Field Hockey Rolls To 5-0 Shutout In Regular-Season Finale

Friday, October 30

Chapel Hill

4:30 PM

North Carolina

(7-1 (4-1))

Wake Forest

(2-7 (1-4))

Wake Forest

North Carolina

The Tar Heels won 5-0 Friday with the scoring including three goals by Erin Matson (center), a goal by Meredith Sholder (No. 2) and an assist from Katie Dixon (left)

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

October 30, 2020 | Field Hockey

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By: UNC Athletic Communications

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The North Carolina field hockey team closed out a regular season in which pretty much nothing was regular on Friday, beating Wake Forest 5-0 in an Atlantic Coast Conference matchup at Karen Shelton Stadium. Behind a hat trick from junior Erin Matson, the Tar Heels improved to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in Atlantic Coast Conference play heading into next week's ACC Championship.

Taking on Wake Forest for the second time this fall, Carolina jumped in front early, scoring twice before the game was four minutes old. The Tar Heels drew three penalty corners in a row and scored on the third, with Cassie Sumfest passing off to Matson for the goal in the third minute. UNC drew another just over a minute later and this time Sumfest took the shot, sending her drag flick into the cage between the legs of Wake keeper Tori Glaister. Junior Abby Pitcairn and sophomore Romea Riccardo had the assists as UNC made it 2-0.

Early in the second quarter, junior Meredith Sholder picked off a Wake pass in the circle, got around one defender and sent her shot inside the left post to make it 3-0 UNC at halftime. That trio of scorers – Matson, Sholder and Sumfest – is the same one that scored in the Tar Heels' 3-1 win over the Demon Deacons in Winston-Salem in the season opener back in September. That early game did not count toward the conference standings.

After halftime, Matson added two more goals. In the 48^th minute of play, freshman Katie Dixon carried the ball from the top of the arc to the left side of the circle and rolled a ball toward Matson, who backhanded it past new Wake keeper Ally Butler to make it 4-0.

Matson's third goal came in the 55^th minute when she carried the ball into the circle then got tangled up with a Wake defender in a collision that sent both players to the ground. Matson got up, gathered the ball, and sent a hard shot into the cage to make it 5-0.

The shutout is UNC's third in this fall's eight games. Senior goalkeeper Amanda Hendry made six saves in the first 55:31, then cleared the way for another senior, Megan Ragusa, to finish the game in goal.

Carolina was able to play 13 players off the bench, with redshirt freshmen Steph Weber, Galen Gray and Brooke Behan seeing their first action as Tar Heels.

ACC Championship play starts Thursday at Shelton Stadium. The full bracket will be announced on Sunday after the season's final games.

UNC 5, Wake Forest 0
Scoring: UNC – Erin Matson (Cassie Sumfest), 2:34; UNC – Sumfest (Abby Pitcairn, Romea Riccardo), 3:46; UNC – Meredith Sholder, 19:52; UNC – Erin Matson (Katie Dixon), 47:34; UNC – Matson, 54:52
Shots: UNC 14 (6/3/2/3); WFU 10 (1/7/1/1)
Penalty Corners: UNC 6 (5/0/1/0); WFU 5 (0/3/1/1)
Goalkeeper Saves: UNC 6 (Amanda Hendry, 55:31, 6 saves, 0 goals allowed; Megan Ragusa, 4:29, 0 saves, 0 goals allowed); WFU 2 (Tori Glaister, 30:00, 1 save, 3 goals allowed; Ally Butler, 30:00, 1 save, 2 goals allowed)
Records: UNC 7-1 (4-1 ACC), WFU 2-7 (1-4 ACC)