UConn knocks out UNC in final four

NORFOLK, Va. — For the first time in NCAA Division I field hockey history, a tournament game was decided by a penalty shootout after two overtimes.

And for the first time since 2008, North Carolina failed to make it to the championship game after the Connecticut Huskies netted two of their four attempts in the shootout while North Carolina failed to finish once .

After 100 minutes of play, the Tar Heels were exhausted — physically and mentally.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game. We knew it was going to be back and forth,” junior Loren Shealy said. “It didn’t happen for us today, and that’s just the nature of sports.”

It was a game coach Karen Shelton described as grueling. It was almost two hours of back-and-forth aggressive play, and in the end, the Tar Heels were outlasted by the dogged Huskies — a team that went on to best Duke Sunday to claim the national title.

Despite the seemingly never-ending play, UConn only fielded one substitute, compared to UNC’s six.

“It’s a game of inches in the end, everyone’s tired,” sophomore Emily Wold said. “It comes down to who can keep pushing.”

UNC trailed for the majority of the game after UConn capitalized on its first corner of the night fewer than five minutes in.

Connecticut’s Marie Elena Bolles, who redirected the corner just inside the left post to give her team the lead, said that a quick score was crucial.

“I said earlier that we need to score first against this team,” Bolles said. “I think that was really important.”

The goal was a wake-up call for UNC, who quickly turned on the afterburners — dominating the offense with 13 shots in regulation as compared to UConn’s four — and saw its efforts materialize in the form of a Charlotte Craddock goal just minutes into the second half.

But when neither team could score for the second time at the end of 70 minutes, UNC entered its fourth overtime game of the year.

It was in overtime that UNC showed signs of tiring. Its offense was virtually nonexistent and its defense deflated. UNC didn’t record a single shot in overtime, while the Huskies tripled their tally.

While UConn only drew three corners in 70-minute regulation, in the two 15-minute overtime periods, it was awarded two more. Yet UConn’s sudden slew of shots was moot, as the Huskies couldn’t score on any of their chances, even when UNC was a man down twice in overtime.

“I think we handled the pressure really well, at times we were man down, in the overtime we were man down a bunch of times, and I thought we handled it well,” Wold said. “Even though they came and attacked us, I thought we controlled it.”

And when the game came down to penalty strokes — the second time for UNC this year — UConn’s offensive onslaught proved too much.

“Two overtime periods are tough and to lose in a shootout — it’s heartbreaking,” Shelton said. “But it’s part of the game.”

sports@dailytarheel.com