University of North Carolina Athletics
1997 Season Review
June 21, 1999 | Field Hockey
October 1, 1998
"Last season was a wonderful season for a lot of reasons, not just for winning the national championship," Carolina field hockey coach Karen Shelton says, looking back on a fall that saw its share of highs and lows in the months after that first team picture. "It was a season that we had a lot of pressure on us, a lot of talent returning."
But a lot of talent gone, too. Four seniors--Ashley Hanson, Meredith Lawrence, Susannah Schott and Christy Utter--graduated following the 1996 national title, necessitating some shifts in the lineup. Senior Kate Barber moved from her forward position to center midfield and Joy Driscoll moved to center back. Thus, two of the Tar Heels' most experienced players found themselves in new positions. The changes took some getting used to, and not just for Barber and Driscoll, but the team adjusted. "By the end of the season we were able to play our best and be our best, accept those changes and actually thrive in them," Shelton says.
If there's one thing the 1997 team had going for it, it was great senior leadership. A strong group of six players--Barber, Jennifer DiCuollo, Driscoll, Abbi Keller, Cindy Werley and Jana Withrow--had formed the team's backbone since they were freshmen. In their final season at Carolina the group was ready to do whatever it took to come out on top. "The senior class was the greatest class to come through this program," Shelton says. "They all started on three championship teams. They were very tight as a group, talented, hard-working, motivated."
That attitude carried over to the rest of the Tar Heels, who started the season ranked No. 1 in the country and opened Aug. 30 against No. 7 Penn State in Chapel Hill. Carolina won a 6-5 thriller on an overtime goal by Werley (her third of the game), assisted by junior Nancy Pelligreen. Werley followed her eight-point performance with four goals in the next game, a 6-3 win over Michigan. That total was all the more stunning considering she left the game with 24:22 still to play. "Cindy Werley is a superstar," Michigan coach Marcia Pankrantz said. Few would argue. Werley had two more goals and an assist against Ohio State the next day and would manage hat tricks in three more games. By the end of the fall, she would have broken the UNC record for goals scored in a season and climbed to the top of the program's career goals and points lists.
After two shutouts in the Temple Invitational, the 5-0 Tar Heels prepared for their first major challenge: back-to-back games against powerful Virginia and Old Dominion in Chapel Hill. On Friday, Sept. 19, UNC suffered its first loss of the season, ending a 23-game overall winning streak and a 20-game streak against Virginia. The 2-0 loss was North Carolina's first in the ACC since 1993 and the first shutout against the Tar Heels since a 1-0 overtime loss to Massachusetts in 1994.
The squad had less than 24 hours to regroup. On Saturday afternoon, UNC faced top-ranked ODU and again came away with a loss, 5-4 in overtime. "We're going to take two losses away from the weekend but unlike yesterday, I thought we played great," Shelton said after the ODU game. Nonetheless, the team fell to 5-2 for the season after losing consecutive games for the first time since 1992.
UNC won its next five games by a combined score of 33-4, with wins over Duke, William & Mary, Wake Forest, Massachusetts and Radford. In the win over Wake Forest on Oct. 1, Driscoll became the ACC's career assist leader on the final goal of the night, a penalty corner converted by Werley with 14:21 left in the game. It was the 53rd of assist of her career, breaking the record held by Susan Bowman of Wake Forest.
The 10-2 win over UMass on Oct. 4 marked the team's highest output of goals since 1993. Among the 10 were career firsts for Sara Carroll and Kate Sidebottom. The next day, the Tar Heels scored big again with a 10-0 win over Radford. The game marked Jana Withrow's 43rd career shutout, an ACC record.
Carolina would then see its streak halted by Virginia. In Charlottesville, UNC trailed 2-0 before Pelligreen scored with 2:14 left to play. The 2-1 loss, however, would be UNC's last of the season.
On Oct. 22, the Tar Heels trounced Wake Forest 5-1 and two days later they beat up on James Madison 4-1. Werley scored her 28th goal of the season 21:01 into the Wake game to set yet another Carolina record. The previous mark of 27, held by Bashi Buba, had stood for 19 years.
At 12-3, UNC welcomed Maryland to Chapel Hill for a game that would go into overtime before Werley scored off a Barber assist to win 4-3. It was Werley's third goal of the game and Pelligreen added the other.
October 29 was senior day in Chapel Hill, but it was the underclassmen who carried the afternoon. In the team's final regular season home game, UNC beat Duke 5-0 on two goals by freshman Kristen McCann, who moved into the lineup at forward when Barber shifted back, and another by Pelligreen. Seniors Werley and Keller also scored.
On Nov. 1, UNC braced for a tough test against Old Dominion in Norfolk. At Foreman Field, McCann scored 21 minutes into the game and Barber added another with 7:13 left in the game. ODU scored its only goal with just over two minutes to play. "There is not a better way to prepare for the postseason," Shelton said.
It certainly appeared that the Tar Heels were prepared. They went into the ACC tournament ranked third in the nation but seeded second in the field by virtue of a 3-1 conference record, thanks to that early season loss to Virginia. Against Maryland, UNC pulled out a 3-2 win in overtime. Barber and McCann scored in regulation then Werley put in the game winner off a penalty corner in the second overtime. Carolina did suffer a loss that day, though, when DiCuollo broke her right thumb. The weather was so cold that she didn't even feel the pain at first, but the injury was bad enough to require two metal pins be inserted during surgery the next morning.
DiCuollo would miss the championship game against Virginia the next day but the team let her know she wasn't forgotten, playing with her number, 15, affixed to each stick. Certainly thinking about the two previous losses to the Cavaliers, the Tar Heels toppled top-ranked Virginia 2-0. McCann scored both goals and Withrow made two saves to record her 45th shutout.
Cindy Werley added ACC Tournament MVP honors (the third of her career) to her ACC Player of the Year award and McCann, Barber and Driscoll were also named to the all-tournament team. On the All-ACC team were Barber, Driscoll, Pelligreen and Jana Withrow.
Carolina opened NCAA tournament play against Connecticut in Chapel Hill and rolled to a 4-0 win.
Pelligreen scored twice and McCann and Werley each added goals. (Werley's was the 82nd of her career, a North Carolina record.) The Tar Heels outshot the Huskies 19-4 and held a 9-4 advantage on penalty corners to advance to the Final Four for the ninth straight time. "Carolina plays like the two-time defending champions," UConn coach Nancy Stevens said. "They move the ball well and their forwards are tremendous."
So at 18-3 and ranked No. 1 in the nation, Carolina headed for Storrs, Conn., to play Princeton in the semifinals. The Tar Heels had beaten the Tigers 3-0 in the 1996 championship game but this game wouldn't provide quite so much breathing room. UNC won 4-3, with the final goal by McCann, to advance to the finals for the ninth time.
In the 43rd meeting between UNC and ODU, the Tar Heels trailed 1-0 before reeling off three unanswered goals. Werley scored an unassisted goal at 7:26 in the first half then Pelligreen scored at 3:16 to take a 2-1 lead into halftime. At 23:23 in the second half, Driscoll scored the game winner, assisted by Werley.
Carolina added another title, this one very hard-fought, to its list of accomplishments and the '97 team finally knew how its season would end. "It wasn't just 'Put it on cruise control and go out and win all the games easily,'" Shelton said. "That didn't happen for us. In that sense, it was one of the most satisfying seasons we've had in a long time."
