Tar Heels Top Huskies 2-1 In Neutral-Site Matchup

Sunday, October 14

Newton, Mass

11:00 AM

North Carolina

(15-0)

Connecticut

(12-3)

Connecticut

North Carolina

Junior Marissa Creatore scored the gamewinner Sunday against Connecticut.

October 14, 2018 | Field Hockey

Box Score

By: UNC Athletic Communications

NEWTON, Mass. – Only two teams have sat atop the Division I field hockey national rankings this season: Connecticut, the defending NCAA champion and the No. 1 in the first two polls this fall, and North Carolina. Sunday the two faced off in a neutral-site matchup at Newton Field Hockey Complex that UNC won 2-1 to improve to 15-0 this fall and hold onto the poll's top spot.

Tar Heel forward Marissa Creatore scored the go-ahead goal in the 48^th minute to give UNC its third win this season over a top-five team and its second of the weekend over a ranked team: Carolina beat No. 12 Boston College on Friday to clinch the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season championship, then stayed in Boston to play UConn Sunday morning at the Eagles' home field.

"It was an interesting game for both teams," UNC coach Karen Shelton said. "Both teams come away with valuable tournament experience, even though it wasn't a tournament."

UNC scored first, in the 12^th minute of play. On a penalty corner, UNC's third of the game, senior Malin Evert sent a ball toward the cage and classmate Eva van't Hoog tipped it up and in for a 1-0 lead.

The Tar Heels carried that lead into the second half and through almost nine minutes of that period before the Huskies drew a penalty corner. Kourtney Kennedy's shot, assisted by Svea Boker and Antonia Tiedtke, got past UNC keeper Amanda Hendry to even the game at 1-1.

The tie lasted just over four minutes before Creatore's goal. Freshman Erin Matson had the first shot of the possession, but UConn keeper Cheyen Sprecher made the save. Creatore hustled to track down the ball and fired off a shot right in front of the cage to make it 2-1. "Getting that goal so soon after they scored was important," Shelton said. "And we've been working on rebounds so it was good to see."

Trailing by a goal, the Huskies pulled their keeper with four minutes remaining but the UNC defense didn't break under the pressure of an extra field player. "When they pull the keeper, we want to maintain possession and I think we did a relatively good job of that," Shelton said. "I'm just really proud of the team."

UNC now has a week off before facing Duke in a non-conference contest at home next Sunday, Oct. 21, at 1 p.m. The game, which falls during Carolina's fall break, is the final one at Karen Shelton Stadium for the regular season and the Tar Heels will celebrate Senior Day beforehand.

"This was a long road trip for us with really good experience for us – playing Boston College and UConn was so valuable for our team," Shelton said as the team prepared to head back to Chapel Hill. "Now we'll go home and take a few days off. The kids have been stressed with midterms and papers to write so nice to have fall break coming up and get to decompress a little bit as we prepare for Duke."
No. 1 UNC 2, No. 5 Connecticut 1
Scoring: UNC – Eva van't Hoog (Malin Evert), 11:27; UConn – Kourtney Kennedy (Svea Boker, Antonia Tiedtke, 43:29; UNC – Marissa Creatore
Shots: UNC 16 (10/6), UConn 9 (4/5)
Penalty corners: UNC 7 (5/2), UConn 3 (2/1)
Goalkeeper saves: UNC 4 (Amanda Hendry, 70:00, 1 goal allowed, 4 saves); UConn 7 (Cheyen Sprecher, 66:00, 2 goals allowed, 7 saves; Team, 4:00, 0 goals allowed, 0 saves)
Records: UNC 15-0, UConn 12-3

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 Subs: Meredith Sholder, Hannah Griggs, Bryn Boylan, Abby Pitcairn, Eva Smolenaars, Courtnie Williamson, Riley Fulmer, Megan DuVernois