NORFOLK, VA (Nov. 18, 2000) - Second-seeded North Carolina bumped off defending national champion and third-seeded Maryland, 4-1, in the national championship semifinal round of the NCAA Field Hockey Tournament Friday evening at Foreman Field on the campus of Old Dominion University. With the win, the Tar Heels improved to 20-3 while the Terps end the season at 19-4. North Carolina will take on Old Dominion, winners of the first game of the night, 6-0 over Wake Forest.
Maryland struck for first blood on a Carissa Messimer (Mountaintop, Pa.) goal, assisted by Caroline Walter (Reilingen, Germany). North Carolina tied the game at one on a Meredith Keller (Glenville, Del.) and took the lead going into the half with a Kristen McCann (Macungie, Pa.) score. Both players would score again in the second half to seal the victory.
"We're delighted and thrilled to be back in the championship game," said UNC coach Karen Shelton. "We started out tentative, but we came back against a good Maryland team."
North Carolina and Old Dominion will meet in the national championship game Sunday at 2 pm at Foreman Field. This will be the fifth time that the two schools are meeting to decide the national champion.
SCORING SUMMARYUNC224UM101
UM24:56Carissa Messimer (Caroline Walter)UNC8:36Meredith Keller (Carrie Lingo)UNC3:08Kristen McCann
UNC13:28Kristen McCann (Jana Toepel)UNC9:57Meredith KellerSHOTS ON GOALUNC(7)UM(14) PENALTY CORNERSUNC(3)UM(9)GOALKEEPER SAVESUNC(9) - Amy Tran(9)UM(2) - Ashley Hohnstine(2)