UNC's Season Ends With NCAA Loss

Saturday, November 15

East Lansing, Mich.

2:00 PM

North Carolina

Michigan State

November 15, 2008 | Field Hockey

By: UNC Athletic Communications

Nov. 15, 2008

Final Stats

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The North Carolina field hockey team's 2008 season ended Saturday with a 3-2 loss to host Michigan State in NCAA Tournament play at Ralph Young Field. The first-round loss left seventh-ranked UNC's record at 14-6 for the year. The 10th-ranked Spartans improved to 17-5 and will face Iowa Sunday for a spot in the field hockey final four.

"When you get to this point in the season, everyone is a good team," UNC coach Karen Shelton said. "It was a great clash today. As a coach, I'm proud to be a part of those kinds of contests. Unfortunately, we just came out a little short."

On a cold, wet afternoon, the teams played 30 minutes before MSU got on the board first. With 4:49 to play before halftime, Spartan sophomore Jantine Steinmetz dribbled into the circle and sent a hard shot past UNC goalkeeper Jackie Kintzer to put her team up 1-0.

The Tar Heels answered less than two minutes later, when sophomore Elizabeth Drazdowski got her stick on a ball from junior Melanie Brill and shot it into the cage to tie the game at 1-1.

Carolina pulled ahead shortly after halftime on the second of back-to-back penalty corners. At the 32:31 mark, Brill scored her fifth goal of the season, assisted by senior Kate Scholl and sophomore Kiki Norbruis.

MSU answered just over five minutes later on the team's first corner of the half. Geraldine Raynor sent a straight shot into the goal, assisted by Gwen Riley and Michelle Ciliberti.

The Michigan State gamewinner came with 4:15 remaining on the clock. Spartan sophomore Angela Pagura stole an errant Tar Heel pass and drove in from the left side for her sixth goal of the season to put her team up 3-2. Carolina immediately called a timeout and pulled Kintzer, but even with an extra field player the Tar Heels were unable to score the equalizer.

"Congratulations to Michigan State," Shelton said. "I think they played an outstanding game, as did the University of North Carolina. Two very strong teams went head-to-head, both teams playing well. In the end they made a great play to score the goal that was the difference in the game."

UNC had the advantage in shots (16-11) and corners (8-6) for the game, with seven of the Tar Heel corner opportunities in the second half. Kintzer made four saves and MSU keeper Elissa Under had six.

The 2009 Tar Heels will return all but two players - seniors Kate Scholl and Britt van Beek - from this year's squad.

"The only real tragedy in this game is that because we lost, it was the end of the UNC careers of Kate Scholl and Britt van Beek," Shelton said. "Both of them have meant a great deal to the program. Scholly has been a utility player and a solid defender for us this year and she played a great game for us this afternoon. Britt, our senior captain, has led by example all year. She played an outstanding game today.

"As we look ahead to next year, we have a lot to be excited about. Everybody returns except for Scholly and Britt. We've got a nice class that redshirted this year that will make contributions for our team. Of course, we'll get a year better. so I'm excited for the future of our program. Charlotte Verstraten went out early today with a hamstring injury, and coupled with Dani Forword going out a couple of weeks ago, it really left us thin in the front line. I'm not making excuses, I'm just saying I know we're going to be a stronger team next year."

No. 10 Michigan State 3, No. 7 North Carolina 2
Scoring: MSU - Jantine Steinmetz, 30:11; UNC - Elizabeth Drazdowski (Melanie Brill), 32:22; UNC - Brill (Kiki Norbruis, Kate Scholl), 37:39; MSU - Geraldine Raynor (Gwen Riley, Michelle Ciliberti), 42:59; MSU - Angela Pagura, 65:45
Shots: UNC 16 (8/8), MSU 11 (6/5)
Penalty corners: UNC 8 (1/7), MSU 6 (4/2)
Goalkeeper saves: UNC 4 (Jackie Kintzer ); MSU 6 (Elissa Unger)
Records: UNC 14-6, MSU 17-5