With their third consecutive national title in the rearview mirror, head coach Karen Shelton and the UNC field hockey team are now preparing for the 2021 fall season. The end goal is an unprecedented fourth straight national championship.
Shelton said that even though the program’s trophy case is packed to the gills, her players aren’t letting it get to their heads.
“I think we’ve done a nice job of keeping our humility,” Shelton said Tuesday. “I think one of the things we’ve been really good at is learning from our wins. We have had a lot of success over the last three years, but we still look and break down the videotape and look at the things we can improve upon, and identify and keep stats. We do a nice job of analyzing what’s working, what’s not, and how to make improvements.”
The Tar Heels return eight of 11 starters from last season’s national championship win over Michigan, including two-time national player of the year Erin Matson, who scored the winning goal in overtime to beat the Wolverines.
UNC field hockey players celebrate after winning the national championship in overtime against Michigan on Sunday, May 9 at Karen Shelton Stadium.
Michigan is the first team on Carolina’s schedule. Shelton said this has helped keep the team focused through a short, three-month offseason.
The Wolverines sit just behind UNC at No. 2 in the preseason polls, and are part of a loaded early schedule for Shelton’s program that includes Iowa and Princeton, both on the road. The Tar Heels will not play at home until September 24. Shelton said she embraces the challenging slate.
“My feeling is, we’re good at home, but you get tested when you’re on the road,” she said. “So let’s go on the road, let’s challenge ourselves early, let’s get better, and then when we get back to the beautiful confines of our stadium, we’ll be ready to go. And the poll just came out, of course it’s just a preseason opinion poll, but we were ranked one, Michigan was ranked two, and Iowa was ranked three.”
As for those beautiful confines, Shelton said the school’s state-of-the-art field hockey stadium bearing her name is not just a competitive advantage on the field, but on the recruiting trail as well.
“This is the nicest facility in the country,” Shelton said. “We’ve had four recruits in already that we spent the day with and had the opportunity to show this magnificent facility. Nobody has a set-up like ours. So yes, it is a recruiting tool, and we intend to use it with every prospect that steps on our campus.”
Karen Shelton Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C.
When it comes to the bigger picture, Shelton said she normally doesn’t like looking too far into the future, but also added that the thought of four titles in a row is on everyone’s mind.
“We have the opportunity to be historic this year,” she said. “And we have talked about that. We can be historic by winning the fourth national championship. That would be something no other team has ever done. We also feel that we can be historic by continuing to be undefeated here at home. It’s been three seasons, we can work to a fourth of not losing a game at home. And I don’t know if that would set any records, but it would certainly make our kids feel good.”
