Moyer's Hat Trick Leads UNC Over Louisville

Thursday, November 3

Winston-Salem, N.C.

11:00 AM

North Carolina

(16-4, 3-3ACC)

Louisville (ACC Quarterfinals)

(15-5, 3-3ACC)

North Carolina

Louisville

November 3, 2016 | Field Hockey

Box Score

By: UNC Athletic Communications

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Senior Lauren Moyer earned the first hat trick of her Carolina career Thursday, leading UNC to a dramatic 3-2 win over Louisville in the ACC Field Hockey Championship quarterfinals on Thursday at Wake Forest's Kentner Stadium. But rather than revel in the glory after the win, Moyer quickly pointed out that she was just the one who touched the ball last.

“It didn't matter who was going to score the goals as long as we were going to end up winning the game,” she said. “I was happy to get the goals and do that for my team, but it was a whole team effort. My stick was on the ball at the end.”

In this case, it truly was the end: the gamewinner came on a penalty corner taken with no time remaining on the clock. The final score was the Tar Heels' only lead of the game but it was enough to propel them on to a spot in Friday's semifinals. The fifth-ranked, fifth-seeded Tar Heels (16-4) will face top-ranked Duke at 1 p.m. with the winner moving on to the league championship game on Sunday at 1.

“Lauren is an emotional leader for us and came through for us today,” UNC coach Karen Shelton said. “But those goals were also the result of a lot of other people doing their job and doing them well, and believing we could do it. Belief was important for us today.”

The Tar Heels trailed for more than 65 minutes, after Louisville scored early, on a penalty corner just 4:25 into the game. The Cardinals added another goal five minutes before halftime to lead 2-0 at the break. “While things weren't looking so good at halftime, our team knew that 2-0 is a dangerous lead for anyone,” Shelton said. “Once you get the first one it changes the complexion of the game and that's what happened.”

That first one for UNC came 15 minutes into the second half, when Moyer received a long pass from sophomore Ashley Hoffman, carried the ball into the circle and, with three defenders surrounding her, slid a shot from the left side into the right corner of the cage. The Tar Heels continued to threaten, drawing two quick corners but failing to capitalize on either. Then, with 7:50 remaining, Shelton called a timeout and pulled goalkeeper Alex Halpin in favor of an additional field player. The gamble paid off less than two minutes later, as junior Gab Major passed the ball into the circle from the right baseline and senior Emma Bozek flipped it to Moyer, positioned on the left side of the goal. Moyer's shot into the top of the cage tied the score with six minutes to play and Halpin quickly re-entered. “We had the belief that we could come back and that's what we did,” Moyer said.

Carolina opened the 2016 season back in August on this same field, with a 1-0 loss to Michigan in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. In that game, the Wolverines scored on a penalty corner with no time on the clock. This time, the Tar Heels were on the other side of the fence. They were awarded a penalty corner with 10 seconds to play, and they took it with no time remaining, knowing it was the final play of the game. “We knew that either it would end in a tie and go into overtime and we were feeling confident about that, or we were going to score and win the game,” Moyer said.” It was a good spot to be in.”

Major inserted the ball, senior Julia Young stopped it, and Moyer drilled a shot past UL keeper Ayeisha McFerran for the win. The victory avenged one of UNC's three ACC losses during the year: the Cardinals won 1-0 on their home field on Oct. 15. UNC also lost its next conference game, the final one of the season, to Duke, which the Tar Heels will face Friday.

“I'm proud of our team for coming back from two goals against an excellent Louisville team,” Shelton said. “We were persistent and we stayed together. It wasn't our best game, but it was enough. Going forward these kinds of games only help you, to know that you have the ability to come from behind like that, to confidently be able to pull the goalkeeper and execute it like we did, and execute a corner with no time on the clock. All of those things you bank for later.

“And we advance in the ACC Tournament, which everybody knows is the toughest conference in the country. To have the redemption of beating a team that beat us in the regular season is important for our group, and we get a shot at playing Duke again.”

No. 5 UNC 3, No. 8 Louisville 2

Scoring: UL – Abby Grimes (Erin McCrudden, Marigrace Ragsdale), 4:25; UL – Minout Mink, 30:09; UNC – Lauren Moyer, 50:35; UNC – Moyer (Emma Bozek), 64:01; UNC – Moyer (Julia Young, Gab Major), 70:00

Shots: UNC 14 (4/10), UL 3 (2/1)

Penalty corners: UNC 7 (3/4), UL 2 (1/1)

Goalkeeper saves: UNC 0 (Alex Halpin, 68:09, 2 goals allowed, 0 saves; Team, 1:51); UL 3 (Ayeisha McFerran, 70:00, 3 goals allowed, 3 saves)

Records: UNC 16-4, Louisville 15-5

UNC starters: Alex Halpin, Lauren Moyer, Kristy Bernatchez, Eef Andriessen, Ashley Hoffman, Emma Bozek, Malin Evert, Julia Young, Morgan Goetz, Eva van't Hoog, Gab Major