Late Goal Spoils Season Opener as U-M Falls to No. 4 North Carolina

Saturday, August 29

Iowa City, Iowa

2:00 PM CT

Michigan

(0-1)

North Carolina

(1-0)

Michigan

North Carolina

Late Goal Spoils Season Opener as U-M Falls to No. 4 North Carolina

8/29/2009 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey

Box Score PDF Boxscore

By: Matt Trevor

Site: Iowa City, Iowa (Grant Field)
Event: Big Ten/ACC Challenge
Score: #4 North Carolina 2, #19 Michigan 1
Records: U-M (0-1), UNC (1-0)
Attendance: 112
Next U-M Event: Sunday, Aug. 30 -- vs. Wake Forest - Big Ten/ACC Challenge (Iowa City, Iowa), 2 p.m. CDT

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The No. 19-ranked University of Michigan field hockey team received excellent goalkeeping from fifth-year senior Paige Pickett (Dallas, Texas/Episcopal School of Dallas) but fell 2-1 to No. 4 North Carolina this afternoon (Saturday, Aug. 29) at the season-opening Big Ten/ACC Challenge. UNC outshot the Wolverines 21-2 as Pickett made 10 saves, including seven stops in the first half. Despite the Tar Heel barrage, junior Meredith Way's (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) second-half goal was the first tally of the contest, but UNC spoiled things for U-M with two goals less than four minutes apart to steal the win.

Meredith Way

The Tar Heels were off to the races as soon as the game began. Fifteen seconds in Kelsey Kolojejchick was stoned by Pickett when the U-M goalie sprawled out to her right to keep the ball out of the cage.

Pickett made saves 45 seconds apart during a sustained UNC attack near the nine-minute mark, kickingaside an attempt by Illse Davids,before denyinga shot off a penalty corner from Forword.

UNC's Jen Slocum had the best chance of the first half with less than 17 minutes to play. Facing a two-on-one, Pickett attacked the shooter near the penalty spot and got enough of the ball to keep it out of the cage.

The Tar Heels peppered Pickett with five more shots-- three on goal -- before U-M tested the UNC defense. The Wolverines garnered a penalty corner with one minute remaining in the first half. Way's strike from the top of the circle was denied by the stacked pads of the goalie.

Shots were 12-1 in favor of UNC after 35 minutes.

Michigan's offense came to life in the second half. At the 23-minute mark, junior Zara Saydjari (Skowhegan, Maine/Skowhegan Area) streaked down the right side in transition, fought off contact from her defender and fed the ball across the goalmouth for a scoring chance.

One minute later, on a similar rush, Saydjari drew a penalty corner when she was tripped just outside the circle. On the corner, junior Katie Adams (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) pushed to senior/junior Paige Laytos (Lititz, Pa./Warwick), who set the ball up for a powerful shot from Way that eluded goalie Jackie Kintzer and hit the back-right corner of the goal at 49:02.

North Carolina responded 10 minutes later at 59:46 on a penalty corner of its own. Forword's shot from atop the circle was deflected by a Michigan defender up and over Pickett's stacked pads.

The Tar Heels scored the game-winning goal at 63:37 off a rebound. After a corner attempt was stopped by Pickett, the ball was stripped off the stick of a Wolverine and it ended up on the stick of Kolojejchick on the right side, where the Tar Heel smacked the ball into right side from a few yards out.

Michigan's best chance to draw even came in the final minute of play when it carried the ball into UNC's third of the field. Unfortunately, the Wolverines could not penetrate the circle for a shooting opportunity.

Michigan's second and final game of the 2009 Big Ten/ACC Challenge is set for Sunday, Aug. 30, against No. 2 Wake Forest at 2 p.m. CDTin Iowa City. The Demon Deacons beat No. 9 Iowa, 3-2, earlier on Saturday.

MATCH SUMMARY

By Periods	1	2	F
Michigan	0	1	1
North Carolina	0	2	2

Scoring, Time (Assist)
2nd -- U-M, Meredith Way, 49:02 (Paige Laytos, Katie Adams)
2nd -- UNC, Danielle Forword, 59:46 (Foster, Falgowski)
2nd -- UNC, Kelsey Kolojejchick, 63:37 (Forword)

Shots: U-M 2, UNC 21
Saves: U-M 10 (Paige Pickett), UNC 1 (Jackie Kintzer)
Defensive Saves: U-M 0, UNC 0
Penalty Corners: U-M 2, UNC 7

NOTES

• Paige Laytos made her return to the Michigan lineup for the first time since Sept. 25, 2008, vs. California. Limited to just three games in 2008, she redshirted the season.

• With 10 stops today, Paige Pickett notched the fourth double-digit save performance of her career. She made a career-high 12 saves against Maryland back in 2007.

• Sophomore Hannah Dawson opposed her older sister, Meghan Dawson, when the Wolverines took on the Tar Heels today. Meghan is a redshirt sophomore for UNC.

QUOTES

Michigan Head Coach Marcia Pankratz
On today's game and opening against No. 4 North Carolina ... "I think playing North Carolina in the first game of the season is a great experience for us because they play at a very high level. It's good for us to jump right into the fire and realize what it takes to play against the nation's best and we did. We played them toe-to-toe all day. It was just a really good game, a hard-fought game."

On facing a 21-2 shots differential, yet only losing 2-1 ... "I was very proud of how resilient we were and how hard everybody played with each other and for each other. That was really good character by our team. I was proud of them for that. We just didn't get the bounces we needed in the end to win it."

On the play of goalie Paige Pickett ... "They had 21 shots and she made some spectacular saves that kept us in it. She showed that she's a leader and a fifth-year senior with a lot of experience. I am happy with the way she played."