Don’t call it a comeback. Erin Matson’s been here for years.

The UNC field hockey added one more highlight to her extensive Tar Heel reel, scoring a goal in sudden-victory overtime to beat No. 5 Iowa at the ACC-Big Ten Challenge in Winston-Salem. With the win, Carolina swept the Challenge after defeating No. 3 Michigan on Friday.

Though the Tar Heels held the Hawkeyes to just two shots and took 22 of their own, the team found itself down 2-0 early. Both of Iowa’s shots had found the back of the cage, and the two-goal advantage held until halftime.

UNC was finally able to find a way past the terrific play of Hawkeye goalkeeper Grace McGuire in the second half, as Lisa Slinkert slotted home a short-range shot to slice the deficit in half. Freshman Sietske Bruning followed up with her first collegiate goal in the fourth quarter, sending a rebound past McGuire with less than eight minutes to go.

Carolina continued to put pressure on McGuire and the Hawkeye defense throughout the final minutes and into overtime. From halftime until the game-winning goal, UNC outshot Iowa 12-0.

Matson’s winner came four minutes into the extra session, as the fifth-year senior slotted home yet another rebound of a McGuire save to clinch the 3-2 victory. McGuire truly left it all out on the field, making 11 saves on the day. She even earned congratulations from Matson herself during the game.

“It was a hard-fought game,” said head coach Karen Shelton. “As a coach you don’t want to have a game like that, but it’s really good for you. It tested everything that we had, and so early in the season. The good thing is I think we had prepared for being down – we talk about being man-down, goal-down, we practice those scenarios so I felt like the team was prepared.”

The win avenged a loss to the Hawkeyes in the 2021 ACC-Big Ten Challenge, and also moved Carolina to 2-0 on the young season. Both wins have come over Top 5 opponents. UNC will return home this weekend for a brief homestand, hosting Princeton and Penn on Friday and Sunday. The team will then embark on an ambitious stretch of six road games in its next seven, starting with California on September 9.

 

Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Andy Mead

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