Tar Heels Fall To Michigan In Season Opener

Saturday, August 26

Iowa City, Iowa

12:30 PM

North Carolina

(0-1)

Michigan

(1-0)

North Carolina

Michigan

Morgan Goetz and the Tar Heels fell 3-2 to Michigan Saturday in Iowa City, Iowa.

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

August 26, 2017 | Field Hockey

Box Score

By: UNC Athletic Communications

IOWA CITY, Iowa – North Carolina opened the 2017 field hockey season Saturday with a loss to No. 11 Michigan, falling 3-2 in a neutral-site ACC-Big Ten Challenge matchup at the University of Iowa's Grant Field. The Tar Heels (0-1) return to action Sunday to face the host Hawkeyes at 3 p.m. ET.

"We have a quick turnaround and we need to recover well and not let this loss affect us, other than learning from it," UNC coach Karen Shelton said. "We need to keep our heads up and be ready to go tomorrow."

Top-ranked UNC dominated the statistics in the first half, getting off nine shots and drawing six penalty corners while allowing Michigan just one shot on its only corner of the day. Despite the disparity, the Tar Heels weren't able to score. "We should have come away with a goal or two and we didn't," Shelton said. "Their goalkeeper played well."

Michigan scored in the opening seconds of the half, with Meg Dowthwaite delivering her team's first goal after picking up a loose ball in the circle just 11 seconds in. Less than a minute later, the Wolverines added another, this one by Esther De Leijer from the top of the circle. UM scored once more, in the 46th minute of play, on a shot by Carly Bennett that bounced off a Tar Heel defender and into the cage to make the score 3-0 Michigan.

The Tar Heels then steadied themselves and started to work their way back. With just under 20 minutes remaining in the game, Shelton called a timeout and pulled goalkeeper Alex Halpin, who had replaced starter Amanda Hendry. With an extra field player, UNC scored two goals, in the 54th minute and the 57th minute. The first was by sophomore Marissa Creatore, assisted by senior Gab Major. Less than three minutes later, junior Ashley Hoffman scored off a penalty corner to draw the Tar Heels within a goal, 3-2. Although they had chances down the stretch, they weren't able to get another and fell to Michigan in the opener for the second year in a row. (UNC opened the 2016 season with a 1-0 loss to the Wolverines in Winston-Salem, N.C.)

"We're never happy with a loss, but it's a good learning experience," Shelton said. "It's a long season and we're going to get better. This is a young team – we looked great at times and we looked young at times. But we're optimistic – nobody is pointing fingers."

Five players made their first career starts: sophomores Creatore and Feline Guenther, redshirt freshman Hendry in goal, and true freshmen Cassie Sumfest and Eva Smolenaars. Eight of the 19 who played for Carolina saw their first action as Tar Heels: Guenther, Hendry, Sumfest, Smolenaars, redshirt freshmen Kathryn Holland and Courtnie Williamson, and true freshmen Bryn Boylan and Meredith Sholder.

No. 11 Michigan 3, No. 1 UNC 2
Scoring: UM – Meg Dowthwaite; UM – Esther de Leijer (Dowthwaite); UM – Carly Bennett; UNC – Marissa Creatore (Gab Major); UNC – Ashley Hoffman
Shots: UNC 23 (9/14), UM 5 (1/4)
Corners: UNC 14 (6/8), UM 1 (1/0)
Saves: UNC 0, UM 7 (2/5)
Records: UNC 0-1, UM 1-0

UNC starters: Amanda Hendry, Eef Andriessen, Cassie Sumfest, Ashley Hoffman, Feline Guenther, Malin Evert, Morgan Goetz, Eva Smolenaars, Eva van't Hoog, Gab Major, Marissa Creatore
UNC subs: Meredith Sholder, Bryn Boylan, Catherine Hayden, Kathryn Holland, Ali Rushton, Courtnie Williamson, Megan DuVernois, Alex Halpin