Nov. 7, 2004

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The North Carolina field hockey team beat Maryland 3-1 Sunday afternoon to claim its first Atlantic Coast Conference title since 1997 and the 15th in school history. The top-seeded Tar Heels (20-1) scored all three goals in the second half to claim the win over the Terrapins (15-5) at Wake Forest's Kentner Stadium.

"I want to thank my staff and congratulate the players," UNC coach Karen Shelton said. "This was a long time coming and it's thrilling to win it this year, when the ACC is so strong. This weekend required great physical and mental strength to come from behind against two strong opponents."

For the second game in a row, UNC trailed 1-0 at halftime after Tiffany Marsh got the Terrapins on the board with a goal just 45 seconds before the break, assisted by Anja Boettcher.

Carolina answered quickly to start the second half and tie the game. Just 2:40 into the period, sophomore forward Laree Beans grabbed a pass from sophomore Brooke Miller and knocked the ball in from the front of the Maryland net to even the game at 1-1. Less than four minutes later, senior Kelsey Keeran put UNC ahead for good. With 28:33 remaining in the game, Keeran deflected a shot by redshirt freshman Heather Kendell into the goal for a 2-1 North Carolina lead.

"I think the halftime speech woke us up," Keeran said. "The coaches inspired us to come out and play harder."

UNC's final goal came with 5:39 remaining in the game. On a penalty corner, Dawson passed the ball to senior Laura Douglas on her right, and Douglas shot to put the Tar Heels up by the final margin. Keeran, who also had the game-winner in UNC's 2-1 overtime victory against Wake Forest in Friday's semifinals, was named ACC Tournament MVP. Joining her on the All-ACC Tournament team for UNC were Dawson, junior back Naomi Weatherald and junior goalkeeper Katy Tran.

The Tar Heels, currently ranked No. 2 in the nation, now await the announcement of the NCAA bracket on Tuesday evening. The bracket will be revealed at 7 p.m. in a show televised on CSTV.

No. 2 North Carolina 3, No. 4 Maryland 1
Scoring: UM - Tiffany Marsh (Anja Boettcher), 1st, 0:45; UNC - Laree Beans (Brooke Miller), 2nd, 32:30; UNC - Kelsey Keeran (Heather Kendell), 2nd, 28:33; UNC - Laura Douglas (Dawson), 2nd, 5:39.
Shots: UNC 11, UM 9
Penalty corners: UMC 6, UM 7
Saves: UNC (Katy Tran) 4, UM (Kathryn Masson) 4

2004 ACC All-Tournament Team
Logan Carr, Virginia
Christy Morgan, Duke
Hillary Linton, Duke
Maeke Boreel, Wake Forest
Claire Laubach, Wake Forest
Paula Infante, Maryland
Kristin Harris, Maryland
Katy Tran, North Carolina
Rachel Dawson, North Carolina
Naomi Weatherald, North Carolina
Kelsey Keeran, North Carolina (MVP)

ACC Freshman of the Year: Janneke van Leeuwen