Terrapin Field Hockey to Host North Carolina for ACC Regular Season Crown
10/21/2004 8:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Oct. 21, 2004
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - It comes down to one game. When the No. 4 Terrapin field hockey team hosts No. 2 North Carolina on Saturday, Oct. 23 at 1 p.m. at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex in its final ACC game of the regular season, it will be more than just another game. The winner will be crowned the ACC regular season champion and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament early next month.
But in speaking with senior co-captains Kristin Harris and Sara Silvetti, they see this game as important as any other ACC regular season matchup.
"Mostly as a team, we've spoken about how they like to play, what to expect, things like that. We're not looking towards the future, really. We're amazed it's our last ACC match before the tournament and our next to last game in the regular season," said Silvetti, who is a two-time captain and has started all 16 games this season in the backfield for the Terps.
Harris, also a two-time captain who has started in almost every game since arriving in College Park, adds, "The team knows it's a huge game for us, as far as ACC's go. We really need to look at taking control of every game we have left. This is a big game and people know it on the team, which is good. We're really ready for it. We're excited."
The Terps are also focused on what they have to do as a team to be successful this weekend, which is to work together as one unit and involve everyone in the passing game.
"We have to play our game. They're play similar to Duke - fast and aggressive," commented Silvetti. "As we showed against Michigan, just playing our passing game and trusting each other is what we have to focus on."
Maryland's last road trip began with a tough, overtime loss at No. 6 Old Dominion, 2-1, on Oct. 17. The Terps dominated that game, outshooting the Lady Monarchs, 17-5. The team, however, bounced back to close out the weekend with a huge victory at No. 9 Michigan. 4-1, on Oct. 19, scoring three goals in the first half.
"I think we're on the way up," added Silvetti. "We played really great at Michigan and had a couple days off and now we're just positive going into the game this weekend."
It will not be an easy task on Saturday. North Carolina is undefeated heading into the game this weekend, going 3-0 in conference, and is 16-1 on the season. The Tar Heels spent two weeks as the No. 1 team in the country and has not ranked lower than third. Their only loss of the year was to Wake Forest, 4-3 in overtime, in a non-conference matchup on Oct. 10. UNC also has one of the best defenses in the nation, limiting its opponents to just 0.68 goals per game which ranks second, and is 10th in the country in offense, averaging 3.24 goals per game.
The Terps, who are 13-3 overall and 2-1 in conference, will counter the Tar Heel defense with an offense which ranks third in the nation, tallying almost four goals a game. The defense, anchored by Silvetti in the backfield and Harris in the midfield, is rated 13th allowing just 1.23 goals per game.
North Carolina leads the all-time series, 28-16, but the matches have been closer than that. Over half the games in the series have been decided by a goal, 14 have gone to overtime and two came down to penalty strokes. The Terps have won the last two meetings in overtime, 3-2.
But that was then and this is now. As the Terps look to this upcoming weekend they are sure they're ready to take on the challenge facing UNC presents.
"We've prepared well. Our bodies feel good at this point in the week," remarked Harris. "We're excited and we're coming down to our last few games in the season. So we're up for making the most of everything."
Admission to Maryland field hockey games is free. Parking is also free.
