Carolina defeated both Cal and Stanford at Karen Shelton Stadium during the weekend to continue its perfect start to the 2025 season. The two games were the first ACC contests of the season for the Tar Heels.
Against Cal Friday evening, Ryleigh Heck paced the UNC offense by assisting Charly Bruder for the Tar Heels’ first goal and then scoring two goals of her own, the second of which came with Heck’s back turned toward the Cal cage.
Eliza Perrin and Virginia transfer Dani Mendez also scored for Carolina, which outshot Cal 16-9 overall and held Cal without a single shot in the third quarter.
In the UNC cage, goalies Merritt Skubisz and Katie Wimmer split the 60 minutes of action, with the pair combining to make three saves.
Heck spearheaded an offensive explosion against the Cardinal on Sunday, scoring a season-high five goals as UNC defeated Stanford 8-1. The senior nearly doubled her goal output for the season, as she entered Sunday with seven goals all year long.
Charly Bruder opened the scoring at the 5:03 mark of the first quarter, but Heck accounted for each of Carolina’s next four goals in a span of less than 10 minutes of game time. UNC led 5-1 at halftime, and Heck added her fifth goal 45 seconds into the fourth quarter.
The Tar Heels outshot the Cardinal 34-5 overall and held a 22-4 advantage in shots on target. UNC totaled at least 10 shots in each of the first three quarters before letting up in the fourth.
The two wins move UNC to 8-0 overall on the season and 2-0 in league play. Up next for the Tar Heels is a four-game road trip, starting with a visit to No. 20 Wake Forest in Winston-Salem Friday at 5 p.m.
Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Nate Skvoretz
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