The No. 1 North Carolina field hockey team defeated No. 20 Liberty 2-1 Saturday afternoon in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Francis E. Henry Stadium.
With the loss, Liberty finishes the season 14-8 overall. North Carolina improves to 18-3 and advances to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Junior midfielder Emma Bozek led the Tar Heels to score in the first seven minutes of the game deflecting a corner shot by Nina Notman.
Tar Heels huddle up! (UNC Athletics)
The Flames worked around goalkeeper Shannon Johnson to tie the game early in the first half.
“The fact that they were able to score and tie it up put pressure on us and we had to withstand long periods of their pressure,” UNC coach Karen Shelton says.
The Tar Heels sealed the game in the 26th minute of play with a goal from Casey Di Nardo for a 2 -1 lead into halftime.
Casey Di Nardo scored the gamewinner against Liberty. (GoHeels.com)
“We did score on two corners but we won a lot more. If we could score on more corners that we’re winning, we could have really put the game away early,” Di Nardo says.
The Tar Heels will face Duke in Chapel Hill Sunday at 2 p.m. in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
“We’ve been here and played back-to-back,” says Coach Shelton. “I know we will take some confidence and fitness into tomorrow’s game.”
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