University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC Opens Play In ACC Field Hockey Tournament
November 5, 1999 | Field Hockey
Nov. 5, 1999
Quick Facts on North Carolina Field Hockey
1999 Record: 15-4 (2-2 ACC)
Head Coach: Karen Shelton
Alma Mater: West Chester State, 1979
Career/UNC Record: 315-77-9 (19th year)
Assistant Coaches: Nick Conway (Birmingham, '95), Jana Withrow (UNC, '98)
Undergraduate Assistants: Kate Barber, Nancy Pelligreen
Nickname: Tar Heels
Colors: Carolina blue and white
Home field: Francis E. Henry Stadium (1,000)
Conference: Atlantic Coast
Director of Athletics: Dick Baddour
A look at the ACC Tournament
The 17th annual Atlantic Coast Conference Field Hockey Tournament commences on Thursday at Wake Forest's Kentner Stadium. The event was last held in Winston-Salem in 1993.
Carolina has won 14 of the previous titles, while Maryland has claimed the other two.
For the second season, Sunday's title game will be televised live by Home Team Sports.
Thursday, Nov. 4
First round: #4 Virginia vs. # 5 Duke, 4 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 5
Semifinals: #2 Wake Forest vs. #3 UNC, 4 p.m.
#1 Maryland vs. first-round winner, 7 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 7
Championship: Semifinal game winners, 3:30 p.m.
Tar Heels in the Tournament
UNC has claimed 14 of the 16 conference championships contested since the tournament began in 1983. The Tar Heels have won every year except 1992, when they lost to Maryland 2-1 in two overtimes, and 1998, when they lost to Maryland 2-1 on penalty strokes in the semifinals.
Overall, UNC is 29-2 in ACC Tournament play. The Tar Heels are 10-0 against Duke, 12-2 against Maryland, 6-0 against Virginia and 1-0 against Wake Forest.
Carolina is seeded third in the tournament for the second time. The only other time UNC has not been seeded first or second was in 1998.
Carolina vs. Wake Forest
Friday's semifinal game against Wake Forest will mark only the second time that WFU and UNC have met in ACC Tournament play. The other meeting was in 1994, when top-seeded Carolina defeated fourth-seeded Wake 6-1 in a semifinal game. The Tar Heels went on to beat Maryland 2-0 for the title.
UNC leads the all-time series with Wake 23-3-4, but the Demon Deacons won both of the regular-season meetings in 1999: 2-0 on Oct. 2 and 3-2 in overtime on Oct. 12. Prior to this year's wins, Wake hadn't beaten UNC since 1972.
A Look Back
The 1998 ACC Tournament championship was the first not to feature a team in Carolina blue. The Tar Heels participated in the first 15 title games, but were knocked out in the semifinals by Maryland last season.
First round: #4 Wake Forest d. #5 Duke 3-2, 2OT
Semifinals: #2 Maryland d. #3 UNC 2-1, penalty strokes
#1 Virginia d. Wake Forest 1-0
Championship: Maryland d. Virginia 1-0, OT
Youthful Lineup
The Tar Heels have just one senior, goalkeeper Nicole Frey, on the roster and none in the starting lineup. Of the six players who started all 19 regular-season games, three are juniors, two are sophomores and one is a freshman.
Team captains
The 1999 UNC captains are junior back Jana Toepel and senior goalkeeper Nicole Frey.
Representing the U.S.
The Tar Heels played four games in September without All-America back Jana Toepel, assistant coach Jana Withrow, and undergraduate assistants Kate Barber and Nancy Pelligreen. All four were members of the U.S. National team that earned a silver medal in an Olympic Test Event in Australia.
Six of the 16 players on that U.S. roster are current or former UNC players. Besides Barber, Pelligreen, Toepel and Withrow, former players Peggy Storrar (an assistant at Michigan) and Cindy Werley (an assistant at Duke) were also on the team.
Holding up their end of the deal, the Tar Heels won all four of their games while Toepel and the coaches were in Australia. They beat Old Dominion (Sept. 18), Virginia (Sept. 19), Massachusetts (Sept. 25) and James Madison (Sept. 26) and the travelers rejoined the UNC squad for the Oct. 2 game at Wake Forest
ACC Honorees
Two Tar Heels earned ACC Player of the Week honors this season. Sophomore Abby Martin was the first conference honoree after she scored three goals in the opening weekend of play against Michigan and Duke.
