After mixed results in the ACC tournaments, UNC is barging ahead in the various NCAA Tournaments currently going on. The field hockey team, after a loss in their ACC tournament opener, nabbed the three seed in the NCAA tournament. They've plowed through their first two opponents beating both Ohio State and Wake Forest by the same score of 4-1. The defeat of the Demon Deacons was especially crushing, as the Final Four is being hosted in Winston-Salem this season. And the Heels have success in that city; in addition to beating Wake there earlier this season, it's also where UNC happened to win the 1995 Championship, their second. UNC goes into the Final Four with this year's ACC Freshman of the Year, the awesomely-named Kelsey Kolojejchick, as well as four other all-ACC players including the 2007 winner of the same award, Katelyn Falgowski. The Heels are joined in Winston-Salem by undefeated Maryland and the team that knocked UNC out of the ACC, Virginia. Games are Friday and Sunday.
The women's soccer team did win the ACC tournament, their 20th. This earned them the top seed in one of the regionals, where the swept their two games at Fetzer Field. This is largely behind the play of the ACC Tournament MVP Casey Nogueria, with 13 shots and three assists, and three goals from freshman Lucy Bronze. The defense has a streak of seven straight shutouts going into this Saturday's third round game in Chapel Hill against Maryland. The Terps have lost twice to Heels in the past month; if Carolina wins, they face either Wake Forest or South Carolina the following week.
The men's soccer team was eliminated from the ACC tournament in the first round by N.C. State. They've earned the 5th overall seed, and play either Brown or Stony Brook Sunday in Fetzer Field. The finals in this tournament are down the road in Cary, which the team used as a home field when Fetzer was being renovated a few years back. Things are looking good for adding more hardware to the various trophy cases over the next month.