Nov. 22, 2009

• More from North Carolina
• More from Maryland

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (theACC.com) - North Carolina defeated Maryland in come-from-behind fashion, 3-2, in the 2009 NCAA Field Hockey Championship hosted by Wake Forest University at Kentner Field in Winston-Salem, N.C. to earn the school's sixth NCAA field hockey title, and second in the last three seasons. The Atlantic Coast Conference was guaranteed a national championship with a Tar Heel-Terrapin match-up and it gives the league its 15th national title in field hockey.

The title game pitted two ACC teams against each other for the second straight year and eighth overall. Top-ranked Maryland earned the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament and defeated fourth-ranked (National Field Hockey Coaches Association) and fourth-seeded Princeton, 7-5, on Friday, Nov. 20 to earn its berth in the championship game. The game was the highest scoring semifinals or finals game in NCAA history. North Carolina earned its berth by defeating conference-foe Virginia, 3-2, on Friday.

A 43rd-minute breakaway goal from Maryland senior All-ACC forward Nicole Muracco gave the Terps a 1-0 advantage early in the second half, but senior All-ACC forward Danielle Forword knotted the game for the Tar Heels with a goal in the 61st minute.

Undaunted, Maryland regained the advantage just two minutes later with a goal by freshman midfielder Megan Frazer, who found an open shot after a Maryland penalty corner attempt sent the ball loose.

The scoring barrage continued in the 66th minute as senior All-ACC midfielder Illse Davids fired a shot from the center of the circle to tie the score again for North Carolina. Junior All-ACC midfielder Katelyn Falgowski was credited with the assist.

With less than five minutes to play with a 2-2 score and rights to the national title hanging in the balance, the significance and anxiety surrounding the game began to intensify. With 11 seconds left in regulation, Forword capitalized on a penalty corner awarded to North Carolina to seal the win and championship for the Tar Heels. The game-winning assists were credited to freshman defender Caitlyn Van Sickle and Falgowski.

A last-second attempt by Maryland to tie the score and send the game into overtime failed, and North Carolina won its sixth NCAA championship in program history.

The game featured a total of 12 players selected to an NFHCA All-Region team, including nine who were All-ACC selections in 2009, and two coaches--Maryland's 2009 ACC Coach of the Year Missy Meharg and North Carolina's Karen Shelton--who combined for 10 national titles entering the game.

The Tar Heel win was the eighth straight for an ACC team in the NCAA Field Hockey Championship Game, and the league now claims 15 NCAA titles since 1983 when field hockey was first sponsored by the league. Both Maryland and North Carolina have each won six NCAA titles, while Wake Forest won three in back-to-back-to-back fashion from 2002-04. The Terps claimed the league's first title in 1987 with a win against North Carolina.