North Carolina Tar Heels field hockey

The North Carolina Tar Heels field hockey team represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the Atlantic Coast Conference of NCAA Division I field hockey.

North Carolina Tar Heels
field hockey
UniversityUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Head coachErin Matson[1] (2nd season)
ConferenceACC
LocationChapel Hill, North Carolina
StadiumKaren Shelton Stadium
(Capacity: 1,000)
NicknameTar Heels
ColorsCarolina blue and white[2]
   
Home
Away
NCAA Tournament championships
1989, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2007, 2009, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023
NCAA Tournament runner-up
1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 2000, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016
NCAA Tournament Semifinals
1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023
NCAA Tournament appearances
1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
Conference Tournament championships
1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2004, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023

History

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Players, coaches, and support staff of the 2007 Tar Heels, winners of the Atlantic Coast Conference and NCAA championships, honored by U.S. President George W. Bush at the White House in 2008

Field hockey has been played at the University of North Carolina since the 1940s, but it only became a varsity sport in 1971 when the school was a charter member of the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW). The team won several state AIAW championships and finished second twice in the AIAW Southern Region II tournament before joining the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for the 1982 season.

Stadium

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Originally operated as Navy Field, it was redeveloped as a multi-use stadium, Francis E. Henry Stadium, primarily for the use by field hockey. The stadium, with a 1,086 seating capacity, was opened on April 24, 1999. It was heavily renovated in 1999, with a private donation to UNC. The Francis E. Henry Stadium was demolished in 2017.[3]

In August 2018, the Tar Heels inaugurated a new stadium complex dedicated solely to field hockey and named in honor of their head coach, Karen Shelton. Karen Shelton Stadium is a modern 900-seat stadium with additional standing-room space with a total capacity of 1,000. The stadium includes fan amenities (e.g., concessions and restrooms), three-level press and scorers boxes, and LED sport lighting and an LED video scoreboard. The Polytan field surface is considered rare among collegiate field hockey and has been described by USA Field Hockey as "top-of-the-line".[4]

The stadium complex also includes a 10,000 square foot team building with home and visitor locker rooms, an area for team meals and functions, theater, sports medicine space, a players' lounge, meeting space and coaches' offices.[5]

Karen Shelton Stadium has been described by the international field hockey press as the best field hockey facility in the United States and "one of the best facilities anywhere in world hockey".[6]

All-time record

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Year Head Coach Overall ACC ACC Tournament NCAA Tournament
1971 Beth Ross 0–0
1972   Chip Johnson   0–0
1973 Ann Gregory 0–0
1974 4–3–2
1975 4–2–1
1976 Dolly Hunter 4–6–1
1977 13–4–1
1978 18–5
1979 11–5–1
1980 8–7
1981 Karen Shelton 8–9–1
1982 11–8
1983 13–4–3 2–0 Champions First round
1984 14–5 3–0 Champions First round
1985 13–4 2–1 Champions Second round
1986 19–3 3–0 Champions Semifinals
1987 19–2 2–1 Champions Runner up
1988 18–2 3–0 Champions Second round
1989 20–2 3–0 Champions Champions
1990 20–4 2–1 Champions Runner up
1991 15–6–1 2–1 Champions Runner up
1992 14–7–1 4–0 Runner up Semifinals
1993 16–3–3 3–1 Champions Runner up
1994 21–2 8–0 Champions Runner up
1995 24–0 8–0 Champions Champions
1996 23–1 8–0 Champions Champions
1997 20–3 3–1 Champions Champions
1998 13–8 2–2 Semifinals Second round
1999 16–6 2–2 Semifinals Second round
2000 20–4 4–0 Runner up Runner up
2001 14–7 2–2 Semifinals First round
2002 9–1 3–1 Semifinals
2003 16–6 2–2 Semifinals First round
2004 21–2 4–0 Champions Second round
2005 14–7 2–3 Semifinals First round
2006 13–9 1–4 Semifinals First round
2007 24–0 5–0 Champions Champions
2008 14–6 3–2 Semifinal First round
2009 20–2 4–1 First round Champions
2010 22–2 4–1 Runner up Runner up
2011 23–2 5–0 Champions Runner up
2012 23–3 6–0 Champions Runner up
2013 18-6 3-3 Runner up Semifinal
2014 19–4 4–2 Semifinal Semifinal
2015 21–3 4–2 Champions Runner up
2016 20–6 3–3 Runner up Runner up
2017 18–5 3–3 Champions Semifinal
2018 23–0 6–0 Champions Champions
2019 23–0 6–0 Champions Champions
2020 19–1 9–1 Champions Champions
2021 13–7 4–2 Champions First round
2022 21–0 6–0 Champions Champions
2023 Erin Matson 18–3 5–1 Champions Champions

