of rest before playing its third game in four days. The Tar Heels will host Miami (Ohio) on Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Francis E. Henry Stadium. Virginia returns to action on Wednesday with a home game against Richmond.
North Carolina 5, Virginia 1
Scoring: UVa - Katie Phillips (Sarah Miller), 1st, 18:38; UNC - Rachel Dawson (Kelsey Keeran), 1st, 0:02; UNC - Katy Potter, 2nd, 26:13; UNC - Keeran (penalty stroke), 2nd, 18:08; UNC - Amber Chambers, 2nd, 11:28; UNC - Laura Douglas (Carey Fetting-Smith), 2nd, 1:40
Shots: UNC 23, UVa 7
Goalkeeper saves: UNC (Katy Tran) 3, UVa (Logan Carr) 10
Penalty corners: UNC 13, UVa 5
UNC starters: Carey Fetting-Smith, Naomi Weatherald, Brooke Miller, Rachel Dawson, Kelsey Keeran, Katy Potter, Laree Beans, Ashley Judge, Kerry Falgowski, Laura Douglas, Katy Tran
UNC substitutes: Mary Havell, Amber Chambers, Karen Mann
