Coming into the first two games of the NCAA tournament, North Carolina field hockey coach Karen Shelton was concerned about her team’s ability to convert its dominant ball possession into goals.
But with 4-0 and 5-1 wins against Ohio and Michigan, respectively, the No. 1-seeded Tar Heels advanced to their third straight Final Four appearance and proved to their coach there was nothing to worry about.
In its last six games leading up to Saturday’s match against Ohio, UNC averaged fewer than three goals per contest and five of the six games were decided by just one goal.
UNC rose to its coach’s challenge and smashed in four second-half goals against the Bobcats on Saturday before netting five against the Wolverines on Sunday.
“We’ve played a very difficult schedule, but we were having trouble scoring goals, and I think we broke out of that today and yesterday as well,” Shelton said. “I’m absolutely thrilled with that because it was a concern.”
Junior forward Kelsey Kolojejchick wreaked havoc on Ohio and Michigan’s defenses in the two victories with her speed and ability to attack on the wing and through the center. She scored twice against Michigan, and registered seven shots — three of them on target.
Katelyn Falgowski’s return from national team duty to her starting role in the midfield has allowed Kolojejchick to play more predominantly in the forward role and net more goals.
“As an offensive player you want to finish and put the ball in (the net) for everybody,” Kolojejchick said. “I want to lead up there up front and if I can score goals, great. If (it’s) assists, great. Whatever it takes just to help everybody out.”
Shelton praised the team’s ability to score goals in a variety of ways, which she said will make her team tough to defend at the Final Four.