Individual honors

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Name   Year(s)  
Honda Award (National Player of the Year) Rachel Dawson 2007
Ashley Hoffman 2018
Leslie Lyness 1989
Erin Matson 2019, 2020, 2022
Cindy Werley 1996, 1997
NFHCA National Player of the Year Katelyn Falgowski 2011
Erin Matson 2019, 2020, 2022
First Team All-Americans Peggy Anthon 1990
Kate Barber 1995, 1996, 1997
Lori Bruney 1986, 1987
Cinda Carpenter 1993
Jennifer Clark 1990, 1991
Amy Cox 1992
Charlotte Craddock 2012
Rachel Dawson 2004, 2007
Joy Driscoll 1995
Maryellen Falcone 1986, 1987
Katelyn Falgowski 2009, 2011
Jesse Gey 2007
Barbara Hansen 1994
Ryleigh Heck 2022
Amanda Hendry 2020
Laurel Hershey 1990
Louise Hines 1984, 1985
Ashley Hoffman 2017, 2018
Judith Jonckheer 1985
Kelsey Keeran 2003, 2004
Jackie Kintzer 2009, 2010
Kelsey Kolojejchick 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012
Yentl Leemans 2019
Carrie Lingo 2001
Leslie Lyness 1988, 1989
Erin Matson 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022
Kristen McCann 2000
Nina Notman 2015
Nancy Pelligreen 1998
  Mary Sentementes   1983, 1984
Kathy Staley 1989
Meredith Sholder 2022
Peggy Storrar 1993
Jana Toepel 1998, 1999, 2000
Amy Tran 2000
Katy Tran 2005
Eva van't Hoog 2017, 2018
Caitlin Van Sickle 2010, 2011, 2012
Cindy Werley 1994, 1996, 1997
Jana Withrow 1996, 1997
Emily Wold 2013, 2014, 2015
Julia Young 2016
Tracey Yurgin 1987
ACC Player(s) of the Year Kate Barber 1995
Amy Cox 1992
Rachel Dawson 2004, 2007
Barbara Hansen 1994
Leslie Lyness 1989
Erin Matson 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022
Kristen McCann 2000
Caitlin Van Sickle 2010, 2011, 2012
Cindy Werley 1996, 1997
  National Coach of the Year   Karen Shelton   1994, 1995, 1996, 2007, 2009, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022  
ACC Coach of the Year Karen Shelton 1986, 1987, 1988, 1999,
1994, 2000, 2004, 2007, 2012, 2018, 2020, 2022

Kit number seven (honoring Leslie Lyness), number nine (honoring Rachel Dawson) and number thirteen (honoring Cindy Werley) have been retired.

See also

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References

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Citations

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  1. ^ GoHeels.com. "Erin Matson named field hockey head coach". University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
  2. ^ "Primary Identity" (PDF). Carolina Athletics Brand Identity Guidelines. April 20, 2015. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
  3. ^ "Field Hockey Stadium". ramsclub.com. Retrieved 2018-03-24.
  4. ^ "Get to Know FIH Hockey Pro League Venue, Karen Shelton Stadium". USA Field Hockey. Archived from the original on September 27, 2020. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  5. ^ "Karen Shelton Stadium". Ram's Club. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  6. ^ "North Carolina hockey 'has best facilities in the US'". The Hockey Paper. 28 February 2020. Retrieved May 11, 2021.

Bibliography

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  Media related to North Carolina Tar Heels field hockey at Wikimedia Commons