University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Earn ACC Field Hockey Honors
November 3, 2000 | Field Hockey
Nov. 3, 2000
COLLEGE PARK, Md.-University of North Carolina senior Kristen McCann has been named field hockey's Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year and UNC coach Karen Shelton has been named ACC Coach of the Year in a vote by the league's coaches. The awards were announced Thursday night at the league's ACC Tournament banquet in College Park, Md., where the tournament is underway.
Also earning honors for the Tar Heels were senior back Jana Toepel, junior back Abby Martin and sophomore goalkeeper Amy Tran, who joined forward McCann on the All-ACC team. Other members of the All-ACC team are Rachel Hiskins, Keli Smith, Carla Tagliente, Carolina Walter and Autum Welsh from Maryland, Heather Auginbaugh, Jemima Cameron and Jenny Everett from Wake Forest, Jessica Coleman from Virginia, and Courtney Sommer from Duke.
McCann, a psychology major from Macungie, Pa., leads the ACC in goals this season with a career-high 23, nine of which were game-winners for the Tar Heels. McCann earned ACC Player of the Week honors three times during the season. She currently ranks fifth in the nation in goals per game with 1.211 and 10th in points per game with 2.474. She was named All-ACC for the third time in her career.
Toepel also earned her third All-ACC recognition. A team captain along with McCann, she has scored five goals and contributed nine assists this season. Martin and Tran both were named to the team for the first time. Martin has seven goals and nine assists this season, and Tran leads the ACC and ranks third in the nation with a goals against average of 0.93.
Top-seeded UNC opens ACC Tournament play Friday at 7 p.m. against fourth-seeded Virginia, a 2-1 winner in overtime against fifth-seeded Duke on Thursday afternoon. The Tar Heels, ranked second in the nation, are 17-2 overall and were 4-0 in regular-season ACC play.
No. 2 seed Wake Forest (fourth in the national poll) and No. 3 seed Maryland (third in the nation) meet Friday at 4 p.m. in the day's first semifinal. The winners meet Sunday at 3:30 p.m. for the championship. That game will be televised live by Home Team Sports.
