Tar Heels Endure Rain Delay En Route To Shutout Of ASU

Tuesday, September 11

Chapel Hill

6:00 PM

North Carolina

(7-0)

Appalachian State

(4-3)

Appalachian St

North Carolina

Marissa Creatore had two goals on Tuesday against Appalachian State.

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

September 11, 2018 | Field Hockey

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By: UNC Athletic Communications

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The North Carolina field hockey team improved to 7-0 with a win over Appalachian State Tuesday evening at Carolina Field Hockey Stadium. Junior Marissa Creatore and freshman Erin Matson each scored twice in the 6-0 victory, UNC's fourth shutout of the season.

Weather was the theme of the day for the Tar Heels. With Hurricane Florence bearing down on the state, UNC's upcoming home games on Friday (Virginia) and Sunday (James Madison) were announced earlier Tuesday as being postponed, along with the rest of the Tar Heel events scheduled for the weekend. Classes were cancelled for the rest of the week, and the campus emptied out with students headed home or out of the path of the storm. The only mid-week game on UNC's schedule seemed like it might provide a break from talking about the weather, but that did not prove to be the case.

The teams were still scoreless just over nine minutes into the game when a loud clap of thunder brought the action to a halt. A storm rolled through, bringing rain, lightning, and a 1:40 delay. The Tar Heels sang, danced and played an improvised game of field hockey in the locker room before finally getting the go-ahead for a quick warm up and a restart of the game, nearly two hours after it first began.

"We haven't had a delay like that in a long time and I thought our kids handled it well," UNC coach Karen Shelton said. "I was very pleased with the game overall."

Creatore scored quickly, getting her team on the board on its first post-break penalty corner. She tipped in a shot by senior Ashley Hoffman for the only goal UNC would need, in the 11^th minute of play and just a minute into the restart.

Just over three minutes later, she scored again on a corner, this time deflecting in a ball from senior Malin Evert.

In the 30^th minute of play, junior Feline Guenther carried the ball along the right baseline then sent a shot bouncing past Mountaineers keeper Rachel Gaines to put UNC up 3-0.

Two minutes before halftime, Matson got her first goal of the day, carrying the ball into the circle and backhanding a hard shot into the left side of the cage to put UNC up 4-0 at halftime.

Matson's next goal came in the 49^th minute, on a penalty corner. The ball went off ASU keeper Madison Nuckols and Matson tapped it in from the left post.

She also assisted on the final goal, a penalty corner shot by sophomore Cassie Sumfest, in the 53^rd minute. Matson had the push-in and Guenther had the stick stop as UNC pulled ahead by six.

Hours before gametime, the Tar Heels had talked about last weekend's games in Louisville and areas in which the coaches wanted to see improvement. "I thought that the team implemented those things incredibly well," Shelton said. "Some of it was within the attacking zone, some was with our defensive responsibilities, and on top of that I thought we passed the ball really well – there was good connection and our eyes were up, looking for each other."

The Mountaineers weren't able to get off a shot until the final 10 minutes, but they managed six in that span and also drew three corners. With the loss, they're now 4-3 in their fourth season under Meghan Dawson, a Tar Heel alum who played for UNC from 2007-11 and was part of two NCAA Championship teams.

"It's always a treat to have Meghan come to town and I'm so proud of the way she's developing her program," Shelton said. "From the first year to now I've seen the progress she's made there. She's doing a terrific job and I think everybody is noticing. App has really elevated their team in the last couple of years – it's obvious and it's good to see."

Stay tuned to GoHeels.com and follow @UNCFieldHockey on Twitter for schedule updates. The Tar Heels' next game is on Sept. 21 at Duke.

No. 1 UNC 6, Appalachian State 0
Scoring: UNC – Marissa Creatore (Ashley Hoffman), 10:15; UNC – Creatore (Malin Evert), 13:35; UNC – Feline Guenther, 29:55; UNC – Erin Matson, 32:55; UNC – Matson, 48:10
Shots: UNC 29 (19/10); ASU 6 (0/6)
Penalty corners: UNC 14 (6/8); ASU 3 (0/3)
Goalkeeper saves: UNC 2 (Amanda Hendry, 35:00, 0 goals allowed, 0 saves; Alex Halpin, 35:00, 0 goals allowed, 2 saves); ASU 7 (Rachel Gaines, 35:00, 4 goals allowed, 5 saves; Madison Nuckols, 35:00; 2 goals allowed, 2 saves)
Defensive saves: ASU 2 (Annette Jarosz 1, Brenna Schoenbachler 1)
Records: UNC 7-0, ASU 4-3

UNC Starters: Amanda Hendry, Erin Matson, Catherine Hayden, Ashley Hoffman, Feline Guenther, Malin Evert, Morgan Goetz, Yentl Leemans, Eva van't Hoog, Marissa Creatore
UNC Substitutes: Meredith Sholder, Hannah Griggs, Julia Herrington, Leila Evans, Bryn Boylan, Abby Pitcairn, Ali Rushton, Eva Smolenaars, Courtnie Williamson, Megan DuVernois, Ellen Payne, Alex Halpin