UNC field hockey team ends regular season with a win

For the North Carolina field hockey team, the regular season ended much like it began — with a notch in the win column.

In its final tune-up before the ACC Championship tournament, UNC crushed visiting Radford on Sunday, launching a season-high 38-shots in a 5-0 shutout.

With the victory, 30-year UNC coach Karen Shelton reached the 500-win plateau.

But Shelton, always modest, deflected attention from herself and instead focused on the team’s five seniors, who were honored in a pre-game ceremony.

“They mean the world,” Shelton said. “They’re providing great leadership. Each of them have a very distinctive role. And they’ve had such a wonderful career. It’s fun for me as a coach to see their development, and I couldn’t be prouder of every single one of them.”

While the Tar Heels were leading by only one goal heading into halftime, the first half was far more lopsided than the score would indicate.

Through the first 30 minutes, the Tar Heels dominated possession, keeping the ball deep in Highlander territory. But the team took 14 shots before it could get past Radford goalkeeper Jennifer Wisniewski.

With a little more than five minutes left on the first-half clock, freshman forward Sinead Loughran snuck the ball into the net for the first goal of the game and the second of her career.

“I think Radford’s goalie, to her credit, was outstanding,” Shelton said. “She’s tall and big and she made the saves… sometimes you get a hot goalie.”

Within the opening minutes of the second half, the Highlanders began showing signs of offensive life, taking their only two shots of the game. Before long the Tar Heels regained possession, and they didn’t let go.

Junior forward Elizabeth Stephens, who delivered an assist on the first-half goal, sent the ball past Wisniewski shortly after the 45-minute mark. Less than a minute later, sophomore Caitlin Van Sickle pushed the advantage to three.

“(Sophomore) Kelsey Kolojejchick is extremely fast, and when I saw her break, I knew that I had to just bust to get there,” Stephens said. “She gave me the ball in the space, and I touched it and literally just said, ‘I hope, I hope.’ I just tried to make contact with the ball, and it went in.”

In the waning minutes, goals from freshman Marta Malmberg and senior Louise McNutt padded a score that was already out of reach for the overmatched Highlanders, and the team cruised to the 5-0 win.

Sunday’s victory comes on the heels of a 2-1 win against Old Dominion in Norfolk, Va., on Saturday. With that win, UNC rebounded from its first loss of the season at Maryland on Oct. 23.

The Tar Heels could meet Maryland again at the conference tournament, which is scheduled to begin Thursday at Wake Forest’s Kentner Stadium. The Tar Heels will receive a first-round bye and will begin play in the semifinals Friday.

While the team has high hopes for the next level of play, it also realizes the significance of Sunday’s game.

“I know (Shelton) didn’t want the spotlight on her,” senior goalkeeper Jackie Kintzer said. “She’s extremely unselfish and wanted today to be about the seniors and didn’t want to take away from that. But we knew secretly that it was her 500th win if we won today, so it just gave us more motivation to go out there and play well, not only for the team but for her too.”

Contact the Sports Editor

at sports@unc.edu.