University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Delight In Supporting The USA
June 4, 2014 | Field Hockey
THE HAGUE, Netherlands - It started with the first notes of The Star-Spangled Banner. Decked out in a mixture of Carolina blue UNC garb and red-white-and-blue apparel, the North Carolina field hockey team, in the stands at midfield, locked arms and proceeded to belt out the lyrics with gusto. The Tar Heels were so loud that the U.S. Women's National Team players, lined up at attention with the stands at their backs, knew exactly which group was singing. Even some who considered the Tar Heels bitter rivals in college were in this instance pleased to have UNC in the house as they took on defending-champion Argentina Tuesday at the Rabobank Hockey World Cup.
The game was played on the smaller of the World Cup venue's two fields, GreenFields Stadium, which seats 5,000 and was packed to capacity until pouring rain arrived midway through the second half. Twenty-nine of those who stayed until the end were from UNC, which is midway through a 10-day trip that also includes touring Holland and playing three scrimmage games, events that have created plenty of memories. The group was in the stands for the opening day of play at the World Cup on May 31, an experience that all enjoyed. But watching the U.S. play on Tuesday was different. This time it was their fellow Tar Heels - and in one case teammate: Emily Wold is a rising junior at UNC - battling on the sport's biggest stage.
"Having my best friends cheer me on at the World Cup is just incredible and having their excitement and energy from the stands ... I could feel it and they really got me pumped," said Wold, the only player on the team still competing on the collegiate level. "It's great having both the USA and UNC supporting me."
The U.S. team includes players from Maryland, Wake Forest, Duke, Old Dominion, Connecticut, Virginia, Princeton and Massachusetts, but the largest contingent - five on the 18 player roster - is from UNC. In addition to Wold, a communication studies major and Dean's List honoree who took the spring semester away from Chapel Hill to train with the National Team, Tar Heels playing for the USA are: Rachel Dawson, whose last season at UNC was 2007 and was named National Player of the Year as a senior; Katelyn Falgowski, National Player of the Year as a senior in 2011; Jackie Kintzer, a two-time first-team All-America who finished in 2010; and Kelsey Kolojejchick, UNC's only four-time first-team All-America, who finished in 2012. Dawson and Falgowski are mainstays on the team, each with two Olympics on her resume, but this is the first major international competition for the other three.
"It's been incredible," Kolojejchick said following the game, after the U.S. players had joined their families, friends and coaches in the main dining area at the World Cup park. "This is a dream and to actually be living it is great. We're really confident in each other and ourselves and our abilities on this tour. There's more to look forward to and we're ready to roll."
It was Kolojejchick who scored against Argentina to draw the U.S. even. The goal, her second in as many World Cup games, came in the 63rd minute of play, well into the driving rainstorm. Just two minutes earlier, Argentina's Luciana Aymar, long hailed as one of international field hockey's top players, scored to put her team up by one. Kolojejchick's goal, at close range from the left side of the cage off a rebound, kept the U.S. unbeaten with a 2-2 tie. (For more on the game, click here and here.)
Sitting mere feet behind the cage where Kolojejchick's ball tied the game were UNC head coach Karen Shelton, who herself has played for the U.S. at the World Cup; her husband, Willie Scroggs; Rachel's mother, Karen Dawson; and Rachel's younger sister Meghan Dawson, another former Tar Heel player. Also in the stands was Roxanne Kitnzer, Jackie's mother, who arrived just before the game. The trip meant a break in wedding planning - Jackie is getting married in a month, with both UNC and USA teammates in the wedding party. Mother of the Bride may seem like a snap after Mother of the Goalkeeper. "As a parent, it's nerve-wracking," Roxanne said of watching her daughter play. "You always want your child, and her team, to do well." And Jackie has, with stellar saves in both games, the first of which her parents watched at home in Pennsylvania before traveling to Holland. The Kintzers - Roxanne and Jackie's father, Dean - and Jackie's finance, Michael Briggs, landed at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam just hours before Tuesday's game. The Kolojejchicks were there, and the Wolds are on the way. The Falgowskis, veterans of many a U.S. National Team trip, were there in spirit.
After spending many weekends together at Francis E. Henry Stadium, the Tar Heel families, coaches and players reveled in the chance to hang out at the World Cup venue in Holland. "The University of North Carolina brings us all together, and the representation here is fantastic," Shelton said. "We all take great pride in these players who love the game enough to sacrifice and commit to a program that's pretty much all-encompassing. They put their lives on hold for this - they do it and they love it. I'm proud of them for earning that chance and taking advantage of the opportunity to represent their country.
"It's such a thrill to be here supporting the U.S. team and to get to be a small part of their success and soak in the whole atmosphere. I'm so proud to be a Tar Heel, and so proud to be an American."
The U.S. team returns to action on Friday against China, which is also 1-0-1 in Group B, and UNC again will be in the stands. The game is at 4:30 a.m. EDT and will air on ESPN3.
