North Carolina
Old Dominion
Top-Ranked Tar Heels Fall To ODU
September 16, 2011 | Field Hockey
Sept. 16, 2011
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - In a battle of the country's top-ranked field hockey teams, No. 2 Old Dominion topped No. 1 North Carolina 3-1 Friday evening at Francis E. Henry Stadium. The Lady Monarchs improved to 7-0 with the win, ODU's second of the season over a top-ranked team. UNC fell to 5-1 with its first loss of the year.
UNC scored first, on a penalty corner in the 17th minute. Redshirt freshman Samantha Travers got the goal, her sixth of the year, on a hard shot assisted by junior Caitlin Van Sickle and senior Katelyn Falgowski. But Old Dominion answered quickly, scoring less than a minute later when sophomore Kati Nearhouse sent a ball toward the goal and senior Kathryn Kirk grabbed it and put it in for her fourth goal of the season.
After a 1-1 tie at halftime, ODU scored the gamewinner in the 45th minute on the second of back-to-back penalty corners, the Lady Monarchs' only ones of the game. Junior Christy Longacre's shot got past Tar Heel goalkeeper Sassi Ammer, who replaced starter Caitlin Powers for the second half. Rebecca Condie and Kelsey Smither assisted on the goal.
With 9:22 remaining in the game and UNC set to take a penalty corner, Tar Heel coach Karen Shelton called a timeout to strategize and pulled Ammer from the goal, inserting an additional field player. But Carolina failed to score on that corner and was unable to capitalize on the extra player. Old Dominion picked up one more goal in the 63rd minute when senior Emma Batten dribbled into the circle and shot into the empty cage to make the score 3-1.
Next up for the Tar Heels is a Sunday matchup with Wake Forest. Game time at Henry Stadium is 1 p.m.
No. 2 Old Dominion 3, No. 1 North Carolina 1
Scoring: UNC - Samantha Travers (Caitlin Van Sickle, Katelyn Falgowski), 16:39; ODU - Kathryn Kirk (Kati Nearhouse), 17:33; ODU - Christy Longacre (Rebecca Condie, Kelsey Smither), 44:29; ODU - Emma Batten, 62:37
Shots: UNC 10, ODU 6
Penalty corners: UNC 11, ODU 2
Saves: UNC 2 (Caitlin Powers, 35:00, 1 goal allowed, 0 saves; Sassi Ammer, 25:38, 1 goal allowed, 2 saves; Team, 9:22, 1 goal allowed); ODU 1 (Devon Seifert, 70:00, 1 goal allowed, 1 save)
Records: UNC 5-1, ODU 7-0
