Carolina Claims ACC Regular-Season Crown With Perfect Record

Friday, October 12

Newton, Mass

5:00 PM

North Carolina

(14-0, 6-0ACC)

Boston College

(8-5, 2-3ACC)

North Carolina

Boston College

UNC claimed the ACC regular-season title Friday with a 4-1 win over BC.

October 12, 2018 | Field Hockey

Box Score

By: UNC Athletic Communications

NEWTON, Mass. –The top-ranked North Carolina field hockey team beat No. 12 Boston College 4-1 Friday to finish Atlantic Coast Conference play 6-0 and claim the regular-season conference championship. The Tar Heels improved to 14-0 overall, while host BC fell to 8-5 overall (2-3 ACC).

"Hats off to Boston College," UNC coach Karen Shelton said. "They outshot us and outcornered us, and they had a good game plan and really disrupted the way we play.

"I'm very pleased to get the win but I think we need to do better when we have that kind of pressure. BC gave us everything we could handle."

The Tar Heels finished ACC play undefeated for the 15^th time in school history, the first since 2012.

Boston College opened the scoring with a goal in the 11^th minute of play. Lucy Lytle's score put the Eagles up 1-0, marking the fourth time this season that UNC has played from behind after an opponent scored first.

But as they have on the other occasions, the Tar Heels came back. In the 19^th minute of play, junior Catherine Hayden sent a pass to right in front of the cage. Junior Marissa Creatore scrambled for the ball and put it in for her sixth goal of the season and a tie game.

BC threatened to retake the lead four minutes later, but sophomore Cassie Sumfest's defensive save, in which she reached to stop the ball just before it crossed the goal line, kept the game tied at 1-1.

In the 25^th minute, Hayden, who already led the ACC in gamewinning goals, added to that total with her seventh of the fall. Creatore carried the ball to the top of the arc and sent it in to Hayden, who turned and sent a hard shot into the boards for a 2-1 advantage and a lead UNC wouldn't give up.

Carolina added two more goals in the second half. In the 40^th minute, senior Ashley Hoffman scored on a penalty corner, assisted by Erin Matson on the push-in and junior Yentl Leemans on the stick stop. It was the team's only penalty corner of the second half and one of just three for the game, tying UNC's second-lowest total of the fall.

In the 54^th minute, Tar Heel senior Eva van't Hoog scored to make it 4-1.

UNC was outshot for the first time all season, getting off eight shots while allowing nine.

"We didn't play great tonight but we came from behind and found a way to win," Shelton said.

/The Tar Heels now look ahead to Sunday's neutral-site matchup with fifth-ranked Connecticut. The teams last faced off in the 2017 NCAA semifinals, when the Huskies ended UNC's season in a penalty shootout and then went on to win the national title.

"UConn is a new and different team this year, but we know they'll be well coached and well disciplined," Shelton said. "It should be a great match."

Connecticut is 11-2 following a 6-0 homefield win over Villanova on Friday.

"Coach always says the next game is the most important," Creatore said as the team finished its postgame stretch and prepared to leave the field at BC. "We've been focusing on this one all week and now we'll focus on UConn."

No. 1 UNC 4, No. 12 BC 1
Scoring: BC – Lucy Lytle (Nell Webber), 10:39; UNC – Marissa Creatore (Catherine Hayden), 18:14; UNC – Hayden (Creatore), 24:11; UNC – Ashley Hoffman (Erin Matson, Yentl Leemans), 39:56; UNC – Eva van't Hoog, 53:16
Shots: UNC 8 (6/2), BC 9 (6/3)
Penalty corners: UNC 3 (2/1), BC 4 (3/1)
Goalkeeper saves: UNC 4 (Amanda Hendry, 70:00, 1 goal allowed, 4 saves); BC 1 (Sarah Dwyer, 53:18, 1 save, 4 goals allowed; Jonna Kennedy, 16:42, 0 goals allowed, 0 saves)
Defensive saves: UNC 1 (Cassie Sumfest)
Records: UNC 14-0 (6-0 ACC), BC 8-5 (2-3 ACC)

UNC starters: Amanda Hendry, Erin Matson, Catherine Hayden, Cassie Sumfest, Ashley Hoffman, Feline Guenther, Malin Evert, Morgan Goetz, Yentl Leemans, Eva van't Hoog, Marissa Creatore
UNC substitutes: Meredith Sholder, Hannah Griggs, Bryn Boylan, Abby Pitcairn, Eva Smolenaars, Courtnie Williamson, Megan DuVernois