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Back-up players make the most of UNC field hockey's 9-0 rout of Ball State

Karen Shelton, Field Hockey
Karen Shelton, head coach of UNC's field hockey program, has led the team to six NCAA Championships since becoming head coach in 1981. She has been named National Coach of the Year five times and was inducted into the USA Field Hockey Hall of Fame in 1989.

In what has become a familiar story for North Carolina field hockey, its competition on Sunday proved to be no match for the No. 1 team in the country. But in that stretch of dominance, new opportunities have emerged for players who normally don’t play many minutes. 


The equal-opportunity offense run by North Carolina (11-0, 4-0 ACC) saw the team set several season highs, including shots on goal (20) and goals scored (9), as well as tying it’s season high in total shots (29). 

In the 70 minutes it took to complete the 9-0 routing of Ball State (1-9, 1-1 MAC), the Tar Heels took the chance to give extended run to their bench. Two players, midfielder Ali Rushton and forward Riley Fulmer, scored their first career goals. 

“It’s a wonderful reward for the kids that don’t get the minutes but work so hard in practice every day,” head coach Karen Shelton said. “It’s much like Carolina basketball: when the [second] team gets in, we all want them to do well, so I’m just thrilled that everybody had a chance to play and that they played amazing.” 

Sunday was the first time in the history of the program where UNC had played four different goalkeepers across the span of an entire game. The game was the first time third-string goalkeeper Mary Kathryn Harrah appeared this season, and redshirt first-year Megan Ragusa logged her first career minutes as well. 

It has been an unusual journey for Ragusa, a walk-on goalkeeper who took a gap year immediately after high school to volunteer with the Surbiton Hockey Club in England. It has been an even more unusual situation for North Carolina, which found itself with an abundance of goalkeepers.

“I think two years ago I was like ‘I don’t want four goalkeepers, it's too many,’" Shelton said. “But when we had four goalkeepers, it really helped us in practice. So we can have two quality games each with a goalkeeper instead of having one with two goalies and one with, you know, we play a rugby game where you have to cross the line.” 

Ragusa only faced one shot after she subbed in at the 65:10 minute mark for the Tar Heels, but the opportunity was a payoff after two years of hard work. 

“I was definitely nervous for a little bit, I’ve been waiting two years for this,” Ragusa said. “It definitely meant a lot to me, and it was just an unreal feeling. Nothing matches it.” 

Rushton — another player with an unusual background — also made the most of her newfound opportunity. She didn’t play in her first year at North Carolina, which she counted as a redshirt, and then lost what would have been her first year on the field due to a knee injury in 2016. 

“I tore my ACL my freshman year and struggled a little bit last year recovering from surgery,” Rushton said. “It was really nice to get back out there and get an opportunity to score and be with everyone.”

Rushton’s goal almost didn’t count. It was reviewed at the end of the first half but eventually stood after the video was ruled inconclusive. 

North Carolina was already up 6-0 at that point, so the goal wasn’t critical. But in the words of a player watching her first career goal, “I kinda wanted it to count.” 

@bg_keyes

@DTHSports | sports@dailytarheel.com

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