North Carolina
Georgetown
Tar Heels Roll To 11-0 Win In Home Opener
September 7, 2008 | Field Hockey
Sept. 7, 2008
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The North Carolina field hockey team opened its home season Sunday afternoon with an 11-0 win over visiting Georgetown at Francis E. Henry Stadium. Following back-to-back losses, the Tar Heels got hat tricks from senior Britt van Beek and Illse Davids as they improved to 2-2 on the year. Georgetown fell to 0-4.
"It felt great to be playing at home and get the kind of offensive output we did after a couple of close losses," UNC coach Karen Shelton said. "I was pleased with the way we moved the ball today. We passed the ball better and I was really happy with the support on the ball and the options available to the ball carriers."
Carolina's 11 goals - eight of which came in the first half - made for the team's highest scoring game in almost two years, since an 11-0 win over Appalachian State on Sept. 27, 2006.
Van Beek, a senior and the team captain, opened the scoring at the 4:45 mark, when her shot went off the right post and into the cage. Two minutes later, junior Danielle Forword made it 2-0 when she dribbled in from the left to score her team-high sixth goal of the season. Van Beek scored her second goal of the day at the 8:02 mark on an unassisted shot from in front of the goal. She would add another in the second half for the second-highest scoring game of her career - she had four goals in the 2006 win over Appalachian State.
Davids's first goal came 48 seconds later, on a pass from junior Riley Foster. At the 19:12 mark, redshirt freshman Louise McNutt scored the first goal of her career on a cross from Forword. Just under three minutes later, sophomore Kiki Norbruis got into the action with an unassisted shot. Norbruis then assisted on the following goal, with Davids scoring on a penalty corner play at the 25:03 mark. Davids put in her third goal of the day just over a minute later, scoring on a pass from freshman Charlotte Verstraten to get the first hat trick of her career and set the halftime score at 8-0.
After the break, van Beek put in her third on a pass from Forword at 43:32. Norbruis then scored her second, on a penalty corner shot assisted by Verstraten and senior Kate Scholl at 6:07. The game's final goal came 24 seconds later when redshirt freshman Elizabeth Stephens scored on a pass from freshman Taryn Gjurich.
UNC finished the day with 32 shots and nine corners. The Hoyas had one shot and one corner while goalkeeper Deirdre Crovo made seven saves.
After winning the 2007 NCAA Championship with a 24-0 record, UNC opened the season with a 6-0 win over No. 9 Michigan then lost 3-2 to No. 5 Iowa and 2-1 in penalty strokes at No. 3 Wake Forest on Friday night. Sunday's game against the Hoyas was the first of seven regular-season home games this fall.
Next up for UNC is a pair of games at the Vonnie Gros Classic, hosted by West Chester University, the alma mater of Carolina's Shelton. The Tar Heels meet Penn State Saturday in West Chester, Pa., in a rematch of the 2007 NCAA title game, which UNC won 3-0. On Sunday, UNC plays the host Golden Rams.
The Tar Heels' next home game is Sept. 19 when Old Dominion visits Henry Stadium.
No. 1 North Carolina 11, Georgetown 0
Scoring: UNC - Britt van Beek, 4:45; UNC - Danielle Forword, 6:42; UNC - Van Beek, 8:02; UNC - Illse Davids (Riley Foster), 8:50; UNC - Louise McNutt (Forword), 19:12; UNC - Kiki Norbruis, 21:58; UNC - Davids (Norbruis), 25:03; UNC - Davids (Charlotte Verstraten), 26:18; UNC - Van Beek (Forword), 43:32; UNC - Norbruis (Verstraten, Kate Scholl); UNC - Elizabeth Stephens (Taryn Gjurich)
Shots: UNC 32, GU 1
Penalty corners: UNC 9, GU 1
Goalkeeper saves: UNC 0 (Brianna O'Donnell, Jackie Kintzer); GU 7 (Deirdre Crovo)
Records: UNC 2-2, Georgetown 0-4
UNC starters: Illse Davids, Riley Foster, Taryn Gjurich, Kiki Norbruis, Melanie Brill, Kate Scholl, Britt van Beek, Elizabeth Drazdowski, Danielle Forword, Katelyn Falgowski, Brianna O'Donnell
UNC substitutes: Teryn Brill, Charlotte Verstraten, Elizabeth Stephens, Meghan Dawson, Jen Slocum, Jackie Kintzer, Casey Burns, Louise McNutt
