Simply the best: field hockey grabs No. 1 ranking
By Jim Gleitman
Old Gold and Black Reporter

Forget the loss to Maryland, the loss to Michigan State or even the tough loss to Old Dominion. The Deacon field hockey team is moving back to the stage of field hockey prominence. On Oct. 6 the Deacs made a statement by shutting out second-ranked North Carolina for the second straight time this season. Junior forward Heather Aughinbaugh registered two goals for the Deacs in a 2-0 victory. The win improved the Deacs’ record to 7-3 (1-1 ACC) and gave them a No. 1 national ranking, according to the NCAA Field Hockey Committee. Later in the week, the Deacs topped Duke 3-2 Oct. 10.

In the Carolina game, both teams came out strong in the first half, but neither was able to put anything on the scoreboard. There was however, some tremendous defense displayed by both teams. With 25:30 left in the half, junior Maria Whitehead fired a shot from eight yards out that looked like a sure goal, but Carolina goaltender Amy Tran made an incredible save. On the other end it was freshman Claire Laubach who made a crucial defensive save on an empty net to keep the score at 0-0 going into halftime.
Last week Head Coach Jennifer Averill talked about her aggressive style of play and her offensive mindset. This was evident in the second half as the Deacs came out strong, scoring within the first minute of play. The point came when Aughinbaugh fed a penalty corner into the circle, took the return pass from senior Jemima Cameron and deposited it in the net to put the Deacons up 1-0.

The score would remain 1-0 until the 6:05 mark in the half when Aughinbaugh slid one past the UNC goalie at what seemed an impossible angle. The goal put the Deacs up 2-0 and proved to be all Averill’s team would need.

With just under four minutes left, the Tar Heels were awarded a penalty stroke, but sophomore keeper Katie Ridd made the save and preserved her third shutout of the season.

“I just look at the shooter’s feet; from that I can sometimes get a sense of whether it is going right or left,” Ridd said. “After that it is just reaction.”

With each week the Deacs have improved as they are constantly working on the intangibles of the game.

“Defensively, we have grown extremely since the Maryland game, tactically and mentally,” Ridd said. “We are just really settling into our marking system better and transitioning between systems more smoothly.”

This game was more than just a victory for the Deacs as it has provided them with a huge boost of confidence going into the home stretch of the season. The win marked the fourth straight victory for the team as well as the fourth straight victory over a top-15 opponent. Ridd registered her third shutout of the season, Aughinbaugh was named ACC Player of the Week and the team is now the top-ranked team in the nation.

Averill has said she has been pleased with her team’s play, but that it is disappointing not winning the big games. Beating UNC is a tough task in itself, but Averill’s squad can now claim they have beaten the Tar Heels twice this season.

“It was important for us to show that we can play Carolina strong,” Averill said. “It was great to play them as well as we did last time.”

From here the Deacs will continue to work hard and stay focused through the rest of the season.

“We just need to continue our work ethic and play each game, regardless of the opponent,” Ridd said. “In particular we’ll be focusing on our transfer ball out of the back to generate more attack for us.”

On Oct. 9, the Deacons continued their superb play with a 4-3 victory over the Blue Devis.

The game against the Blue Devils was much closer than it should have been, as the Deacs, newly crowned as the top team in the nation, asserted themselves early with three goals in the first three minutes to take a 3-0 lead on scores by sophomore Kelly Doton, Aughinbagh and freshman Kelly Dostal, with senior Jennie Shelton assisting both Doton and Dostal. A Duke goal before the half made it 3-1 at the break. The Deacs came out strong in the second half, with Cameron’s goal making the score 4-1.
But the Devils would come back. Goals by Stacy Tsougas and Liz Bateman made the Deacs’ lead only one at 4-3.

But, the Deacons would not be unseated on this night, as their defense held strong, stopping two Duke penalty corners in the final ten seconds to preserve the one goal victory. The win marked the team’s fifth straight victory, all over teams ranked in the top 15 in the country.

The next victim of the Deacon machine will be Appalachian State, as the two teams hook up in Boone Oct. 17.