UNC Soccer and Field Hockey Teams Come Up Short in ACC Tournament Play

With three teams competing in ACC Tournament play on Sunday–including two playing for a conference championship–the odds were in UNC’s favor that some good news would make its way to Chapel Hill.

Unfortunately, both Tar Heel soccer teams–men’s and women’s–and the field hockey team came up short in their quest for ACC glory.

The women’s soccer squad–ranked No. 11 in the country– fought valiantly in the league championship game against No. 19 Florida State, forcing penalty kicks after two overtime periods weren’t enough to break the scoreless draw.

Seeking its first ACC Tournament title since 2009, the UNC women’s soccer team came up just short of defeating Florida State on penalty kicks. (Jeffrey A. Camarati/ UNC Athletics)

For the fourth straight year, however, the Seminoles were able to come out on top in a tournament including some of the nation’s best teams.

Both Florida State and UNC should be in good position for high seeds in the NCAA Tournament after each team finished the season with identical 13-3-4 records.

“Florida State is a tough team to break down, and we really couldn’t do that over the course of the match and so unfortunately it came down the penalty kick phase,” Tar Heel head coach Anson Dorrance said after the game, which was played in Charleston, SC. “But I’m not embarrassed by the way we played today. In fact, I’m quite pleased with it.”

UNC’s fifth-ranked field hockey team suffered a similar fate in its ACC Championship matchup with No. 7 Virginia–giving up a season-high four goals to the Cavaliers in a 4-2 loss.

It was also the first time all season the Tar Heels had been out-shot during any game, as they were unable to gain a lead during any time throughout the contest.

Although head coach Karen Shelton’s team was unable to defend its league crown from 2015, UNC sits at 17-5 entering next week’s NCAA Tournament.

The Tar Heels did not receive a top-four national seed when brackets were announced Sunday night, but they will face Stanford in the first round–with the winner likely moving on to face No. 2 Maryland.

The UNC field hockey team received a record 33rd NCAA Tournament bid on Sunday, despite falling in the ACC Title game to Virginia. (Jeffrey A. Camarati/ UNC Athletics)

“I think there’s a great confidence within our team,” Shelton said. “On any given day there are probably eight teams that can win the national championship and we are one of those teams.

“We didn’t have it today, but we certainly hope to have it by next weekend,” she continued. “We’ll get back to the drawing board and look to get better.”

On the men’s soccer side, UNC entered the ACC Tournament as the conference’s top seed. However, the Tar Heels–playing in Chapel Hill at Fetzer Field–fell to Boston College 1-0 in the league quarterfinals.

Boston College’s Zeiko Lewis’s goal in the 58th minute provided the difference–and was the first goal allowed by UNC since Oct. 14 against Duke.

Ranked fourth in the nation, UNC will now have to wait until next Saturday to find out its NCAA Tournament seeding.

UNC Soccer and Field Hockey Teams Come Up Short in ACC Tournament Play

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