The North Carolina field hockey team opened its season with a 5-1 drubbing of Michigan on Saturday in the ACC/Big 10 Challenge.
The Tar Heels defeated the Wolverines in their season opener in similar fashion last season, 5-0, but one notable rules modification altered this year’s meeting.
In prior seasons, the green card penalty simply represented a warning, but as of this year, the penalty is punishable with a two minute removal from the field. The yellow card penalty is now a five minute removal from game action.
As a result, the team with the offender is down a player for the allotted time.
In Saturday’s game, five penalty cards were assessed, including one on each of the coaches for being too close to the sidelines.
In last year’s meeting there were no cards given to players or coaches.
Coach Karen Shelton believes that the shift in penalties will result in more green cards and less yellow cards being given.
“I will say that I think we’ll see more cards this season, particularly green because it’s a time-serving penalty now,” Shelton said. “So I think that in years past, you’d get a green and it’s been a warning, a warning, a warning and then they’d upgrade to yellow, which was time-serving. Now when they give a green, it’s time serving, so I think we’ll see fewer yellows. “
Though the implementation of the new rules in NCAA field hockey is in the early stages, official Benjamin Peters believes that the field hockey community will not resistant to the change.
“It’s already been experimented with at the FIH level, the international level and was received very well,” Peters said. “We were able to use it very effectively, so it’s been tested … It’s been tried, tested and everyone loves it. It’s such an awesome tool.”
Both officials and coaches believe that the increased use of cards will help maintain more game control.
“If used the right way, I as an umpire, feel like it settles the game down,” added official Judy Strong. “You need to play hockey.”
Players will be less likely to engage in reckless and careless tackles if the penalty is sitting out, Shelton said.
All-ACC preseason defender Caitlin Van Sickle was given a yellow card and sent out for five minutes after raising her stick above her head and making contact with a high ball. In the following five minutes the Wolverines earned a corner and scored their only goal of the game as Van Sickle watched from the sidelines.
“No one wants to sit out for two minutes,” Peters said. “Anything can happen in two minutes. Especially when you’re a man down, coaches are going to drill it into you.”
The Tar Heels (1-0, 0-0 ACC) resume action Sunday against Iowa at 2:00 at host Wake Forest in the final game of the ACC/Big 10 Challenge.
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