Making their eighth straight appearance in the Field Hockey Final Four, No. 4 UNC showed it has much bigger goals on Friday than just sticking to the normal routine.

Playing in Norfolk, Virginia, the Tar Heels received an overtime goal from star forward Lauren Moyer to defeat the No. 6 UCONN Huskies 2-1 and officially advance to the NCAA Championship Game on Sunday.

Sophomore forward Malin Evert’s pass found Moyer–who leads the team with 23 goals this season–and ended the game in the 81st minute.

“We talk about passing the ball and being unselfish and that goal was a testament to the kids and their unselfishness and their ability to see the open player and deliver it for a one-time banger,” UNC head coach Karen Shelton said after the game.

This capped a comeback effort that saw UNC junior midfielder Sam Night tie the score at one apiece with just under 28 minutes to play.

Coming out of the halftime break, UCONN took the first lead of the game when Barbara Hoogan scored the first–and only–goal the Tar Heels have allowed in their three NCAA Tournament games so far.

Not only that, UNC had been dominating teams recently in terms of getting shots on goal. On Friday, however, the Tar Heels’ eight shots were just one more than the Huskies’ seven.

It was just the second loss UCONN (22-2) has suffered all season, showing just how formidable an opponent they were for the Tar Heels.

The game may not have been a routine victory for UNC, but playing this deep into the fall has been the standard for quite a while.

Winning it all every year is the one thing that seems to elude Shelton’s squad, as the team has won just two titles during its eight-year Final Four streak.

Sunday’s championship game against Delaware–which will begin at 1 p.m.–gives the Tar Heels an opportunity to repeat as national champions for the first time since 1996 and 1997.

“We’re still a work in progress,” Shelton said. “But really proud to get to the final game.”

 

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