UNC Earns 7-1 Road Win At No. 19 Liberty

Sunday, October 7

Lynchburg, Va.

1:00 PM

North Carolina

(13-0)

Liberty

(9-4)

North Carolina

Liberty

The Tar Heels huddle after Sunday's win.

October 7, 2018 | Field Hockey

Box Score

By: UNC Athletic Communications

LYNCHBURG, Va. – With goals from six different players, North Carolina beat host Liberty 7-1 Sunday afternoon in a top-20 field hockey battle. The top-ranked Tar Heels improved to 13-0 this fall while the No. 19 Flames fell to 9-4.

"Playing Liberty at Liberty is tough – they have a great home field advantage and they always have a good crowd," UNC coach Karen Shelton said. "I'm happy for our team we were able to come in and play well, get some early goals and then open it up in the second half and give everyone a chance to play. It was another good day for us."

On an unseasonably warm afternoon at Liberty Field Hockey Field, the Tar Heels took to the turf for the second day in a row, following a 5-1 homefield win over No. 16 Wake Forest Saturday. In the 10^th minute, junior Catherine Hayden put UNC up for good with the first of her two goals on the day, tipping in a long ball from senior Malin Evert for a 1-0 lead.

Four minutes later, Tar Heel freshman Abby Pitcairn added another – the first goal of her career – to make it 2-0 UNC. That score stood for the rest of the half.

After the break, UNC scored five more goals before giving up a late one to the Flames. In the 43^rd minute, senior Ashley Hoffman scored on a penalty corner, assisted by Erin Matson and Yentl Leemans.

In the 50^th minute, Liberty goalkeeper Allison Schaeffer came out to challenge UNC freshman Hannah Griggs on a fast break. Griggs dished to her left to sophomore Bryn Boylan, who shot into the empty cage for a 4-0 lead.

In the 54^th minute Hayden got her second goal of the day, on a pass from Hoffman. Hoffman also assisted on the sixth goal, a score by senior Eva van't Hoog.

UNC's final goal came from defender Courtnie Williamson, who grabbed the ball off a rebound and batted it into the cage for a 7-0 lead in the 61^st minute.

Liberty's score came on a penalty corner with 50 seconds on the clock.

Sophomore Amanda Hendry started the game and played the first 51:55. Her only save was an emphatic one, just before she left the game. With UNC still holding onto the shutout, Liberty was awarded a penalty stroke. Agueda Maroni sent a shot toward the left corner of the cage but Hendry dove to her right to make a stick save and keep the Flames off the scoreboard.

UNC finished with 26 shots to Liberty's 10, nine of which came in the second half. UNC had eight penalty corners and LU had four.

"The most important thing is that we continue to grow as a team," Shelton said. "We want to continue playing good team defense and sharing the ball on offense – we're a better team when we move the ball unselfishly.

"I'm proud of where we are now and hopefully where we're going to go."

Next up for the Tar Heels is a trip to Boston College, where UNC will play an Atlantic Coast Conference game against the Eagles on Friday and a neutral-site matchup with defending NCAA champion Connecticut on Sunday.

No. 1 UNC 7, No. 19 Liberty 1
Scoring: UNC – Catherine Hayden (Malin Evert), 9:33; UNC – Abby Pitcairn, 13:33; UNC – Ashley Hoffman (Yentl Leemans, Erin Matson); UNC – Bryn Boylan (Hannah Griggs), 49:21; UNC – Hayden (Hoffman), 53:23; UNC – Eva van't Hoog (Hoffman), 54:54; UNC – Courtnie Williamson, 60:46; LU – Jill Bolton (Kendra Jones, Mallory Fortenbaugh), 69:10
Shots: UNC 26 (14/12), LU 10 (1/9)
Penalty Corners: UNC 8 (3/5), LU 4 (1/3)
Goalkeeper Saves: UNC 3 (Amanda Hendry, 51:55, 0 goals allowed, 1 save; Alex Halpin, 18:05, 1 goal allowed, 2 saves); LU 10 (Allison Schaeffer, 70:00, 7 goals allowed, 10 saves)
Defensive Saves: UNC 1 (Cassie Sumfest), LU 1 (Mallory Fortenbaugh)
Records: UNC 13-0, LU 9-4