University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Maryland
Tar Heels Fall 7-0 At No. 1 Maryland
October 25, 2008 | Field Hockey
Oct. 25, 2008
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The North Carolina field hockey team suffered the second-worst loss in program history Saturday, falling 7-0 to top-ranked Maryland in an Atlantic Coast Conference battle at the Terrapins' Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex. The fifth-ranked Tar Heels dropped to 12-4 overall and 3-2 in ACC play while Maryland improved to 15-2 overall and locked up the regular-season conference title with a 4-1 mark.
"I congratulate Maryland for playing so well," UNC coach Karen Shelton said. "We let the game get away from us. I don't think there's a seven-goal difference between the two teams, but on this day there was. They executed their penalty corners and got two penalty strokes and we didn't have an answer."
Maryland's Nicole Muracco scored an unassisted goal 11:41 into the game to put UM ahead for good. The Terrapins came up with two other first-half goals, another unassisted score and a penalty stroke, to lead 3-0 at halftime.
Just under eight minutes into the second half, Muracco scored her second goal of the day to put UM up 4-0. The next two goals came on penalty corners and the final one was the day's second penalty stroke.
Carolina managed just five shots, four of them in the second half, after coming into the game averaging more than 20 per outing. The Terrapins had 22 shots, 14 of which came in the second half. After each team had a single penalty corner in the first half, UM finished with nine and UNC with five.
UNC's goalkeepers combined for five saves on the day, with starter Jackie Kintzer making four and allowing five goals in 59 minutes of play and Brianna O'Donnell playing the final 11 minutes with one save and two goals allowed. Coming into the game, Kintzer had allowed just four goals all season and the Tar Heels a total of 16. Carolina had just one shot on goal, and the Terrapins recorded one team save.
The worst loss in UNC history came in the final game of the 1983 season, when the Tar Heels fell 8-0 to host Old Dominion in an NCAA Tournament second-round matchup. Carolina has given up seven goals just one other time, in a 7-2 loss to ODU in 1998, also in NCAA Tournament play.
Carolina closes out the regular season next weekend, traveling to face Old Dominion in Norfolk, Va., on Saturday then hosting Davidson on Sunday (Nov. 2). That game is scheduled for 1 p.m. and the Tar Heels will celebrate Senior Day.
No. 1 Maryland 7, 5 North Carolina 0
Scoring: UM - Nicole Muracco, 11:41; UM - Alexis Pappas, 22:39; UM - Susie Rowe (penalty stroke), 27:34; UM - Muracco (Rowe), 42:40; UM - Rowe (Pappas, Ameliet Rischen), 52:17; UM - Katie O'Donnell (Rowe), 60:03; UM - Ellen Ott (penalty stroke)
Shots: UNC 5 (1/4), UM 22 (8/14)
Penalty corners: UNC 5 (1/4), UM 9 (1/8)
Goalkeeper saves: UNC 5 (Jackie Kintzer 4, Brianna O'Donnell 1); UM - 1 (Alicia Grater 0, Melissa Vassalotti 0, team 1)
Records: UNC 12-4 (3-2 ACC), Maryland 15-2 (4-1 ACC)
UNC starters: Jackie Kintzer, Illse Davids, Riley Foster, Charlotte Verstraten, Kiki Norbruis, Melanie Brill, Kate Scholl, Britt van Beek, Elizabeth Stephens, Elizabeth Drazdowski, Katelyn Falgowski
UNC substitutes: Teryn Brill, Taryn Gjurich, Jen Slocum, Casey Burns, Louise McNutt, Brianna O'Donnell
