For the first time in three years, there will be a new champion in NCAA field hockey. UNC’s quest for a four-peat ended Friday afternoon in Iowa City, as the Tar Heels fell to Northwestern in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Tar Heels were held to just six shots as a team during the loss, while the Wildcats got off 13. This is the third time this season Carolina has been shut out.

The game was a defensive struggle until the fourth quarter, when the Wildcats finally were able to break the scoreless deadlock. Ana Medina Garcia scored the first goal with 11:30 remaining in the game, but Carolina had a golden opportunity to even things up on a penalty corner a few minutes later. With goalie Abigail Taylor on the sideline for an extra attacker, Jasmina Smolenaars fired a shot off a pass from her sister Eva, but Northwestern’s Annabel Skubisz made one of her four saves on the afternoon to deny the UNC opportunity. With the Carolina cage empty, the Wildcats scored just 11 seconds later to put the game on ice in the frigid weather.

This is UNC’s first NCAA Tournament loss since falling in the 2017 national semifinals to Connecticut, and their first defeat in the first round since 2008. They had made 12 straight Final Fours since then.

Friday’s result is also the first postseason loss in the career of forward Erin Matson. It does not close the book on Matson’s career in Chapel Hill, however, as the Carolina star still has one more year of eligibility remaining with the program due to the NCAA’s COVID-19 protocols for student-athletes.

 

Featured image via Northwestern Athletics

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