University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Virginia
Tar Heels Fall At ACC Championship
November 6, 2009 | Field Hockey
Nov. 6, 2009
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Third-ranked Virginia scored the game's only goal in the 28th minute of play then held onto the 1-0 lead to eliminate No. 2 North Carolina in Atlantic Coast Conference Field Hockey Championship play Friday evening at Turf Field. The Cavaliers improved to 18-2 on the season and advanced to face top-ranked Maryland in the championship game on Sunday. Carolina fell to 16-2 overall and now will await Tuesday's announcement of the NCAA Tournament field.
"I want to congratulate the University of Virginia for playing so well in the semifinal today," said UNC coach Karen Shelton, who has led her team to 16 ACC titles, most recently in 2007. "I'm disappointed with our team and the fact that we couldn't find a way to score a goal. I think we had plenty of opportunities to score, we just weren't able to find the back of the net today.
"Fortunately, we live another day and we're excited to look forward to the NCAA Tournament. That's where we'll turn our focus. We'll get back home, go back to the drawing board and work on finding a way to be a little bit more desperate in the circle. We're creating scoring chances, we just have to find a way to score."
The game's only goal came in the first half, at the 27:37 mark. On Virginia's second penalty corner of the game, Tar Heel goalkeeper Jackie Kintzer saved an initial shot by UVa sophomore Inga Stöckel, but freshman defender Charlotte van den Broek got her stick on the rebound and sent it over Kintzer and into the goal for her first score of the season.
The Tar Heels had numerous opportunities to score, outshooting Virginia 14-6 and drawing eight corners to the Cavaliers' three, but goalkeeper Kim Kastuk made nine saves to deal UNC its first shutout loss since a 7-0 defeat at Maryland during the 2008 season. Following a Virginia timeout with 11:42 to play, Carolina pulled Kintzer in an effort to get the equalizer with another field player. The Tar Heels' final opportunity came in the closing moments of the game, when UNC drew a penalty corner. With no time remaining on the clock, senior Melanie Brill took the shot, but Kastuk's save preserved the UVa win.
Heading into the ACC Tournament, UNC had averaged 4.35 goals per game this season, just once failing to score at least two goals in a game.
Carolina won the regular season matchup with Virginia 2-1 in overtime on Oct. 17. That game also was played in Charlottesville.
The 16-team NCAA Tournament field will be made public on Tuesday at 8 p.m. via a webcast at www.NCAA.com. The winner of Sunday's ACC Championship game earns an automatic berth into the field. The Tar Heels hope to earn an at-large bid to participate in the NCAA Tournament for the 26th time in school history.
No. 3 Virginia 1, No. 2 North Carolina 0
Scoring: UVA - Charlotte van den Broek, 27:37
Shots: UNC 14 (10/4; UVA 6 (5/1)
Penalty corners: UNC 8 (5/3); UVA 3 (2/1)
Goalkeeper saves: UNC 2 (Jackie Kintzer, 2, 58:18; Team, 0, 11:42 ); UVA 9 (Kim Kastuk, 70:00)
Records: UVA 18-2, UNC 16-2
UNC starters: Jackie Kintzer, Illse Davids, Riley Foster, Melanie Brill, Kelsey Kolojejchick, Elizabeth Drazdowski, Caitlin Van Sickle, Meghan Dawson, Danielle Forword, Katelyn Falgowski, Jaclyn Gaudioso Radvany
UNC substitutes: Charlotte Verstraten, Taryn Gjurich, Jen Slocum
