It seems regular season results don’t matter too much to the UNC field hockey team come postseason time. The Tar Heels entered Friday’s ACC semifinal against Syracuse trying to avenge a humbling 5-0 defeat to the Orange in October. They did so convincingly, taking down the tournament hosts 4-1 to advance to Sunday’s ACC Championship Game. Oh, and they did it without head coach Karen Shelton.
Shelton was banned from coaching Friday’s game after receiving a red card late in Thursday’s quarterfinal win over Wake Forest. She will return to the sideline Sunday.
Carolina blew the game open in the second quarter, putting three goals past the Orange defense. Four-time reigning ACC Offensive Player of the Year Erin Matson, who scored two goals in the win over the Demon Deacons, accounted for all three scores. She amassed a hat trick in 11 minutes of game action.
Matson’s first came on a penalty stroke less than a minute into the quarter. Her second and third of the game (and 25th and 26th this season) came within two minutes of each other later in the period.
UNC held their 3-0 lead into the fourth quarter, when Hannah Griggs’ eighth goal of the season truly put the contest on ice. Matson picked up the assist on the breakaway effort, her 10th of the campaign.
Though Syracuse eventually scored late in the fourth, the game stood as freshman goalie Abigail Taylor’s most impressive effort of the season. The Orange outshot Carolina 16-8 and took 11 penalty corners, but Taylor was up to the task, tying her season-best mark with seven saves on the day.
Next up: ACC Championship on Sunday 😎
Highlights from the semifinal win over Syracuse ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/xO3VXhj9Kr
— UNC Field Hockey (@UNCFieldHockey) November 5, 2021
The No. 3 seed Tar Heels will take the field again Sunday in the ACC Championship Game, though perhaps not against the opponent they expected. No. 5 seed Virginia upset the tournament’s top seed, Louisville, on penalty strokes in the first semifinal. The championship game will be a rematch of Carolina’s regular season finale, a 3-2 road win for the Tar Heels in which Matson scored the game-winning goal in overtime. It will be played at noon on ACC Network.
Featured image via Atlantic Coast Conference
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