But yes. It was them. The North Carolina field hockey team’s celebratory yelps rang out from the far sideline, wrapping the raw November air in a euphoric embrace. It wasn’t that the top-seeded Tar Heels’ emphatic 3-0 win Sunday afternoon against No. 9 Duke was extraordinary. That couldn’t have explained it. Nor the looming chance to avenge an overtime loss in the ACC semifinals to Syracuse, UNC’s opponent in next Friday’s national semifinals.
It was something more. Something impossible to define with touch or words. Something, as significant as it is vague, that this storied field hockey program — seeking its first championship in five years — has been missing.
“There is a different feeling this year,” said senior forward Loren Shealy, who banged home a loose ball with 3:50 left in the first half to give UNC the lead. “I can’t really put my finger on it. I don’t think anyone can. But I think we all believe in each other, and we really rely on one another on and off the field. It’s just a great environment to be in.”
“I think there is a special connection with this team, and I haven’t felt it yet being here,” said junior midfielder and forward Emma Bozek, who buried a pair of two-on-ones in the second half for her team-leading 14th and 15th goals. “That’s not to say the past two years weren’t great, because they were, but there really is some special connection going on now.”
“Absolutely,” said Coach Karen Shelton, who will vie in College Park, Md., for her seventh NCAA title. “There’s a lot of trust on the team. I think we all are having fun with the game. We enjoy each other’s company. It’s a nice bit of chemistry going on, and everybody’s contributing.
“It’s been a joy to coach this year.”
The joy, Shelton and Bozek said, comes from the team’s senior class, the shepherds and protectors of UNC’s “something.” When certain people speak, Bozek said, you listen. That’s UNC’s senior class. But when Duke called timeout with 13:44 left after Bozek’s first goal doubled UNC’s lead, it was an underclassman who piped up in the huddle. Do it for the seniors, the voice said. They had already, in no small part, done it for themselves.
Abby Frey, a senior defender, didn’t lose a contested ball in the back, nor did she turn down any opportunity to pickpocket a Duke forward. Samantha Travers, another senior defender, quarterbacked an immaculate late-game passing scheme that helped UNC dissolve the clock. Dynamic forward Charlotte Craddock, dealing with an ornery back, pestered Duke’s defense with urgent pressure. And Shealy, playing in her 42nd and final home game, punched in the winning goal.
