By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — If you want drama and tension, Karen Shelton Stadium delivered that and then some this week, testing a young Carolina field hockey team.
Sunday’s exhilaration turned to heartbreak on Friday.
After the No. 5 Tar Heels (2–3) prevailed in a shootout against Princeton five days earlier, they paid for their early-season inability to put teams away in a momentum-shifting overtime game on a steamy Friday.
No. 10 Old Dominion rallied from a three-goal first-half deficit with a withering assault of shots and corners late to take a 5–4 win at Karen Shelton Stadium on Serena Langendoen’s penalty stroke in the 71st minute.
“I think the only explanation is they’re young, and our leadership is still people who are developing in their own leadership and learning and growing and bringing others along with them,” Carolina coach Erin Matson said. “It’s very hard, it’s not easy, and it’s not an excuse whatsoever. But that’s the only way I’m making sense of it.”
Senior UNC forward Charly Bruder missed a penalty stroke with 1:19 left in regulation that likely would have won what was the Tar Heels’ third overtime game in five outings, sending the contest to the extra session that ultimately decided it.
The Monarchs (4–1) didn’t have a corner for the first 27 minutes, but piled up 15 (including seven in the fourth quarter), outshooting UNC 15–3 in the fourth quarter alone.
Carolina goaltender Merritt Skubisz, coming off back-to-back shutouts, had her shutout streak snapped at 148 minutes. After only making 13 saves in her first three games, she stopped 15 shots Friday, but that wasn’t enough to hold off the Monarchs’ late surge.
That final period belonged to Old Dominion, and Matson said that her defense couldn’t hold up against the volume ODU was generating.
“You can’t expect more from your goalkeeper than that,” Matson said. “At some point, we give up 15 corners, and that’s an issue in itself,” Matson said, pointing out that ODU is a second-phase team, meaning it gets to rebounds first. “They put goals away, not on the first-phase shot, but the second phase, and we just didn’t do our job in preventing those second-phase opportunities.”
Senior midfielder Ella Barbacci tripled her career goal output with a pair of goals to lead the way. She’s started all five games after only coming off the bench in her first three seasons.
Barbacci acknowledged that the same letdown that has cost Carolina multiple leads early this season carried into the extra period.
“It was definitely very intense, but we wanted to get an outcome the first two minutes,” Barbacci said. “It was definitely very stressful. But I think now it’s just we have to value the ball and keep it down our end instead of not letting up.”
In a game that began with a 102° heat index, UNC turned up the heat early, needing only 47 seconds to score. Bruder and sophomore forward Reese Anetsberger fed a pass to Barbacci, who backhanded a shot past ODU goaltender Suus Broers for the game’s first goal.
In the 11th minute, freshman midfielder Molly Nusbaumer buried a laser crossing pass from sophomore midfielder Jenna Narleski just in front of the cage for her second goal of the season.
ODU finally got off its first shots on goal in the 27th minute, but Skubisz made two terrific saves two seconds apart on a pair of close-in shots to keep the shutout intact for a while longer.
Bruder made it 3–0 on her team-leading fourth goal in the 24th minute, firing a rocket to the left of the cage on a corner off assists from graduate back Grace Pottebaum and senior back Caroline Golden.
At that point, Carolina appeared to be in firm control.
But ODU converted on its first corner in the 28th minute, with Langendoen slipping a shot to Skubisz’s right, just inside the cage. It was the first goal Skubisz had given up since Michigan’s overtime game-winner in the season opener, and it opened the door for the Monarchs to climb back into the match.
After some sustained ODU pressure and a couple of difficult Skubisz saves, the teams traded goals in the 42nd minute. Barbacci netted her second goal on an assist from sophomore midfielder Reid Miller after Broers failed to poke the ball away.
“We had an awesome connection up the field,” Barbacci said. “Reid had the ball passed to me, and I felt confident enough to just slow the play down and put it in the back of the net. But ultimately, none of it would have happened if all the backs and the mids didn’t work hard to get all of it out of the backfield.”
