University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Boston College
No. 4 Carolina Shut Out By No. 15 Boston College
October 10, 2008 | Field Hockey
Oct. 10, 2008
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - The North Carolina field hockey team fell 2-0 at No. 15 Boston College Friday, suffering its first Atlantic Coast Conference loss of the season. The fourth-ranked Tar Heels' record dipped to 9-3 overall and 2-1 in ACC play with the loss, while the host Eagles improved to 8-4 overall and 1-3 in conference play with the win at Newton Campus Field Hockey Field.
The defeat marked the first time that UNC has been held without a goal since a 3-0 loss to Wake Forest in the second round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament. "The bottom line is that we played well in the first half but couldn't manage to score a goal," UNC coach Karen Shelton said. "We had opportunities but we didn't score. I'm proud of my team's effort - we played hard, but BC's defense was too good."
After a scoreless first half, Boston College forward Bob Dirks notched both goals in a span of less than two minutes in the second half. The first came at the 48:53 mark on a breakaway after a UNC penalty corner attempt, when Kelley Smith passed the ball off to Dirks in the circle. Dirks dodged Carolina goalkeeper Brianna O'Donnell to score the goal and put BC up 1-0. Ninety-six seconds later, Dirks got another pass inside the circle and sent a reverse-stick shot into the upper-right corner of the net.
Following the second goal, the Tar Heels pulled O'Donnell to play the last 20 minutes with an additional field player but they were unable to come up with a score.
UNC had 12 shots to Boston College's four and three corners to none by the Eagles. O'Donnell made one save and BC's Julia Berkowitz had five.
"We didn't give up a corner in the game, so that's someting positive, but we didn't find a way to win the game," Shelton said. "Congratulations to BC - they found a way to win."
The Tar Heels remain in Massachusetts for a neutral-site game with Yale on Sunday at Boston College. Game time is noon.
Carolina is without three players who are representing the U.S. at the Junior Pan American Games in Mexico City. Elizabeth Drazdowski, Riley Foster and Jackie Kintzer will also miss the UNC-Yale game but will rejoin the Tar Heels for the following game, a conference matchup with Virginia at home on Oct. 18.
No. 15 Boston College 2, No. 4 North Carolina 0
Scoring: BC - Bob Dirks (Kelley Smith), 48:33; BC - Dirks (Kathleen Murphy), 50:09
Shots: UNC 12, BC 5
Penalty corners: UNC 3, BC 0
Goalkeeper saves: UNC 1 (Brianna O'Donnell), BC 5 (Julia Berkowitz)
Records: UNC 9-3 (2-1 ACC), Boston College 8-4 (1-3 ACC)
UNC starters: Brianna O'Donnell, Illse Davids, Charlotte Verstraten, Taryn Gjurich, Kiki Norbruis, Melanie Brill, Kate Scholl, Britt van Beek, Elizabeth Stephens, Danielle Forword, Katelyn Falgowski
UNC substitutes: Teryn Brill, Jen Slocum
