Nervous Tar Heels Fall to Wake Forest Again

Even with Cindy Werley, Bashi Buba and some of the best field hockey players in UNC history in the stands, the No. 7 Tar Heels dropped their fourth straight game to the No. 3 Demon Deacons Sunday 2-1.

"I hoped (the past players) would have inspired my athletes, but that didn't happen," UNC coach Karen Shelton said.

The game Sunday was intense, but the dominant feeling surrounding the Tar Heels wasn't confidence.

"I thought our emotion was one of fear, and I think that we became one- dimensional," Shelton said. "I think that Wake, at the end of the game, they were calling out two numbers, eight and 22. They were saying that's our team, eight and 22."

Despite their timidness, the Tar Heels managed to score the game's first goal.

After a flurry of penalty corners by the Demon Deacons (7-3, 2-0 in the ACC), UNC (6-4, 1-1) scored on a corner of its own 20 minutes into the first half.

Meredith Keller took the push in and passed the ball to Stephanie Fuller. Fuller passed the ball back to Keller, who shoved it through the Demon Deacon defense for the Tar Heels' score.

But Wake came back less than a minute later to tie the game on a penalty corner shot by Heather Aughinbaugh.

Wake then sealed the win in the second half when Kelly Dostal deflected the ball past UNC goalkeeper Amy Tran.

The Tar Heels had a chance to tie on penalty corner with 3:25 left to play.

"The last corner that we had, we might have been able to tie the game, but we ran into the circle too soon and just gave it away, and that's discipline, that's mental toughness, that's being smart," Shelton said.

But Shelton said the team's play was more troubling than dropping the game.

"I just don't think that we played to our potential," Shelton said. "I think we played like scared little rabbits. I don't mind losing, it's the way we lost that I really mind today."

The players were visibly upset about the loss, too.

"It's a pretty negative feeling," Tran said. "I know we're going to work from here and move on, but it sucks."

But Tran, who had 10 saves, helped the Tar Heels keep the game close.

Saturday's game with William & Mary ended with the same score, but the opposite outcome. UNC won 2-1.

Just as in Sunday's game, the losing team scored first, but this time UNC came from behind to score twice.

Laura Douglas scored the tying goal after weaving her way through the Tribe's defense with 18:06 left in the first half. Katy Potter then scored the winning goal on an assist from Douglas with 4:54 left in the first half.

"I was pleased with (Saturday's) game," Shelton said. "We came from behind to win it. Their ranking might not be that high, but I thought they were a good team."

The Sports Editor can be reached at nersports@unc.edu.