Virginia Falls 4-0 to North Carolina in ACC Semifinal
Nov. 3, 2017
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – (TheACC.com) The Virginia field hockey team (15-4, 5-1 ACC) was eliminated from the 2017 Atlantic Coast Conference Field Hockey Championship with a 4-0 loss to 5-seed North Carolina (14-4, 3-3 ACC) on Friday (Nov. 3) at Trager Stadium in Louisville, Ky.
The Tar Heel defense stymied the Virginia offense for the second time this season after also winning by a 4-0 score on Oct. 6 in Charlottesville.
Virginia compiled 19 shots in the game, but North Carolina redshirt freshman Amanda Henry set a career high with 10 saves for her sixth shutout of the year.
“It was a hard-fought game,” said Virginia head coach Michele Madison. “If you’ve got the will, you have to find a way. I know we have the will to win. Today we just couldn’t find the way. We will put this game behind us and look ahead to preparing for the NCAA tournament.”
Eef Andriessen opened the scoring for the Tar Heels midway through the first half. The sophomore converted on a second-chance opportunity and knocked in a loose ball rebound after the Virginia defense stopped the first few shots on a penalty corner.
Malin Evert gave North Carolina a two-goal edge with her 10th of the season at the 24-minute mark, firing a low angle shot through Virginia redshirt junior goalkeeper Carrera Lucas‘ (Brooklandville, Md.) legs.
Virginia opened the second half with a long stretch of offensive possession, outshooting the Tar Heels 8-0 in the first 13 minutes after halftime. North Carolina was finally able to break the pressure, and Marissa Creatore connected with Meredith Sholder who tallied her seventh of the season on a counter attack to push the lead to three goals.
Catherine Hayden posted her eighth goal of the season to give the Tar Heels an insurance score in the 56th minute. Creatore drove down the right side and chipped a pass across the face of goal, and Hayden was able to chip it in on the back post.
The game was a rematch of last year’s ACC Championship Game in which Virginia defeated North Carolina, 4-2, to win the first title in program history.
Virginia will learn its postseason fate when the NCAA Tournament bracket is released in an online selection show streaming on NCAA.com on Sunday night, Nov. 5 at 10 p.m. The Cavaliers are looking for their 22nd trip to NCAA Championship and their 10th in head coach Michele Madison’s 12 seasons at UVA.