For the third time this year the No. 8 Michigan field hockey team traveled to Chapel Hill, N.C. And for the third time, the Wolverines walked out of Francis E. Henry Stadium disappointed.

The Wolverines entered the first round of the NCAA Tournament with high hopes of restoring their success after two years of sub-.500 play, but thanks to a late goal and a slew of missed opportunities, they left with their sticks held low.

Michigan (5-1 Big Ten, 15-7 overall) entered Saturday’s match as the favorite against No. 12 Old Dominion (13-10). The Wolverines captured the Big Ten crown last weekend in Evanston, Ill., propelled by timely offense. However, the Wolverines couldn’t net a goal after the Lady Monarchs pulled ahead with 2:09 left in the match and fell to Old Dominion, 1-0.

“The loss was obviously heartbreaking for a number of reasons,” senior midfielder Meredith Way said Sunday. “Everybody hates to lose and it ended our season, and not only that, it ends my career as a senior because I’ll never get to wear the block ‘M’ and represent Michigan again for field hockey. So it’s definitely heartbreaking.”

Michigan managed just one shot on goal in the first half, but went on to out-shoot Old Dominion 7-6. The Wolverines also had eight penalty corners — seven in the second half — to the Lady Monarchs’ five. Despite dominating offensively on the stat sheet, it was Old Dominion that was able to take capitalize on a fast break — a key to its offensive production.

“It’s just execution,” Way said about the team’s struggles on corners. “We get shots on goal and everything and they just aren’t falling. Old Dominion played really well on defense. They had some really nice defensive plays in the circle. They played well but we need to execute better and I’m sure that’s one of the things they’ll really be focusing on next year.”

But it was not the defense that lost the game. In the second half of the season the Wolverines have failed to convert on penalty corners — pivotal to a good offense especially in defensive-minded games. That weakness plagued them in this game.

“Our defensive unit all season has been really strong,” Michigan coach Marcia Pankratz said the day after the loss. “We just couldn’t really get anything going on offense. It was kind of a disjointed game for us … I felt confident all game that we were going to hold them. Old Dominion is a good team so to shut them out all game isn’t that easy.”

Way was one of four Wolverines named to All-Big Ten teams. She and redshirt senior forward Paige Laytos were named to the first team while freshman forward Rachael Mack and senior midfielder Alicia Mayer were selected to the second team.

The team’s dramatic turnaround from last year’s 7-14 finish and first-round exit from the Big Ten Tournament is thanks largely to the development of the team under Pankratz, who was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year.

“I can’t really put into words everything that she’s done,” Way said. “She’s pushed us to the absolute limit. That’s the thing about Marcia, when you think that you absolutely cannot go anymore she will push you to that extra level and to that extra gear that you will magically find when she’s telling you to get there … It was always just the little extra stuff that Marcia would push us to do so we could get better and be successful this year.”

Pankratz, however, saw the award as a sign of the team’s hard work and development.

“I think it’s a reflection of how hard the players worked all season and the strength of the staff that we have,” Pankratz said. “Certainly it is a team effort all the way around including the players and the coaching staff and the support staff.”