North Carolina
Syracuse
Tar Heels Earn Season's First Shutout In Win Over Syracuse
September 13, 2014 | Field Hockey
The Tar Heels improved to 5-0 overall and 1-0 in Atlantic Coast Conference play. The Orange fell to 6-1 (0-1 ACC).
"I thought it was a great team effort for the Tar Heels," UNC coach Karen Shelton said. "Syracuse is a hard-working, talented team that doesn't quit. This win required great energy, effort and cohesion on our part."
For the third game in a row, senior Charlotte Craddock opened the scoring for UNC, this time in the 10th minute. She carried the ball into the circle from the left side and when the SU keeper came out to play her, neatly maneuvered the ball around the defense and into the cage. "She makes it look easy, but it's not," Shelton said. "That was an outstanding goal and scoring early was critical for us."
Craddock, a forward from England who was named ACC Player of the Week on Tuesday, leads UNC with five goals in five games.
Friday's second goal came from another senior forward, Loren Shealy. Exactly 27 minutes into the game, redshirt freshman Sam Night sent a pass from the right side of the cage to the mouth of the goal and Shealy put it in for her fourth goal of the season.
The third goal was a penalty stroke in the 48th minute. Junior Nina Notman delivered a smooth shot to the bottom left corner of the cage to put UNC up 3-0.
Sophomore goalkeeper Shannon Johnson made four saves to earn the team's first shutout of the season. The Tar Heels had given up one goal in each of the four previous games. "I thought Shannon did a nice job and made some big saves," Shelton said. "With a defensive background like I have, I always like to see shutouts. I think we've gotten careless late in games but we showed 70 minutes today."
In their third home game of the season, the Tar Heels enjoyed their largest crowd so far this fall, with more than 600 fans cheering Carolina to victory. In attendance were the UNC band and Carolina Fever, the student spirit group. "Our atmosphere at Carolina is second to none and it makes a huge difference when we have the 12th man, Carolina Fever and the Carolina Pep Band, here," Shelton said. "It's a thrill to play in front of a crowd that gets into the game. What I love as a coach - and I think our players do, too, - is the ooohs and aaahhs as fans who are into the game watch the plays develop. For spectators, Henry Stadium is a wonderful place to see a game and it was a great atmosphere tonight."
The Tar Heels play four straight road games - two in Louisville, Ky., next weekend and two in Newton, Mass on Sept. 26 and 28 - before returning to play at Henry again. UNC's next home game is Oct. 3, when Virginia visits for a 6 p.m. game.
No. 1 North Carolina 3, No. 5 Syracuse 0
Scoring: UNC - Charlotte Craddock, 9:15; UNC - Loren Shealy (Sam Night), 27:00; UNC - Nina Notman (penalty stroke), 47:50
Shots: UNC 13 (10/3); SU 7 (2/5)
Saves: UNC 4 (Shannon Johnson, 70:00, 4 saves, 0 goals allowed); SU 6 (Jess Jecko, 70:00, 6 saves, 3 goals allowed)
Records: UNC 5-0, SU 6-1
UNC Starters: Shannon Johnson, Loren Shealy, Kristy Bernatchez, Samantha Travers, Charlotte Craddock, Emily Wold, Nina Notman, Emma Bozek, Julia Young, Casey Di Nardo, Abby Frey
UNC Substitutes: Sam Night, Tyler Powell, Rachel Black, Gab Major
