UNC field hockey readying for ACC tournament

The North Carolina field hockey team is playing well heading into next week’s ACC tournament after wins against then No. 19 Old Dominion and Radford during the weekend.

Following a tough loss to No. 1 Maryland last week, the No. 2 team in the nation got back to the basics in preparation for the postseason.

Junior forward Elizabeth Stephens said the team needed the Maryland loss to recognize its weaknesses.

“The loss against Maryland is not a negative,” Stephens said. “We’re taking that loss and we’ve learned a lot from it about ourselves as a team.”

The Tar Heels rebounded with a strong second half against Old Dominion, a team that has provided stiff competition both times they’ve met this season, keeping the Tar Heels from dominating possession in either contest.

Sunday’s game against Radford was a different story, as UNC was the dominant team for the game’s entire 70 minutes, recording a season-high 38 shots while limiting the Highlanders to two.

Stephens said the team had a different mindset in the Radford game that allowed them to put more points on the board.

“It’s just us being tighter on the field and always being disciplined,” she said.

“When we’re having fun we play our best — not necessarily doing anything different, but just doing what we know we can do.”

Although the Tar Heels had struggled to create goal-scoring opportunities in their past two games, they had plenty in Sunday’s 5-0 win, racking up 22 shots and 10 corners in the first half alone.

But only one first-half shot reached the back of the net. Senior goalie Jackie Kintzer said the team would need to work on that in preparation for this weekend.

“Coming out hard in the first half is important,” Kintzer said. “In the games when we have come out hard and scored early we’ve been able to dominate for a large majority of the game.”

UNC coach Karen Shelton has been impressed with the “blue-collar mentality” of North Carolina’s past few opponents.

She said that’s something the Tar Heels would need to emulate in the postseason to have success.

“If we can take our talent and our structure and combine it with a much greater work ethic, we’ll be tough to beat,” Shelton said. “We need to be better if we want to win the championship.”

Shelton hopes improved work ethic fosters better discipline.

“You have to have great defensive discipline to win a championship,” she said.

Championships are something Shelton knows a little bit about. In her 30 years as North Carolina’s head coach, she’s won six of them.

The Tar Heels will be the No. 2 seed in this week’s ACC tournament, giving them the luxury of a bye in the first round. Barring a major upset, that should set up a rematch with the nation’s No. 3 team Virginia on Friday.

“We’ve got three weeks left, but none of that’s guaranteed,” Shelton said. “The only thing that’s guaranteed right now is the Virginia game.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.