Coming into Sunday afternoon’s matchup against Penn, the UNC field hockey team had scored seven goals through three games. After the buzzer sounded in Princeton, the Tar Heels had more than doubled their season output, putting nine past the Quakers in a 9-1 rout.
It was quite the result to get Carolina back to .500, with the Tar Heels flexing their muscles against their first unranked opponent of the year.
UNC scored three goals in just the first 15 minutes, with Erin Matson getting the Tar Heels on the board. Eva Smolenaars scored the second and freshman Lisa Slinkert provided the third for her first collegiate goal.
Matson’s second goal marked her 85th as a Tar Heel, a program record. She added a third before the break for a first-half hat trick. With the score at 5-0 Carolina after 30 minutes, Matson had either scored or assisted on all five goals. She ended the afternoon with four goals and two assists, breaking the Cindy Werley’s program record for career points. Werley played in Chapel Hill from 1993 to 1997, and like Matson, she is a two-time Honda Sports Award winner for field hockey.
Kennedy Cliggett and team vice-captain Cassie Sumfest got in on the scoring action in the second half, while Slinkert put home her second of the match to give Carolina their ninth goal.
The Tar Heels’ weekend in New Jersey proved to be just what the program needed after dropping their first two games. Against Princeton and Penn, Carolina outscored their Ivy League foes by a collective 13-2 mark.
The team will stay in the mid-Atlantic region for their next weekend series, to be played in Philadelphia against local schools St. Joseph’s and Drexel.
Featured image via Carolina Athletics
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