UNC field hockey heads to Virginia for NCAA Final Four

Sinead Loughran doesn’t sugarcoat it. The senior forward for North Carolina’s field hockey team prefers to speak the way she plays — bluntly.

“This has probably been one of the worst seasons that perhaps this program has had,” Loughran said.

But, just minutes before boarding the team bus headed to Norfolk, Va., and the NCAA Final Four, Loughran echoes a mantra her coach and teammates have doled out multiple times before this season.

“We learned from our losses,” she said. “And I think you learn more from your losses than you do from your wins.”

If that’s the case, UNC has learned more this season than any other season in the past six years. The Tar Heels’ 14-4 regular-season record has earned them a No. 3 seed and they are currently one of the only four teams whose season is not yet over, but the players are the first to note that it is still subpar for UNC field hockey.

The Tar Heels haven’t lost more than three games in the regular season in every season since 2006. The past four seasons, they have lost just one.

Still, all UNC’s four regular-season losses came against ranked teams, and three were overtime losses decided by one point.

“It’s definitely been a long season,” redshirt senior Meghan Drake said. “This season has been very different than normal.”

UNC has been to the Final Four five years in a row, and the title game the past four years. While the Tar Heels have come up short for three years now, Drake’s freshman year, the Tar Heels took home the crown.

“Thinking back on 2009, it was one of the greatest experiences of being here at Carolina,” Drake said of her redshirt year. “And what I’m so excited about is that I have an opportunity to actually win one where I’m on the field.”

To get that chance, Drake and North Carolina will have to fight through Connecticut Friday.

It won’t be the first time the two teams have met in Norfolk this year. UNC fought back for a 2-1 victory against the then-No. 4 Huskies in the regular season. But coach Karen Shelton is not expecting the Final Four matchup to be the same.

“They’ve improved, we’ve improved,” she said. “When you lose, you do take a hard look.”

Still, Loughran thinks that UNC’s habit of frequenting the Final Four will give the Tar Heels an extra push.

“Playing in such a big game for the fourth time, it definitely sticks to you,” Loughran said. “You feel more calm, you feel more collected, you can manage a crowd better, you understand the pressure, you understand the will and determination that this game is going to take. “

If UNC is able to out-hustle the Huskies, it will face the winner of No. 1 Maryland and No. 4 Duke, who also play Friday. UNC lost to both Duke and Maryland in overtime situations in the regular season and again lost to Maryland in the ACC title game..

But Loughran said the team isn’t fazed — in fact, they’re not fixated on the future possibilities at all.

“There’s absolutely no point to look ahead,” she said. “We really want to focus on U.Conn., they’re an incredible team.”

sports@dailytarheel.com