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.

History

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 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.

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".

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.

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".

All-time record 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 up201318-63-3Runner upSemifinal201419–44–2SemifinalSemifinal201521–34–2ChampionsRunner up201620–63–3Runner upRunner up201718–53–3ChampionsSemifinal201823–06–0ChampionsChampions201923–06–0ChampionsChampions202019–19–1ChampionsChampions202113–74–2Champions First round202221–06–0ChampionsChampions2023 Erin Matson 18–35–1ChampionsChampions202420–18–0ChampionsSemifinal

Individual honors 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 one (honoring Erin Matson), kit number seven (honoring Leslie Lyness), number nine (honoring Rachel Dawson), number twelve (honoring Ryleigh Heck), and number thirteen (honoring Cindy Werley) have been retired.

See also List of NCAA Division I field hockey programs

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links

Official website