Tar Heels Knock Out Cavaliers 3-0 in Semifinals of ACC Field Hockey Championship
No.1 North Carolina will play for ACC championship at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday.
North Carolina's Katelyn Falgowski netted the game-winning goal halfway through the first stanza to jump-start the Tar Heels' scoring.

North Carolina's Katelyn Falgowski netted the game-winning goal halfway through the first stanza to jump-start the Tar Heels' scoring.

Nov. 2, 2007

NEWTON, Mass. - On day two of the ACC Field Hockey Championship in Newton, Mass., the top-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels defeated No.19 Virginia 3-0 at the Newton Campus Turf Field to advance to Sunday's conference title game. Leading the Tar Heels with a goal and an assist was midfielder/forward Laree Beans, a senior from Bethlehem, Pa.

"It's always good to get a game like this under out belt in tournament play," said North Carolina head coach Karen Shelton. "We're just delighted to be in the championship game."

For the game's first score, North Carolina freshman Katelyn Falgowski punched in a pass from Beans at 15:12 of the first half. The goal for Falgowski, an all-ACC selection, was her sixth of the year. Despite constant pressure from the Tar Heel offense, the Cavalier defense held strong throughout the remainder of the period, keeping the score at 1-0.

To open the second half, North Carolina struck again when Beans scored off a pass from senior forward Jesse Gey less than two minutes into the second stanza. The Tar Heels then stretched the lead to three when Danielle Forword, a sophomore forward, scored off of a rebounded shot from a North Carolina corner at 60:11. The goal for Forword is her seventh of the season.

Leading the Cavaliers in the game was freshman midfielder Taylor Swezey, who nearly put Virginia on the board in the second half with a shot that just narrowly missed as the ball bounced off the post behind North Carolina goalkeeper Brianna O'Donnell. Virginia, ranked No.14 in the latest NCAA RPI, will now await word on its postseason fate from the NCAA selection committee. Brackets for the NCAA Championship tournament are scheduled to be released Tuesday night at 8:00 p.m.

The Tar Heels will move on to play the winner of Friday's second semifinal contest between No.2 Maryland and No.3 Wake Forest. For North Carolina, which has held the nation's No.1 ranking throughout much of the season, a win on Sunday would give the Tar Heels their first league title since 2004.