University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Radford
Tar Heels Celebrate Senior Day With Ninth Shutout
October 7, 2007 | Field Hockey
Oct. 7, 2007
Final Stats |
Senior Day Photo Gallery 
Senior Day Podcast
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - After honoring its seniors in a pregame ceremony, the North Carolina field hockey team beat visiting Radford 6-0 Sunday at Henry Stadium to improve to 14-0 on the season and tie the Atlantic Coast Conference record for consecutive shutouts at nine.
"I'm delighted that we had a successful Senior Day - we wanted to play hard for the seniors," UNC coach Karen Shelton said. "But more importantly I'm excited we've tied an ACC record for consecutive shutouts. Any record in the ACC is an accomplishment. As a coach, this defensive record makes me incredibly proud."
With the team's seven seniors - Laree Beans, Rachel Dawson, Xan Funk, Jesse Gey, Heather Kendell, Liz Morris and Alli Tanner - all in the starting lineup, UNC didn't take long to score the only goal it would need against the Highlanders (4-10). Seven minutes into the contest, on the Tar Heels' second penalty corner of the day, Dawson set a ball to the right of the goal and Beans deflected it in to put UNC up 1-0.
On a penalty corner in the 19th minute of play, Beans and Dawson combined again on the same play to put UNC up 2-0. On the Tar Heels' next penalty corner, in the 25th minute, Dawson scored on a direct shot, assisted by Kendell and Funk.
Five minutes later, redshirt freshman Elizabeth Drazdowski became the first non-senior to score when she got her stick on a ball just in front of the cage and sent it past Radford keeper Jennifer Wisniewski to put UNC up 4-0 at halftime.
Just over five minutes into the second half, Tanner dribbled the ball in toward the left side of the cage and took a shot that hit just inside the right post for her fifth goal of the year. The final goal came from sophomore Danielle Forword, who scored off a pass from Tanner in the 52nd minute.
On the day, seniors contributed four of the six goals and all five assists.
Sophomore Brianna O'Donnell and redshirt freshman Jackie Kintzer split time in goal, with Kintzer making two second-half saves to preserve the shutout.
The last team to score on the Tar Heels was Villanova on Sept. 8. Since then UNC has beaten West Chester (9-0), No. 13 Old Dominion (3-0), No. 7 Penn State (6-0), Appalachian State (7-0), No. 13 Duke (5-0), Davidson (8-0), No. 4 Wake Forest (5-0), No. 10 Boston College (2-0) and Radford. The first ACC team to achieve nine shutouts in a row was Virginia in 1978.
"We want to defend to win and we want to defend with pride, especially on our home field," Shelton said. "So we say, `Let's take it personally, let's try to prevent scoring opportunities.' I've said I want my goalies to be like the Maytag repairmen, the loneliest people in town. We want to defend well and not allow opportunities and we've been achieving that for the most part."
North Carolina plays its next two games on the road, at William & Mary on Friday and at No. 19 Virginia on Sunday. UNC's next home game is Oct. 20 against No. 2 Maryland, the defending NCAA Champion.
No. 1 North Carolina 6, Radford 0
Scoring: UNC - Laree Beans (Rachel Dawson), 7:07; UNC - Beans (Dawson), 18:35; UNC - Dawson (Heather Kendell, Xan Funk), 24:03; UNC - Elizabeth Drazdowski, 29:17; UNC - Alli Tanner, 40:08; UNC - Danielle Forword (Tanner), 51:17
Shots: UNC 29, RU 2
Penalty corners: UNC 10, RU 2
Goalkeeper saves: UNC 2 (Brianna O'Donnell 0, Jackie Kintzer 2), Radford 10 (Jennifer Wisniewski)
Records: UNC 14-0, Radford 4-10
UNC starters: Brianna O'Donnell, Riley Foster, Alli Tanner, Heather Kendell, Rachel Dawson, Melanie Brill, Jesse Gey, Laree Beans, Xan Funk, Katelyn Falgowski, Liz Morris
UNC substitutes: Illse Davids, Kiki Norbruis, Kate Scholl, Britt van Beek, Hilary Hartman, Elizabeth Drazdowski, Meghan Dawson, Danielle Forword, Jen Slocum, Jackie Kintzer, Casey Burns
