NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion Field Hockey team fell to #2 North Carolina on Sunday, 2-1 at the L.R. Hill Sports Complex. Frederique Zandbergen scored the lone goal for the Monarchs in the loss and Suus Broers made 10 saves.
North Carolina (3-1) opened the scoring three minutes into the game when Ryleigh Heck slipped a pass inside to Payton Wirth who pushed a shot past Broers. UNC would hold that lead going into the second quarter.
In the second quarter both teams got the offense going. Both teams had six shots but Broers and Maddie Khan of UNC made four saves. ODU (2-3) held the advantage in corners 3-2 as the score remained 1-0 in favor of the Tar Heels at the half.
In the third quarter North Carolina rattled off six shots (four of them on goal) all saved by Broers. Old Dominion had an opportunity to knot the game up at one when Emily Tammaro sliced through the UNC defense a fired a shot that was saved.
The Tarheels pushed the lead to two goals a minute and 30 seconds into the fourth quarter after Heck passed the ball into Charly Bruder. The Monarchs would shy away as Marlon de Bruijne would fire a shot on a corner that deflected off Zandbergen's stick to cut the UNC lead in half. ODU would make a push late in the fourth quarter but were unable to score.
"It's a very tough loss 2-1, I thought we battled right from the start and they got on the board early 1-0 and I thought we stayed right with them. We hit the post on a corner and even when they went up another goal," said Associate Head Coach Natalie Holder.
"We were pretty even on the stats and we were fighting and battling and brought it back to 2-1 and we could feel the crowd and we had momentum and had chances at the end. It shows that our team can play with anyone and in preparation this week we weren't afraid of the defending National Champions Carolina."
"We felt confident in our ability and in our gameplan and it was a tough battle and they came out on top," said Holder.
"We want to play the best teams in the country to prepare us and we would have liked to win against Michigan and today but this is part of our journey and we want to win the BIG EAST and if you want to be the best in your conference you have to play the best teams in the country."
ODU is back in action on Friday Sept. 15 at 3 p.m. when they start BIG EAST play against #9 Liberty in Lynchburg.
ODU Field Hockey Falls To #2 North Carolina 2-1 On Sunday
