After playing its first four games of the season on the road, Carolina finally took the turf at Karen Shelton Stadium on Friday evening. The Tar Heels left little room for doubt against No. 15 Syracuse, crushing the Orange 5-0 in the team’s first ACC game of the year.
UNC slowly but surely turned the screws on the visitors, using goals from Avery Donahue – her first in a Tar Heel uniform – in the first quarter and Pleun Lammers in the second to take a 2-0 lead into halftime. In the third, Jasmina Smolenaars and Ryleigh Heck each found the back of the cage before Molly Catchpole scored her first collegiate in the final minutes.
As a team, Carolina outshot Syracuse, owned a 9-4 advantage in shots on goal and took six penalty corners to the Orange’s three. Syracuse didn’t take a single shot in the fourth quarter. In the UNC cage, goalie Abigail Taylor made four saves to earn the team’s third straight shutout win. Carolina has only allowed two total goals through five games.
The Tar Heels are 5-0 on the season, and dating back to last year have won six straight home games and 12 straight overall. The latter streak will be put to the test when Carolina hits the road again on Sunday, visiting No. 11 Liberty on Sunday at 12 p.m.
Featured image via UNC Field Hockey on Twitter
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