Vengeful Deacs slip past Tar Heels

WINSTON-SALEM - Wake Forest senior Claire Laubach slowly approached the North Carolina bench after Sunday's game.

"Hey, Fets!" she said, calling the attention of UNC senior Carey Fetting-Smith. "Good game."

The two opponents, who have played together on national teams, had a casual and pleasant exchange, which contrasted the intense battle that came to a screeching halt a short while before.

The No. 1 Tar Heels lost to the second-ranked Demon Deacons in overtime 4-3, when Maeke Boreel scored on a rebounded penalty corner shot. The Deacons avenged last weekend's 3-2 loss to North Carolina, which went into double overtime and penalty strokes.

"It was a game of momentum changes, classic 1 versus 2," said UNC coach Karen Shelton. "Both teams played hard and took advantage of their chances, and we did OK. I'm disappointed that we didn't win the game, but I'm not necessarily disappointed with the way that we played."

The Tar Heels (14-1) maintained pressure at the start of play. Fetting-Smith scored a goal off UNC's second corner four minutes into the game.

But WFU (12-2) followed with four more corners in the next 15 minutes, converting the fourth into a goal.

The nation's leading scorer, Kelly Dostal, scored four minutes later off another corner, giving the Deacons a 2-1 lead at half time.

"(Wake Forest) did an outstanding job of making tackles and moving the ball around us," Shelton said. "If you look at the stats they're almost identical. I thought it was a very evenly-played match."

Both teams had eight corners, although UNC's were concentrated in the second half. Wake Forest had 21 shots and UNC had 19. In goal, UNC's Katy Tran made 7 saves as WFU's Kristina Gagliardi made 12.

"Each team had clearly grown from the last time we played and made some changes," Fetting-Smith said. "Both teams really adapted well and were thinking out there. It was definitely a thinking game of hockey, which you can always expect from Wake Forest."

The Deacons tightly marked UNC's offense near their goal and made a fair share of key tackles and interceptions.

"We had some passes that on our turf probably would have gone through," Shelton said of WFU's new turf, which she said slowed the ball down and allowed for more interceptions.

Shelton added that the Tar Heels were almost too aggressive when approaching the ball, overcommitting to opponents who could then easily dodge past the attacker.

UNC entered the second half with consistent pressure on the Wake Forest defense. UNC's Kerry Falgowski tied the score at 2, physically sliding into the circle and shooting after Karen Mann's breakaway.

UNC took the lead two minutes later on a corner when Mann flicked in sophomore Rachel Dawson's shot.

But a Wake Forest timeout returned the momentum to the Deacons, as Haley Scott prevailed near the crowded UNC goal, tying the game 13 minutes before the end of regulation play.

"When they took us to overtime, they were looking to get corners," said UNC defender Katy Potter, who managed to block WFU's initial shot on the final corner just before the Deacons scored the game-winning goal.

While the team was disappointed by its first loss of the season, North Carolina's co-captain drew a lesson from the defeat.

"Losing, when taken well, can be a really positive thing for a team," she said. "It forces you to work harder, it forces you to look at errors that you wouldn't see if you won.

"I think that nothing but good things can come from this."

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.

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