Field hockey

UNC topped Maryland 3-2 in an epic game to clinch the program's sixth national championship.

WINSTON-SALEM — With less than a minute to play, and a national championship hanging in the balance, North Carolina field hockey coach Karen Shelton went to her money player.

And Dani Forword cashed in.

The senior captain took junior Katelyn Falgowski’s penalty corner feed and drilled a shot into the back of the cage with 11.7 seconds remaining to give the North Carolina field hockey team (20-2) a 3-2 victory against Maryland and the program’s sixth NCAA Championship.

“Melanie Brill on my left just kept repeating out loud, ‘I believe in you, I believe in you, I believe in you,’ even when they were rushing out just before I took that shot,” Forword said of her game winner.

“There’s nothing like knowing that your teammates really need this and that they do believe in you, and I don’t know what it was that came over me, but it went in.”

Forword’s goal provided a fitting conclusion to a game chock full of drama.
 

UNC beat Virginia 3-2 to advance to the NCAA championship.

To win in its 14th appearance in the final four, the North Carolina field hockey team will have to avenge one of its two losses.

Only Friday’s match against No. 2 Virginia, who knocked the Tar Heels out of the ACC tournament with a 1-0 victory in the semifinal round, stands between No. 3 UNC and a chance to win its sixth national title on Sunday in Winston-Salem.

WINSTON-SALEM — Somehow, the North Carolina field hockey team was winning 2-1 at halftime in its NCAA regional finals game against Wake Forest.

The Demon Deacons had outshot, outhustled and outplayed the No. 3 Tar Heels through the first 35 minutes of play, but through proper execution and taking advantage of its few chances, UNC scored two goals on just three first-half shots.

 WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.--The North Carolina field hockey team took the first step toward its goal of a National Championship on Saturday, defeating No. 16 Ohio State 4-1 in the first round of the NCAA field hockey championship.