North Carolina
Wake Forest
No. 1 UNC Outlasts No. 2 Wake Forest
October 2, 2004 | Field Hockey
Oct. 2, 2004
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - In a battle of the nation's top two field hockey teams, No. 1 North Carolina outlasted No. 2 Wake Forest Saturday afternoon to win 3-2 after two overtime periods and a series of penalty strokes. The Tar Heels improved to 13-0 (3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) with the win while Wake Forest fell to 10-2 (1-2 ACC).
"This was a great team effort and an important win for us," said UNC coach Karen Shelton, whose team had lost seven games in a row to the Demon Deacons. "We overcame a lot to win and this game will give us confidence."
The matchup, played before a near-capacity crowd of 929 at Francis E. Henry Stadium, was tied 2-2 at the end of regulation and remained that way through two 15-minute, sudden-death overtime periods. Most of the second period was played in a driving rain, and the Tar Heels played the final four minutes down a player after sophomore midfielder Rachel Dawson received a yellow card and had to leave the game.
After neither team scored in overtime, the game went to penalty strokes, with five players from each team taking alternating strokes and the team that made the most strokes gaining a point to win the game. UNC's first four strokers - Laura Lembke, Kerry Falgowski, Laura Douglas and Ashley Judge - all made their shots, as did the first three for Wake Forest - Kelly Dostal, Lauren Crandall and Maeka Boreel. UNC goalkeeper Katy Tran stopped Wake's fourth shot, by Kelly Wood, to put the Tar Heels up by one. WFU goalkeeper Kristina Gagliardi then saved Carolina's fifth stroke, by Katy Potter, leaving Wake's last shot to decide whether the game would go to a second series of penalty strokes. Tran saved Jamie Whitten's straight-on shot to give Carolina a 4-3 edge in strokes and seal the ACC victory.
"Before that last shot, I was thinking `Just see the ball,'" Tran said. "I was so focused on stopping the ball, I couldn't remember what the score was and whether we had won or if the game was going to more strokes. Then I saw everyone running toward me and I knew I could celebrate."
Tran was mobbed by her teammates as the Tar Heels celebrated their first win in penalty strokes since 1993. The Tar Heels had lost their last five overtime games with two of those, both during the 2002 season, going into strokes.
Each team dominated a half in regulation. Wake Forest took an early lead when Wood, a junior midfielder, scored from the field less than three minutes into the game. The Demon Deacons built their lead to 2-0 when Dostal, a senior forward, scored on a penalty corner with 11:37 to play before halftime.
After getting off just three shots and drawing one penalty corner in the first half, the Tar Heels produced more offense in the second with nine shots and six corners, the final two of which they converted for goals. Sophomore Brooke Miller deflected in a shot by Laura Douglas with 16:46 remaining in the game to close the gap to one, then junior Naomi Weatherald's goal tied the game with 8:14 to play.
The loss was Wake Forest's second of the season in overtime. The only other loss for the Deacons, the two-time defending NCAA Champions, was 4-3 in overtime to Duke.
Next up for UNC is the team's final home game of the regular season. The Tar Heels host Radford Sunday at 1 p.m. and will honor their five seniors before the game.
No. 1 North Carolina 3, No. 2 Wake Forest 2, 2OT PS
Scoring: WFU - Kelly Wood (Kelly Dostal), 1st, 32:03; WFU - Dostal (Claire Laubach, Maeka Boreel), 1st, 11:37; UNC - Brooke Miller (Laura Douglas), 2nd, 16:46; UNC - Naomi Weatherald, 2nd, 8:14
Shots: UNC 16, WFU 18
Goalkeeper saves: UNC (Katy Tran) 10, WFU (Kristina Gagliardi) 3
Penalty corners: UNC 9, WFU 9
Defensive saves: UNC 0, WFU 1 (Ariel Meyers)
Records: UNC 13-0 (3-0 ACC), WFU 10-2 (1-2 ACC)
