University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC's Woolley Leads U.S. Field Hockey To Win
May 22, 2001 | Field Hockey
May 22, 2001
BUENOS AIRES -- Captain Abbey Woolley's goal at the buzzer lifted the U.S. women's under-21 field hockey team to a 3-2 Junior World Cup victory over Spain at the High Performance Center.
"This win was well deserved," said U.S. head coach Tess Ellis, whose team snapped an 11-game Junior World Cup losing streak dating back to 1997. "I'm very happy for all the girls."
The U.S. controlled play through much of the first half before Woolley, a rising senior at UNC, scored the first of her two goals off a rebound from Jessica Coleman's penalty corner shot in the 13th minute.
After taking the 1-0 lead into halftime, the U.S. added to the margin early in the second half when April Fronzoni knocked in Ilvy Friebe's rebound for a 2-0 USA lead at the 50-minute mark.
The U.S. advantage was short lived however as Spain responded two minutes later on a field goal by Ivet Munoz before Barbara Malda tied the game at 2-2 with four minutes remaining.
Following four minutes of swarming U.S. pressure, Woolley weaved her way through the middle of the Spanish defense and connected on the game-winner just seconds before the final horn.
The win leaves the U.S. with a 1-0-2 record in Pool H and a chance at a third place pool finish depending on the outcome of Tuesday's late Russia-Chile game. In the event of a tie between Russia and Chile, the U.S. would drop to fourth in the pool and would play the third place team in Pool G (Canada, Wales or India) on Thursday. A win by either Chile or Russia would give the U.S. the third place seed and a bye to Friday's 13th/14th place classification game.
UNC players on the Junior World Cup team are Stephanie Fuller, Meredith Keller, Abby Martin, Amy Tran and Woolley. Also representing the U.S. is Carey Fetting-Smith, who will be a freshman on the Carolina team this fall.
At Buenos Aires
USA 3, Spain 2
USA: Abbey Woolley (pc, 13:00)
USA: April Fronzoni (fg, 50:00)
ESP: Ivet Munoz (fg, 52:00)
ESP: Barbara Malda (fg, 66:00)
USA: Abbey Woolley (fg, 70:00)
USA Starters: Abbey Woolley, Maria Whitehead, Kristi Gannon, Meredith Keller, Carissa Messimer, Tiffany Leister, Kelly Dostal, Dina Rizzo, Abby Martin, April Fronzoni, Amy Tran (gk)
Subs: Carey Fetting-Smith, Ilvey Friebe, Stephanie Fuller, Jessica Coleman
