Tar Heels Fall 1-0 At No. 2 Syracuse

Saturday, November 2

Syracuse, N.Y.

1:00 PM

North Carolina

Syracuse

November 2, 2013 | Field Hockey

By: UNC Athletic Communications

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - In the final game of the regular season, the third-ranked North Carolina field hockey team fell 1-0 at No. 2 Syracuse on Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Orange extended its winning streak at J.S. Coyne Stadium to 45 games.

UNC fell to 14-4 on the season, 3-3 in Atlantic Coast Conference play. All four of Carolina's losses have been by one goal, with the three prior to Saturday's all coming in overtime. Syracuse, in its first season in the ACC, improved to 15-2 overall and 4-2 in conference play.

"Congratulations to Syracuse," UNC coach Karen Shelton said. "They defended us very well, and it was a well-played game. I think they were tougher than us today - we didn't play our best, and Syracuse had a lot to do with that. We'll regroup and look forward to the ACC Tournament."

The 2013 ACC Tournament is set for Nov. 7, 8 and 10 at Boston College in Newton, Mass. UNC is the No. 3 seed and will open against No. 6 seed Wake Forest on Thursday at 3 p.m.

The Syracuse gamewinner came in the 13th minute of play. Sarah Kerly, who had just subbed into the game, carried the ball down the right side of the field and got a shot past UNC goalkeeper Sassi Ammer.

The rest of the half was scoreless, as was the start of the second half.

After taking a timeout with 9:41 to play, Shelton pulled her goalkeeper in favor of an extra field player to try to get the tying goal. UNC played stellar defense to prevent the Orange from scoring again - junior Samantha Travers had a defensive save - but the Tar Heels were unable to come up with a goal.

It was the first time UNC has been shut out since a 1-0 overtime loss at Syracuse on Sept. 1, 2012. The last time a team other than the Orange shut out the Tar Heels was in the 2009 ACC Tournament semifinals, when host Virginia beat UNC 1-0.

No. 2 Syracuse 1, No. 3 UNC 0

Scoring: SU - Sarah Kerly, 12:20

Shots: UNC 6 (5/1), SU 9 (4/5)

Penalty corners: UNC 4 (3/1), SU 3 (2/1)

Goalkeeper saves: UNC 1 (Sassi Ammer, 60:19, 1 goal allowed, 1 save; Team, 9:41, 0 goals allowed, 1 save), SU 3 (Jess Jecko, 70:00, 0 goals allowed, 3 saves)

Defensive saves: UNC 1 (Samantha Travers)

Records: UNC 14-4 (3-3 ACC); SU 15-2 (4-2 ACC)