University of North Carolina Athletics
With Seniors Setting The Tone, UNC Is Savoring Its Season
November 17, 2016 | Field Hockey
NORFOLK, Va. – The North Carolina field hockey program is making its eighth consecutive appearance in the NCAA final four and 21st overall, more than any other school. But for the 2016 UNC field hockey team, stepping out onto the L.R. Hill Sports Complex turf for Friday's NCAA Tournament semifinal game against Connecticut will be a first. Fourth-ranked UNC (19-5) faces 6th-ranked UConn (22-1) at 2 p.m. in the first of the NCAA semifinal games, and No. 8 Delaware meets No. 14 Princeton in the other. The winners square off Sunday at 1 p.m. for the NCAA Championship.
“This is a new year,” said UNC coach Karen Shelton, who is in her 36th season as the Tar Heels' head coach and has coached (85) and won (59) more NCAA Field Hockey Tournament games than anyone in history. “This is a different team from last year and the year before that and the year before that. What those eight final fours say to me is that we've consistently been a strong program and we have performed well at the end of the season.”
That's again true, and this edition of the Tar Heels is playing its best hockey at the most crucial time. In the NCAA Field Hockey Tournament, just the top four teams are seeded, and this year UNC found itself outside that group for the first time since 2009. Since the seeded teams are given the privilege of hosting, Carolina played on the road in the first and second rounds, earning 3-0 wins over Stanford and host Maryland in College Park, Md., to secure a spot in the semifinals and prompting Shelton to describe her team as “late bloomers.”
Now UNC is two wins from the seventh crown in program history in a year when the Tar Heels haven't exactly been a dominating presence. In fact, only three times (2013, 1992, 1991) has a UNC team reached the final four with five or more losses. The 2015 NCAA runner-up, Carolina was ranked No. 1 at the start of the season and has bounced around the top five all year.
“It's been a bit of a roller coaster season,” Shelton said. “Earlier in the fall, we weren't playing to our potential. We recognized it and had to work through figuring out what was going to be the best for this team. I think it's taken a little more time than we would have liked but better late than never.”
UNC finished Atlantic Coast Conference play 3-3, with two of the wins coming in overtime. The Tar Heels entered the ACC Championship as the fifth seed then earned come-from-behind wins in the quarterfinals and semifinals to reach the title game before falling 4-2 Virginia to head into NCAA play with five losses.
“Five losses sounds like a lot to us and it's something different from what we've experienced, but I think we had a to take a step back and realize that it wasn't the end of the world, our season wasn't over,” said senior Lauren Moyer, who leads UNC in scoring with 22 goals this fall.
Shelton gives much of the credit for the late-season surge to her seniors. Center back Julia Young is the captain, and forwards Emma Bozek and Moyer are the vice captains. Goalkeeper Shannon Johnson earned complete-game shutouts in both of the NCAA games last weekend, and back Kristy Bernatchez is another starter on defense. Forward Sam Night provides forward depth off the bench. Blissie Du Bose and Caroline Plyler don't see as much playing time but are still an integral part a strong group that sets the tone for the team. “The seniors have the urgency and the realization that this time is coming to a close,” Shelton said. “That identity piece is what we've been struggling with and the seniors have helped us to decide as a group, 'This is what we want to be known for: We want to work hard, we want to defend as a team, we want to pass the ball.' Those three things have been the major steps we've made.”
Those fundamental, Carolina-blue-collar qualities have earned the Tar Heels the privilege of competing on the season's final weekend. As the Tar Heel seniors play the Huskies on Friday to earn one more game, they'll strive to set a balanced tone for the rest of the team.
“We remind everyone to play really confident and really hard as if it's your last game ever playing field hockey,” Bozek said. “But at the same time it's just another game – the field is the same, your stick is the same, your teammates are the same. So don't be intimidated by the pressure.”
Moyer echoes that approach. “The first time here with this team is a different experience than it has been the last three times I've been here,” she said. “We aren't comparing it to the past times. We're enjoying this moment.”
