DATE: Monday, November 3, 1997              TAG: 9711030089

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C6   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LEE TOLLIVER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   46 lines

ODU SLUGGISH AS IT DROPS FINALE NO. 3 UNC PROVED TO BE SHARPER IN FUNDAMENTALS, AND A BETTER TEAM SUNDAY.

There are days when nothing seems to go right.

The Old Dominion field hockey team had one of those on Sunday at Foreman Field, losing a 2-1 season finale to North Carolina in a contest that simply wasn't that close.

While the third-ranked Tar Heels were sharp in fundamentals, No. 1 ODU was not. Passes were just off, players made the wrong moves. And while the Lady Monarchs struggled, UNC was beating them to the ball, closing the passing lanes and basically playing better hockey.

``They should be down right now,'' ODU coach Beth Anders said of her players. ``They need to understand that they need to show up every game.

``I'm very disappointed in how we played.''

Especially after Saturday's 10-3 waxing of No. 5 Princeton.

This was a different day altogether.

But even though things weren't going quite right, the Lady Monarchs (18-2) were still in the game with 8:34 remaining, down only 1-0.

That's when Anders called time and pulled keeper Staci Smith in the same push-forward setup she did when ODU beat UNC 5-4 in overtime Sept. 20. That time, Rosemarie van der Rijt tied the score, and Kim Miller won it in the extra period.

The move didn't work this time.

``But I'm always going to play to win,'' Anders said.

With Ashleigh Miller playing the field wearing a keepers mask and jersey, and Sarah Augstine subbing for Smith, ODU tried desperately to push forward. But with 7:13 left, Tar Heels leading scorer Kate Barber controlled a free hit, charged the goal and blasted a shot between Ashleigh Miller's legs for a 2-0 cushion.

ODU, however, wouldn't say die. It closed the gap with 2:46 left on a penalty-corner play, with Mimi Smith passing to Evans, who faked to Marina DiGiacomo, then passed to Heather Simon for a shot that went off a defender's stick.

``I thought we were going to tie it, yes I did,'' said Smith. ``But we didn't have a collective effort today, and we waited until the last 10 minutes to play.''

Kim Miller nearly forced overtime when she broke free on the right side of the scoring circle and blasted a shot at the right post that was kicked out by UNC keeper Jana Withrow as time expired.

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