University of North Carolina Athletics
Best Games Of 2012-13: No. 9
July 23, 2013 | Field Hockey
Continuing today with entry No. 9, GoHeels.com will be counting down the top 10 games of 2012-13 one per weekday until we get to No. 1. To catch up on the previous great moments of the Tar Heel year, click here for entries 10-25.
No. 9: Carolina 6, Syracuse 1 - Field Hockey, Nov. 16, 2012
It stands to reason that most of the games on this list so far (and to come) have featured a relatively narrow margin of victory. The nature of sports is such that a close game is often considered a good game, regardless of how it was played. Fantastic finishes, game-winning goals, buzzer-beaters - those are often the key ingredients in "great" games.
Carolina's win over Syracuse in the 2012 field hockey national semifinals was not a close game. But that doesn't mean it wasn't one of the best - at least from the Tar Heel perspective - of 2012-13.
The Tar Heels arrived in Norfolk, Va., for the final rounds of the NCAA Championship as the tournament's No. 1 seed. They were the regular season and tournament champions of the Atlantic Coast Conference, and they had made quick work of Stanford and Old Dominion in the NCAA first and second rounds. Carolina boasted a record of 22-1 that was the nation's best.
But the one loss came at the hands of Syracuse, UNC's opponent that day at the Powhatan Sports Complex. The Orange had knocked off the Tar Heels early in the season, a 1-0 overtime decision in Syracuse way back on Sept. 1. It wasn't just the only loss of the year for the high-scoring Tar Heels, it was the only game of the year in which they didn't score at least two goals.
The two teams didn't need overtime to find a goal in the rematch, as No. 5 Syracuse opened the scoring just eight minutes in through a Lauren Brooks putback.
Carolina struck back 63 seconds later, as Jaclyn Gaudioso Radvany finished off a fast break to make it 1-1.
The game stayed tied at 1 for another 20-plus minutes before Charlotte Craddock opened the floodgates. The sophomore from England blasted home a goal in the 32nd minute from a penalty corner before Sinead Loughran followed up a Loren Shealy shot to make it 3-1 just 24 seconds later.
A mere 34 seconds after that, Craddock grabbed her second off a pass from Emily Wold, and Carolina had scored three goals in 1:02.
It may have been a different story if UNC goalkeeper Sassi Ammer hadn't come up with a crucial save of a Syracuse shot in the middle of the half with score still tied at 1. But the sophomore from Germany was in position for one of her six stops to preserve the tie and set the stage for Craddock and the Tar Heel offense.
Craddock got her hat trick after halftime, collecting a loose ball left of the cage and burying the chance after the Orange had pulled its goalie. The third goal was the 25th of her sophomore campaign, and her goal in the national title loss to Princeton gave her a school-record 26, the most for a Carolina sophomore.
While UNC's fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA title game would not produce its seventh national title, for an afternoon in Norfolk, the Tar Heels displayed the offensive firepower that made them one of the most exciting Carolina teams in history.
Previous Entries
No. 10: Carolina 1, Stanford 0 (OT) - Women's Soccer, Nov. 30, 2012
No. 11: Carolina 3, Florida State 1 - Volleyball, Nov. 3, 2012
No. 12: Carolina 3, Wisconsin 2 (8 inn.) - Softball, May 16, 2013
No. 13: Carolina 2, Duke 1 (OT) - Men's Soccer, Sept. 28, 2012
No. 14: Carolina 79, Maryland 76 - Men's Basketball, March 16, 2013
No. 15: Carolina 10, Maryland 8 - Men's Lacrosse, March 23, 2013
No. 16: Carolina 72, Maryland 65 - Women's Basketball, March 9, 2013
No. 17: Carolina 4, Maryland 3 (OT) - Field Hockey, Oct. 20, 2012
No. 18: Carolina 11, Northwestern 8 - Women's Lacrosse, Feb. 22, 2013
No. 19: Carolina 4, USC 3 - Women's Tennis, Feb. 9, 2013
No. 20: Carolina 3, California 1 - Volleyball, Nov. 29, 2012
No. 21: Carolina 11, Johns Hopkins 10 (OT), Men's Lacrosse, March 30, 2013
No. 22: Carolina 1, Fairleigh Dickinson 0 (OT) - Men's Soccer, Nov. 25, 2012
No. 23: Peacock Smashes NCAA Record - Swimming and Diving, Dec. 2, 2012
No. 24: UNC's Big Day at ACCs - Track and Field, April 19, 2013
No. 25: Carolina 30, NC State 6 - Wrestling, Feb. 1, 2013
