In her final regular-season home game as a Tar Heel, Erin Matson had plenty to celebrate. Matson and five other seniors on the No. 1 UNC field hockey team were honored on their Senior Day Sunday against No. 9 Saint Joseph’s in Chapel Hill. After the ceremonies, though, Carolina was all business. The Tar Heels picked up another decisive win, moving to 14-0 on the year with one regular-season game to go.
Freshman Ryleigh Heck stole the show from her senior counterparts, scoring three goals for her second hat trick in three games. Matson scored a goal and dished out three assists to extend her ACC points record, and also moved into second place in career assists in school history. Senior Paityn Wirth and sophomore Kennedy Cliggett also got on the scoresheet with a goal each.
Heck and Matson got to work immediately, as each scored within the first eight minutes of the game to stake Carolina to an early 2-0 lead. Cliggett struck off a Matson assist less than five minutes later, and Wirth’s goal came less than three minutes into the second period. In about 18 minutes of game time, the Tar Heels had already completely buried the Hawks.
Heck waited until the second half to score her final two goals (both assists from Matson), and she now sits at 13 on the year. Heck and Matson have scored 43 of Carolina’s 62 goals this season.
Defensively, Carolina pitched yet another shutout, its seventh of the season and second in the last four games. Kylie Walbert and Abigail Taylor split goalie duties for the Tar Heels.
“I was really pleased with the entire group, and so happy that all of our seniors could play,” said head coach Karen Shelton. “To honor the seniors and have everybody get the chance to play and contribute is a nice feeling. We’ve had some wins that haven’t felt like wins, but this one felt like a win.”
UNC has already clinched the No. 1 seed in next week’s ACC Tournament, and will look to complete a perfect regular season Saturday at Duke. That game will start at noon.
Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Jeffrey A. Camarati
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