Epiphanies. They can lead to discovery. They can achieve clarity. And they can remind a field hockey team of its blueprint for success.
Passing, the simple act that links teammates, put North Carolina among the three best teams in the nation. Impatience, the hurried act of forcing the ball to nobody in particular, put UNC in a two-game losing streak at regular season’s end.
An early goal put No. 3 UNC behind No. 15 Wake Forest in a cold, soaking rain Thursday at the ACC Tournament in Newton, Mass. They stormed back and topped the Demon Deacons 3-2 on the coattails of their coach’s simple reminder — pass the ball to win.
“We kind of forgot to do that,” said coach Karen Shelton, referring to losses to Old Dominion and Syracuse, UNC’s opponent in the semifinals. “When we talked about it and then we practiced it last week, it was like, ‘Oh, yeah. This is how we play.’”
The passing renaissance began with a dive. Six-foot midfielder Nina Notman belly-flopped along the Wake Forest goal line and knocked a one-handed centering feed to forward Casey Di Nardo. Di Nardo buried the game-tying goal to answer Wake Forest’s opening score.
Notman struck again midway through the first half, sweeping a one-timer behind Wake Forest goalkeeper Valerie Dahmen, whose acrobatic eight saves kept the Demon Deacons (11-8, 1-6 ACC) afloat amid UNC’s surge.
“I thought Nina Notman played a stellar game,” Shelton said. “That was probably her best game of the season.”
But UNC (15-4, 4-3 ACC) surrendered the tying goal two minutes after Notman gave her team a 2-2 lead. UNC entered halftime after a “ragged” first half, Shelton said. The players saw something more.
“Everyone was pumped and everyone was in the game,” Notman said. “We were like, ‘We’re happy with our game. We’re satisfied, we’re confident in our play.’”
