Field Hockey advances to ACC title game

Just five days after falling 1-0 to No. 2 Syracuse, the No. 3 North Carolina field hockey team topped The Orange in a 1-0 win of its own Friday to advance to the ACC final against Maryland.

The Tar Heels (16-4, 5-3 ACC) scraped by No. 15 Wake Forest in the quarterfinals Thursday, then protected Emily Wold’s first-half goal to best Syracuse (16-3, 5-3 ACC). Here’s how UNC beat the Orange:

DIVING HEELS
In UNC’s quarterfinal win against Wake Forest, midfielder Nina Notman made a lunging, one-handed pass to forward Casey DiNardo on the Tar Heels’ first goal of the game. Wold followed Notman’s belly-flop with one of her own Friday, sprawling in the Syracuse goal-mouth to bury a backhanded feed from forward Loren Shealy.

LAST-SECOND SURVIVAL
Goalkeeper Sassi Ammer and the UNC back line withstood a furious goal-mouth scramble from Syracuse after a last-second corner in the first half. The anxious moments featured a bouncing ball that nicked Ammer’s mask and landed dangerously in front of the net.

FEELING ORANGE AFTER ‘NO GOAL’ Syracuse appeared to tie the game with about three minutes remaining in regulation when a long shot from beyond the circle eluded Ammer at the far post. The official awarded a goal and deemed the shot had deflected off of a UNC defender’s stick. But a lengthy video review revealed no deflection, nixing the potential tying goal and preserving UNC’s tenuous one-goal lead.

AMMER TIME
Another last-second corner, another frenzied finish: the Orange received a corner with just seconds left on the clock. Ammer stacked her pads to deny a booming shot from the top of the circle as time expired, giving UNC its second win in as many days.

MARYLAND ON MY MIND
The Terrapins edged Duke 3-2 in overtime Friday afternoon to advance to Sunday’s final against UNC. The matchup marks the 15th ACC-final meeting between the two storied programs. The Tar Heels beat Maryland in 12 of the 14 previous title tilts, including a 4-2 triumph in the 2012 championship game.