Freshman goalkeeper Amy Tran shared ACC honors on Sept. 20 after earning 1-0 shutouts against Old Dominion and Virginia, both ranked in the top five nationally at that time.
On the defense
UNC's defense has proven to be the toughest in the ACC this season, leading the conference in both defensive categories. The Tar Heels boast a goals against average of 0.82 and have 10 shutouts on the season.
Individually, freshman Amy Tran ranks second in goals against average (0.96) and second in save percentage (.833).
UNC in the polls
The Tar Heels opened the season ranked No. 3 in a preseason poll by Sports Illustrated for Women magazine and held the same spot in the first STX/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll of the season, in mid-September. After moving as high as second in the poll, UNC is now ranked sixth.
The Tar Heels are 8-4 this season against teams ranked in the poll. All four of the losses have come to teams currently ranked fifth or higher.
STX/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll (Records through Nov. 2)
1. Maryland (17-1)
2. Connecticut (19-0)
3. Iowa (16-1)
4. Penn State (17-3)
5. Wake Forest (16-2)
6. North Carolina (15-4)
7. Old Dominion (14-6)
8. Michigan (14-6)
9. James Madison (14-5)
10. Virginia (12-6)
11. Duke (13-6)
12. Ohio State (11-6)
13. Ball State (14-5)
14. Boston Univ. (15-5)
15. Brown (12-2)
16. Syracuse (12-7)
17. Kent State (15-5)
18. Princeton (8-6)
19. Dartmouth (11-5)
20. Lafayette (17-1)
A new season, a new home
On Aug. 28, the UNC field hockey team opened both a new season and a new chapter in the program's history. Francis E. Henry Stadium was dedicated last April but the 4-1 win over Michigan was field hockey's first game in its new home.
The 12,000-square-foot facility, which is shared by the women's lacrosse team, includes grandstand seating for 1,000, permanent concession stands and restrooms, player locker rooms and a team meeting room.
Francis E. Henry is a UNC graduate who played soccer for the Tar Heels from 1964-66 and is a generous supporter of women's athletics at Carolina. The stadium is named for him and his father, Francis Henry III.
Injury list
Carolina's roster of available players has dwindled in the past month. Sophomore forward Abbey Woolley has been on the sidelines since Oct. 12, when she was hit in the left temple by a ball during the home game against Wake Forest. Woolley suffered a fracture in the temporal bone of her skull and is expected to miss the remainder of the season while the injury heals. Woolley started 13 of the team's first 15 games and remains the team's leader in assists with 11 on the season.
Also expected to miss the remainder of the season are junior Kate Sidebottom and freshman Ali Stewart. Sidebottom is out with an injury to her right knee. Stewart has a stress fracture in her left foot.
400 and counting
On Oct. 24, UNC's Karen Shelton coached the 400th game of her career, all at the University of North Carolina. That afternoon, the Tar Heels beat visiting Richmond 6-0.
Shelton heads into the ACC Tournament with a career record of 315-77-9. Since she came to Chapel Hill in 1981 to take her first head coaching job, her teams have won four NCAA titles and 14 ACC titles.
Best of the century
Long a successful coach, Karen Shelton was honored recently for her accomplishments as a player. The Daily Times of Delaware County in Pennsylvania named Shelton its Delco Field Hockey Athlete of the Millenium.
When Shelton was in the fifth grade, her family moved to Pennsylvania, where she picked up the sport of field hockey and excelled at it at Marple Newton High School and West Chester State College. Three times during her collegiate career she was named National Player of the Year. She played on three national championship teams at West Chester and went on to represent the U.S. at the 1984 Olympics, where the team won a bronze medal.
The publication has honored an athlete from a different sport each month of 1999 (field hockey was in September) and will name a Sports Figure of the Year and Sports Figure of the Millenium at the year's end.
Huff finishes strong
Junior forward Holly Huff found a spot in the starting lineup for the Oct. 12 game against Wake Forest and has made it her own. Going into the Wake game, she had scored just two points through the first 12 games of the season. In the seven games since then, Huff has accounted for 14 points, on five goals and four assists.
