Field Hockey scores two wins with risky play

It was only by taking risks, both strategically and physically, that the North Carolina field hockey team secured two wins against No. 3 Maryland and No. 7 Michigan this weekend.

Coach Karen Shelton challenged sophomore Marta Malmberg to “dare to be brilliant” at halftime of UNC’s senior day game against Michigan.

Shelton’s words were intended to make Malmberg more aggressive on defense, but it was Malmberg’s game-winning penalty stroke in double-overtime against Michigan that showed why UNC has a No.2 ranking.

Senior Meghan Dawson also engaged in risky play to help notch a 2-1 win against Maryland, who defeated North Carolina in the national championship game last year.

In the 49th minute of Saturday’s game, Maryland’s Maxine Fluharty ripped a shot off a rebound with UNC goalie Sassi Ammer out of goal. Dawson threw her body in front of the shot for a defensive save that kept UNC’s lead at 2-0.

Dawson had left the player she was supposed to be defending unmarked. She felt she had no choice but to position herself in the path of the shot, and luckily, she avoided serious injury.

Junior Kelsey Kolojejchick, the team’s leading goal scorer, was impressed with Dawson’s selflessness in putting the team’s well-being before her own.

“I could tell that she was willing to do anything for our team, which was huge for us,” Kolojejchick said. “I thought that save was a game-changer.”

Since the final score was 2-1, had Dawson not made that play, the outcome could have been completely different.

Shelton worried her team would be exhausted after Saturday’s game, leaving them susceptible to an upset from Michigan.

That prediction was nearly fulfilled, but a decision to pull the goalie, Ammer, with 6:30 remaining allowed the team to play with an extra player, which led to a goal from junior Jaclyn Gaudioso Radvany, tying the game at three.

Though it paid off this time, the strategy backfired in a 3-1 loss earlier this season against No. 1 Old Dominion.

After nearly 25 minutes of scoreless overtime play, a Michigan player blocked a ball that was headed for the goal with her feet, and the referee awarded UNC a penalty stroke.

This was one decision Shelton saw no risk in making.

Shelton selected Malmberg to take the shot as the team’s most consistent penalty shooter. Malmberg’s shot beat the goalie to her left, sending her team rushing out to tackle her in front of the net.

“She’s cool under pressure,” Shelton said “She’s got a great stroke, and I have every confidence in her she’s going to nail it.”

With three straight games against ranked opponents, Shelton said the team is treating the final games of the season like the first rounds of the NCAA tournament.

“To see us gut through the two overtime periods and to find a way to win was hugely important,” Shelton said. “I couldn’t have scripted it better.”

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