Final Four Brings Season's Third Meeting With BC

Friday, November 22

Winston-Salem, N.C.

1:00 PM

North Carolina

Boston College (NCAA Semifinals)

Tickets

huddle
University of North Carolina Field Hockey v Iowa
NCAA Tournament
Karen Shelton Stadium
Chapel Hill, NC
Sunday, November 17, 2019

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

November 21, 2019 | Field Hockey

By: Dana Gelin

Playing as the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row, the top-ranked North Carolina field hockey team will meet No. 7 Boston College Friday in the first of two national semifinal games at Kentner Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C.
The Tar Heels advanced to their 11th consecutive final four by winning a pair of games at home, beating No. 15 Stanford 4-0 in the first round then edging No. 6 Iowa 2-1 in the second to earn a spot in Winston-Salem.
It's the third meeting of the season – with all three in the past month – for UNC and BC. They played in the regular season on Oct. 25 in Chapel Hill and then met again in Newton for the ACC title on Nov. 10.
UNC is the defending NCAA Champion and has won an ACC-record 44 games in a row.

Quick Hits
• North Carolina is in the final four for the 11th year in a row and the 24th time in school history.
• UNC sophomore Abby Pitcairn was announced Thursday evening as the winner of the NCAA Elite 90 Award for field hockey.
• On Nov. 10 in Newton, Mass., UNC beat host Boston College 3-1 to claim the Tar Heels' third consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference title, fourth in five years and 22nd in program history.
• Senior Marissa Creatore was named ACC Tournament MVP after scoring two goals in the championship game. She was joined on the All-Tournament team by senior Yentl Leemans, sophomore Erin Matson and freshman Madison Orobono.
• Erin Matson's current season total of 69 points (27 goals, 15 assists) ranks second on UNC's all-time single season list. With 27 goals, she's tied for second on the single-season list in that category as well.
• UNC has scored on its first penalty corner in four of the past five games (vs. Saint Joseph's, BC in the ACC Championship, Stanford in the NCAA first round, Iowa in the NCAA second round).
• Junior Mimi Leonard and her mom are both part of teams that reached the NCAA Tournament. Leonard is a junior transfer in her first year on the UNC roster after two seasons at Saint Louis and played in Friday's game, making her third appearance of the season. Her mom, Jackie Kane, is the head coach at Fairfield, which (playing at the same time UNC was) took UConn to overtime in Storrs, Conn., on Friday in the first round before falling 2-1.
• UNC has won 44 games in a row – 23 last season and 21 this year – to extend its ACC record for consecutive wins.
• The previous school record for consecutive wins was 29, including the undefeated 1995 season (24-0, with an NCAA title in Winston-Salem) andhe first five games of 1996, when the Tar Heels lost their sixth game (vs. ODU) but went on to win another NCAA title. The NCAA record for consecutive wins is 66 (Old Dominion, 1990-93).
• For the second year in a row, Tar Heels swept the ACC's player of the year honors, with Leemans named Defensive Player of the Year and Matson named Offensive Player of the Year. It marked the fourth year in a row a UNC player has won the defensive honor and the second year in a row Matson has won the offensive award.
• Five Tar Heels were named All-ACC, with Leemans and Matson on the first team and Creatore, senior forward Catherine Hayden and junior goalkeeper Amanda Hendry on the second team.
• UNC has eight seniors this season: Marissa Creatore, Megan DuVernois, Feline Guenther, Alex Halpin, Catherine Hayden, Yentl Leemans, Ellen Payne and Ali Rushton. All were in the starting lineup for Senior Day (vs. Saint Joseph's), although Rushton, who is rehabbing an ACL tear, played for only a minute before subbing out. Seniors accounted for all of the team's goals and assists in the 3-2 win, with Guenther scoring her first two goals of the fall, including the gamewinner in double OT.
• With the win over Boston College on Oct. 25, the Tar Heels completed back-to-back undefeated ACC seasons for the first time since the league expanded to seven teams in 2013.
• Both of UNC's primary goalkeepers, junior Amanda Hendry and senior Alex Halpin, earned ACC Defensive Player of the Week honors this fall. Hendry is the regular starter and has won the honor twice, and Halpin earned it on Oct. 29 after starting in Hendry's place for the BC and ODU games.
• Sophomore Erin Matson was named national and ACC offensive player of the week in back-to-back weeks to open the season. She's the first player ever to win both ACC and national honors in consecutive weeks. She also won both honors in the first week of October. She has won the ACC honor five times this fall and has won the national honor three times.
• The 2019 season was UNC's second in Karen Shelton Stadium. It was dedicated on Oct. 6, 2018 and is the first Carolina athletic playing facility to be named in honor of a woman. Through two seasons of playing there, the Tar Heels have not lost.

UNC in the NCAA Tournament
• UNC is making a record 36th appearance in the NCAA Tournament field.
• Friday's semifinal game is UNC's 97th in NCAA Tournament play, also a record.
• UNC is the top seed in the field for the second year in a row.
• The Tar Heels have 68 NCAA Tournament wins, more than any other school. Maryland is second with 64 (including the Terrapins' first-round win) and Old Dominion is third with 50.
• North Carolina is 68-28 all time in NCAA Tournament play.
• This year's UNC team is the 12th squad to enter the NCAA Tournament field without a loss or a tie. Seven of the previous 11 (including three Carolina teams: 1995, 2007 and 2018) went on to win national championships.
• UNC hosted NCAA Tournament first and second-round games for the 21st time in program history. The Tar Heels are now 30-2 all-time in NCAA Tournament games played in Chapel Hill.
• UNC is 18-5 all-time in semifinals games. In those 18 trips to the championship game, UNC is 7-11.
• UNC won the title the last time the final four was held in Winston-Salem, beating previously-undefeated Maryland 3-2 in the final. The Tar Heels beat Virginia in the semifinal.