Though the official senior day for the No. 1 North Carolina field hockey team was two weeks ago, Sunday’s quarterfinal game against No. 8 Old Dominion was the last time the Tar Heel seniors would play on the turf at Henry Stadium.
It was only fitting that the 3-1 win advanced the team to the final four for the fourth time in the senior class’ tenure.
“It means everything to advance to the final four on our home field, that’s always a good feeling, just to end on a positive note,” senior defender Caitlin Van Sickle said.
Though the senior was recently selected as the ACC Defensive Player of the Year for the third consecutive season, it was her quick thinking on offense that swung the momentum in UNC’s favor.
With just under a minute to play in the first half, the Tar Heels drew their first penalty corner of the half.
After Katie Ardrey pushed the ball from the goal line to begin the play, forward Charlotte Craddock fired off a hard shot toward the goal.
But instead of rocketing to the back on the net, it was blocked by an Old Dominion defender.
That’s when Van Sickle corralled the loose ball and sent a high shot barrelling toward the cage to score with 23 seconds remaining in the half, giving UNC a 2-0 lead going into the break.
“I think that the second goal that we scored was a back-breaker in terms of momentum,” coach Karen Shelton said.
