Hat Trick Comeback Earns Tar Heels Win In Opener

Friday, August 30

Ann Arbor, Mich.

6:00 PM

North Carolina

(1-0)

Michigan (ACC-Big Ten Challenge)

(0-1)

North Carolina

Michigan

The Tar Heels opened the 2019 season Friday with a 4-2 comeback win at Michigan.

August 30, 2019 | Field Hockey

Box Score

By: UNC Athletic Communications

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – No. 1 North Carolina opened the 2019 field hockey season Friday with a top-10 road win, beating No. 7 Michigan 4-2 on its home turf at Phyllis Ocker Field. After UNC trailed early in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, sophomore forward Erin Matson hung up a hat trick in a 10-minute span before halftime, with the third goal putting the Tar Heels ahead for good.

"We could not have started out much worse, but we didn't lose composure," UNC coach Karen Shelton said. "We continued to stay at it and we grew as a team. We're certainly going to work on a better start for Sunday."

The Tar Heels (1-0) take on No. 8 Iowa (1-0) at 2 p.m. on Sunday as the teams switch opponents, with Michigan (0-1) playing Wake Forest (0-1) at 11:30 a.m. In Friday's first game, Iowa beat Wake 2-1 in overtime.

After that dramatic early game, the host team kept the excitement high in the UNC-UM matchup, scoring on its first penalty corner of the game, just 1:48 into the action. It marked the fourth year in a row that UNC has started the season by giving up a goal to the Wolverines – in 2016 and 2017, the Tar Heels trailed early and fell in the season opener. In 2018 in Chapel Hill, Michigan scored the first-ever goal in Karen Shelton Stadium, but then the Tar Heels came back to win 5-1.

Friday, the comeback was not quite as emphatic, but the result was the same. After Michigan's early goal, UNC scored on a penalty corner of its own, just under 16 minutes into the action. Senior Megan DuVernois had the insert, senior Yentl Leeman the stop, and Matson the shot.

UNC drew another corner just under four minutes later and scored again. This time sophomore Abby Pitcairn inserted it, and freshman Madison Orobono had the stop. Leemans took the ball from there and passed it to Matson, who rifled a shot into the left side of the cage.

Michigan answered on its next corner, deflecting in the initial hit from the right side of the cage to tie the score at 2-2 in the 23^rd minute.

Just over a minute after the Wolverines' game-tying goal, Matson pulled the Tar Heels ahead again. Senior forwards Marissa Creatore and Catherine Hayden teamed up to pressure UM into a turnover, and Hayden sent the ball into the circle to Matson, who got around a defender and sent a reverse chip into the cage for a 3-2 lead.

Shelton later described Matson as a "gamechanger," while Matson gave credit to the players around her. "Every one of my goals was a team effort," she said. "They came from pressing and passing. All I can say is we played well together and I'm really happy with how it turned out."

Neither team scored in the third quarter, and the Tar Heels added one more in the fourth, on another penalty corner. Leemans had the initial hit, and Creatore tipped it up and into the cage for the final score.

"Michigan is a very competitive team," Shelton said. "I think they learned from this game, too. I'm thankful we could find a way to win because they're going to beat a lot of good teams this year."

UNC finished with nine shots. The Wolverines had three, one in each of the first three quarters, and they scored on their first two shots of the game.

Shelton complimented the play of redshirt freshman Romea Riccardo, true freshman Madison Orobono and junior Courtnie Williamson, starting defenders who made up a completely new Tar Heel backfield. Riccardo and Orobono saw their first action as Tar Heels, as did freshman Karlijn Goes, who came off the bench to play on the front line.

Leemans also stood out, for both her play (three assists) and her toughness. "She wasn't feeling well and she played pretty much the whole time," Shelton said. "We needed her today and she played while not being 100 percent."

Tar Heel junior Amanda Hendry played the entire game – 60 minutes, in the new format of 15-minute corners – in goal, making one save.

No. 1 North Carolina 4, No. 7 Michigan 2
Scoring: UM – Meg Dowthwaite (G. Fernandez Lacort, Kathryn Peterson), 1:48; UNC – Erin Matson (Megan DuVernois, Yentl Leemans), 15:58; UNC – Matson (Leemans), 19:30; UM – Kayla Reed (Dowthwaite), 22:06; UNC – Matson, 23:19; UNC – Marissa Creatore (Leemans), 58:16
Shots: UNC 9 (1/4/2/2), UM 3 (1/1/1/0)
Corners: UNC 5 (1/2/1/1); UM 3 (1/1/1)
Saves: UNC 1 (Amanda Hendry, 60:00, 1 save, 2 goals allowed); UM 2 (Anna Spieker, 60:00, 2 saves, 4 goals allowed)
Records: UNC 1-0, UM 0-1

UNC starters: Amanda Hendry, Erin Matson, Madison Orobono, Catherine Hayden, Romea Riccardo, Feline Guenther, Yentl Leemans, Eva Smolenaars, Courtnie Williamson, Megan DuVernois, Marissa Creatore
UNC subs: Hannah Griggs, Bryn Boylan, Karlijn Goes, Abby Pitcairn, Riley Fulmer