Sofia Marciano answered for ODU 32 seconds later. After Skubisz made a kick save in the 50th minute, Marciano scored again to pull the Monarchs within one.
On the Monarchs’ 13th corner, Josie Painter rebounded a Skubisz save in the 55th minute to tie it, capping a stretch in which ODU had turned a three-goal deficit into an even match heading toward the final period.
For a program that has now played three overtime games in five contests, Matson said the experience, however difficult, is building something the team can draw on later in the season.
“We’re getting experience with this early,” Matson said. “That’s good for us and learning the lessons there. But we need to make it count.”
Barbacci said the fourth-quarter collapse, which allowed ODU to seize control after Carolina spent most of the afternoon in command, is a lesson the team will carry forward.
“We always talk about not getting comfortable. We don’t want to be satisfied,” Barbacci said. “I think that was an issue today. But we can only come back from it. This is a massive lesson that we have, and now we can only grow from it.”
Subscribe to read Tar Heel Tribune ad-free
Subscribe for a cleaner, smoother reading experience without the flashing banners, slow-loading elements, or those especially annoying pop‑up ads that interrupt the flow of the story. You’ll also get the first version of each story emailed to you. The only ads you’ll see are static, non-intrusive ads for UNC‑related books, and there are none currently on the site.
Notes
— UNC plays its first true road game of the season at noon Sunday (ESPN+) when the Tar Heels visit unranked Richmond. The Spiders (3–1) hosted Georgetown on Friday.
— It was the third consecutive game at Shelton Stadium for ODU, which doesn’t play its home opener until next Friday. The Monarchs lost 4–0 to No. 4 Princeton and beat Penn 3–0 last weekend in Chapel Hill.
— Barbacci’s only previous goal came last season on Sept. 21 in an 8–1 victory over Stanford.
— ODU ended a 10-game losing streak against Carolina with its first win since a 3–1 victory in Chapel Hill in September 2011. UNC still leads the all-time series 49–35–2, including 23–13–1 in Chapel Hill.
No. 20 ODU 5, No. 5 UNC 4, OT
| Date | Month/day | Time/ score | Opponent/event (current ranking) | Record/ TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August | ACC/Big Ten Challenge in Winston-Salem | |||
| 28 | Friday | L, 2–1, OT | No. 8 Michigan | 0–1 |
| 30 | Sunday | L, 3–2, OT | No. 2 Iowa | 0–2 |
| September | ||||
| 4 | Friday | W, 7–0 | Penn | 1–2 |
| 6 | Sunday | W, 1–0, OT (3–2 shootout) | No. 4 Princeton | 2–2 |
| 11 | Friday | L, 5–4, OT | No. 20 Old Dominion | 2–3 |
| 13 | Sunday | Noon | at Richmond | ESPN+ |
| 20 | Sunday | Noon | vs. No. 11 Virginia | ACCN |
| 25 | Friday | 9 p.m. ET | at Stanford | |
| 27 | Sunday | 4 p.m. ET | at California | |
| October | ||||
| 2 | Friday | 3 p.m. | at No. 14 Louisville | |
| 9 | Friday | 3 p.m. | at Saint Joseph’s | |
| 11 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | at No. 13 Liberty | |
| 16 | Friday | 6 p.m. | vs. Boston College | ACCNE |
| 18 | Sunday | 2 p.m. | vs. No. 15 Syracuse | ACCN |
| 23 | Friday | 6 p.m. | vs. No. 6 Wake Forest | ACCNE |
| 25 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | at Appalachian State | |
| 30 | Friday | 6 p.m. | at No. 6 Duke | ACCN |
| November | ACC tournament | |||
| 3–6 | Tue.–Fri | At Karen Shelton Stadium | ACCN | |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 13 | Friday | TBA | First round Campus sites | |
| 15 | Sunday | TBA | Second round Campus sites | |
| 20 | Friday | TBA | National semifinals Louisville | |
| 23 | Sunday | TBA | Championship Louisville |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics Communications
