Another day, another UNC team going to overtime in the ACC Tournament. This time it was the Carolina field hockey team, which found itself tied at two goals apiece with No. 6 seed Wake Forest entering a sudden-death overtime period. And while the men’s soccer team had to play down a man on Wednesday night, the field hockey team would have to play overtime without its head coach.

With just five seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, a red card was assessed to the UNC bench. Officials then asked head coach Karen Shelton to leave the field for the remainder of the game. Due to the infraction, Shelton will not be allowed to coach UNC’s next game in the tournament on Friday. The ACC did not provide a reason for Shelton’s ejection in its press release about the game.

Her dismissal punctuated a thrilling, back-and-forth affair which bore little resemblance to UNC’s 1-0 victory over the Demon Deacons in the regular season. Wake Forest got on the board first, scoring just three minutes into the game on their very first shot. Carolina answered in the second quarter, with ACC Offensive Player of the Year Erin Matson firing home her 22nd goal of the season after a spinning, solo run into the Wake Forest circle.

But the 1-1 tie lasted just 24 seconds, and Wake regained the lead just as quickly as they’d lost it. The 2-1 score would hold until the fourth quarter, when Matson once again struck gold off her own rebound for her 23rd goal of the campaign. It extended her lead as the No. 1 goal-scorer in the nation in 2021, but more importantly tied the game at 2-2.

Once in the overtime period, Carolina gave up a penalty corner to the Demon Deacons within just 30 seconds of play. UNC staved off the Wake opportunity, then earned two penalty corners of their own, the second of which produced the game-winning goal: first-team All-ACC midfielder Cassie Sumfest’s sixth of the season, helped on by Matson’s ninth assist.

Carolina has now won 11 straight meetings against Wake Forest. The win is also UNC’s third overtime game in a row.

Despite the temporary loss of their head coach, the No. 3 seed Tar Heels will continue on into the second round of ACC Tournament play on Friday. They’ll be faced with a rematch against tournament hosts and No. 2 seed Syracuse, who thumped Carolina 5-0 in October. That game will be played at 3:30 p.m.

 

Featured image via Atlantic Coast Conference

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