Field Hockey Bounces Back To Shut Out Duke

Sunday, October 4

Durham, NC

Noon

North Carolina

Duke

Romea Riccardo (11) scored her first goal as a Tar Heel in Sunday's win. (Photo by Nat LaDonne.)

Photo by: Duke Athletics

October 4, 2020 | Field Hockey

Box Score

By: UNC Athletic Communications

DURHAM, N.C. – Coming off a loss for the first time since the 2017 season, the North Carolina field hockey team took the field against Duke Sunday afternoon working to get back in the win column. The Tar Heels succeeded, shutting out the host Blue Devils 4-0 with four different players scoring.

UNC improved to 2-1 overall and picked up its first conference win of the fall. Duke fell to 0-3 overall, 0-2 in ACC play. Next up for the Tar Heels is the start of the home season, with games against Virginia on Sunday and Monday at Karen Shelton Stadium. The Sunday game will count in the ACC standings.

"We played much better today than we did at Louisville," said UNC coach Karen Shelton, whose team fell 3-1 Friday to the Cardinals to bring a 47-game winning streak to an end. "I'm really proud of team for bouncing back. Overall this was a really good game for us as we try to mature as the season goes on."

It's always a great day to beat Duke! 📺HIGHLIGHTS from today's W ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/o8idRgHT6h — UNC Field Hockey (@UNCFieldHockey) October 4, 2020

The Tar Heels struck late in the first quarter with the only goal they'd need. In the 13^th minute of play, junior Erin Matson stole the ball just beyond midfield, sprinted to the circle, split two defenders and drilled a shot from the left into the right side of the cage to make it 1-0.

Coming out of halftime, the Tar Heels scored again. Junior forward Meredith Sholder carried the ball into the circle from the right, drew out the keeper and then dished a short pass to senior Eva Smolenaars, who one-touched it in for a 2-0 lead 3:39 into the third quarter.

Carolina added two goals late, scoring twice in the final 5:18 of play. In the 55^th minute, the Tar Heels displayed standout passing to earn their third score. Matson sent a ball into the circle from the right side. Sholder received the pass and drew out the keeper, then passed out to Smolenaars in the middle of the circle. She took a shot that was saved by a Duke defender, but the ball bounced off her stick. Junior Hannah Griggs dove at the left post to tap in the loose ball for a 3-0 lead.

The Tar Heels got their fourth goal on a penalty corner with 3:44 remaining in the game. On a give-and-go with Matson, sophomore defender Romea Riccardo scored her first career goal with a hard shot from the top of the circle.

After being outshot and outcornered in Friday's loss at Louisville, the Tar Heels totaled 17 shots to Duke's three and got eight penalty corners while giving up just one.

"We looked at video on the way home and made good use of our time on the bus," Shelton said. "We had some things to work on, we put all of that in place and played very well at Duke. I was really proud of our defensive ability to tighten up, and of the way we passed the ball on offense."

UNC 4, Duke 0
Scoring: UNC – Erin Matson, 12:58; UNC – Eva Smolenaars (Meredith Sholder), 33:49; UNC – Hannah Griggs, 54:42; UNC – Romea Riccardo (Matson), 56:16
Shots: UNC 17 (4/4/2/7); Duke 3 (1/0/2/0)
Penalty Corners: UNC 8 (1/3/0/4); Duke 1 (0/0/1/0)
Goalkeeper saves: UNC 1 (Amanda Hendry, 58:57, 1 save, 0 goals allowed; Megan Ragusa, 1:03, 0 saves, 0 goals allowed); Duke 4 (Piper Hampsch, 60:00, 4 saves, 4 goals allowed)
Defensive saves: Duke 1 (Eva Nunnink)
Records: UNC 2-1 (1-1 ACC); Duke 0-3 (0-2 ACC)