A familiar hero emerged for the top-ranked North Carolina field hockey team in its 2-1 overtime victory against No. 17 Wake Forest on Thursday night in Winston Salem.
Senior forward Charlotte Craddock scored the game-winning goal, her second of the game, off of a beautiful pass from senior captain Samantha Travers to win the crucial contest for the Tar Heels.
Craddock's game-winning goal marked the second time this season the Tar Heels have gone into overtime and she has sealed the win for the team.
Craddock’s first goal in the 20th minute opened the scoring for the Tar Heels (9-2, 2-2 ACC) on the team’s first shot of the game.
UNC’s back line held firm against a very talented Wake Forest (8-5, 1-1 ACC) attacking unit, playing some of its finest defense of the year in the game’s opening period.
Although they created a limited amount of scoring chances, the Tar Heels controlled the tempo and maintained a large amount of possession in the midfield.
“We played some of our best hockey of the year in that period,” Coach Karen Shelton said, “Everything we did came from the back. We like to say that we defend from the front and attack from the back.”
In the second half, the Tar Heels’ back line continued to look strong, but eventually conceded a tying goal in the 62nd minute on a penalty corner to Wake Forest’s Georgia Holland. The rest of the game remained scoreless and headed into overtime.
In the 7-on-7 overtime period, the Tar Heels’ defense and offense were able to link up perfectly to manufacture Craddock's game-winner.