Season at a Glance
Aug. 28: UNC 4, Michigan 1
Four different players scored, three in the second half, as Carolina won its Francis E. Henry Stadium opener. Abbey Woolley scored in the first half, then Jana Toepel, Carrie Lingo and Abby Martin added second-half goals.
Aug. 29: UNC 4, Duke 0
Carolina opened ACC play with a home-field win over the Blue Devils. Abby Martin scored twice, and Carrie Lingo and Kristen McCann added the other two goals. Freshman goalkeeper Amy Tran earned her first career shutout.
Sept. 5: Penn State 1, UNC 0
In State College, Pa., the Tar Heels fell after Penn State's Traci Anselmo scored on a penalty corner with four minutes remaining in the game.
Sept. 11: UNC 5, Michigan State 2
In the first game of the Temple Invitational in Philadelphia, Pa., four players scored for the Tar Heels. Abby Martin had two goals, while Carrie Lingo, Katie McDonald and Jana Toepel each added one.
Sept. 12: UNC 4, Temple 0
UNC led 3-0 at halftime and went on to claim its seventh consecutive Temple Invitational title with a shutout win. Kristen McCann scored twice and Carrie Lingo and Abby Martin added goals.
Sept. 18: UNC 1, Old Dominion 0
The Tar Heels' defensive efforts and a goal by Abby Martin improved UNC's record to 5-1. Carolina played without Jana Toepel, who was competing with the U.S. National Team and would not return to action with the Tar Heels until Oct. 2.
Sept. 19: UNC 1, Virginia 0
Kristen McCann scored on a breakaway to lead the Tar Heels over the Cavaliers in an ACC game. Goalkeeper Amy Tran earned her second shutout of the weekend.
Sept. 25: UNC 4, Massachusetts 1
UNC led 3-0 at halftime on two goals by Kristen McCann and one by Holly Huff. Abbey Woolley scored in the second half as Carolina improved to 7-1.
Sept. 26: UNC 3, James Madison 2
Tied 2-2 at halftime, the Tar Heels got the game-winner from Katie McDonald with 11:22 remaining in the game.
Oct. 2: Wake Forest 2, UNC 0
The Demon Deacons took a 1-0 lead in the first half and scored again with eight seconds to play to beat UNC for the first time since 1972.
Oct. 3: UNC 3, Duke 0
In Durham, the Tar Heels shutout the Blue Devils for the second time of the season. Abby Martin scored twice for the Tar Heels and Kristen McCann added the final goal.
Oct. 6: UNC 2, Radford 0
In its first weeknight game of the season, Carolina beat Radford on goals by Abby Martin and Abbey Woolley.
Oct. 12: Wake Forest 3, UNC 2 OT
The Tar Heels suffered their first home loss of the year and second loss to Wake. UNC trailed 2-0 at the half but rallied to tie on goals by Abbey Woolley and Holly Huff. Wake's Jenny Everett scored the game-winner on a penalty corner with 4:47 remaining in the overtime period.
Oct. 15: UNC 9, Va. Commonwealth 0
Erin Cox, Lizzy Duffy and Stephanie Fuller all scored their first career goals in Carolina's most lopsided win of the season.
Oct. 17: UNC 2, Virginia 0
The Carolina defense remained tough as UNC shutout Virginia for the second time in 1999. Kristen McCann and Holly Huff scored second-half goals for UNC.
Oct. 23: Maryland 2, UNC 1 2OT
Before a packed stadium, Maryland's Carolina Walter scored the game-winner with 5:39 remaining in the second overtime period. Abby Martin's first-half goal almost held up for the win, but Maryland's Carla Tagliente send the game into OT when she scored with 1:39 remaining in the game.
Oct. 24: UNC 6, Richmond 0
Senior goalkeeper Nicole Frey earned the shutout on Senior Day.
Oct. 30: UNC 2, Old Dominion 1, OT
Jana Toepel scored two unassisted goals for the Tar Heels, the second with 7:15 remaining in the overtime period.
Oct. 31: UNC 2, William & Mary 0
In the final game of the regular season, Carolina earned its 10th shutout. Katie McDonald scored first and Kristen McCann added the final goal, in the process becoming the team's leading scorer.
