University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Wake Forest (ACC Championship)
Tar Heels Claim 16th ACC Championship
November 4, 2007 | Field Hockey
Nov. 4, 2007
NEWTON, Mass. - The North Carolina field hockey team claimed its 16th Atlantic Coast Conference title Sunday with a 4-3 overtime victory over third-ranked Wake Forest at Newton Campus Turf Field. Senior captain Rachel Dawson's penalty stroke 4:20 into the overtime period gave the Tar Heels the victory and improved top-ranked Carolina to 20-0 on the season.
"I told the team that championships aren't won easily and that we shouldn't expect it to be easy, nor should we want it to be," UNC coach Karen Shelton said. "I told them going into the overtime that you can't lose in a game like this, that win or lose we come out stronger so just relax and play the overtime like we wanted to. We did that, with some real maturity and patience. You really need to have patience in overtime and I think we played it smart, created an opportunity, almost got a field goal but drew the penalty stroke and the senior captain stepped up and canned it. I'm just really proud of them."
Wake Forest (14-5) opened the scoring in the 15th minute of play, marking the first time this season that a UNC opponent had scored first. Liz Fries sent a ball in from outside the circle and Chelsea Cipriani tipped it into the goal for her team-high 11th score of the year.
UNC tied it at 1-1 less than four minutes later, when sophomore Danielle Forword put in her second goal of the tournament. With 16:48 on the clock, she sent a reverse-stick shot past Wake goalkeeper Crystal Duffield for her eighth goal of the year.
Wake Forest took the lead again 2:25 before halftime on a penalty corner. Fries had the goal, with assists by Melissa Martin and Michelle Kasold. The game was the second time this season that UNC has trailed at halftime. The Tar Heels also were down 2-1 in the Sept. 8 game against Villanova.
UNC tied the game again shortly after halftime. On a penalty corner 5:13 into the second half, Dawson sent in a hard shot for her 17th goal of the season, assisted by Jesse Gey and Katelyn Falgowski.
Wake again grabbed the lead with 7:53 remaining in the game on a penalty corner. Fries had her second goal of the game, again assisted by Martin and Kasold.
With 4:59 remaining in regulation, UNC knotted the score at 3-3. On a penalty corner, sophomore Illse Davids redirected a shot by Dawson into the goal.
The overtime win was Carolina's second of the season. UNC beat Wake Forest 2-1 in overtime on Aug. 31 in one of the teams' two regular-season meetings.
"I'm really proud of the team," Shelton said. "They fought a battle. To be down twice in a game is something we're unaccustomed to, but I think we showed some real character and stayed composed. We got out of a rhythm and back into a rhythm and I think we owned the overtime period. I'm really proud of the group, I'm proud of Rachel for leading the way, and I'm just excited for the great team effort."
Dawson was named the tournament MVP and was joined on the All-ACC Tournament team by senior Laree Beans and Forword.
Following the title game, Falgowski was announced as the 2007 ACC Freshman of the Year. She is the fifth UNC player to win the honor and the first since Dawson won in 2003. "She was consistently in on all of our significant plays -- our corner defense, our corner offense, our seven-a-side team," Shelton said. "She just does it all, but seldom is a player like Katelyn recognized. I'm proud of her and I know it was a tight race."
Next up for the Tar Heels in the NCAA Tournament, which starts on Saturday. The 16-team field will be announced on Tuesday evening.
No. 1 North Carolina , No. 3 Wake Forest
Scoring: WFU - Chelsea Cipriani (Liz Fries), 14:44; UNC - Forword, 18:12; WFU - Fries (Melissa Martin, Michelle Kasold); UNC - Rachel Dawson (Jesse Gey, Katelyn Falgowski); WFU - Fries (Martin, Kasold), 62:07; UNC - Illse Davids (Dawson), 65:01; UNC - Dawson (penalty stroke), 74:20
Shots: UNC 20, WFU 9
Penalty corners: UNC 9, WFU 5
Goalkeeper saves: UNC 2 (Brianna O'Donnell), WFU 6 (Crystal Duffield)
Records: UNC 20-0, Wake Forest 14-5
