Tar Heels Advance With 4-0 Victory, Shelton's 700th

Thursday, November 5

Chapel Hill

4:45 PM

North Carolina

(8-1 (4-1ACC))

Boston College (ACC Quarterfinals)

(0-3 (0-2ACC))

Boston College

North Carolina

Romea Riccardo, Erin Matson, Riley Fulmer, Britt Schlatmann, Cassie Sumfest, Eva Smolenaars, Meredith Sholder

Eva Smolenaars, Paityn Wirth, and Romea Riccardo

November 5, 2020 | Field Hockey

Box Score ACC Championship Central Game Notes for Friday Photo Gallery

By: UNC Athletic Communications

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (theACC.com) – Wins and milestones have become commonplace for North Carolina head coach Karen Shelton, but Thursday's 4-0 shutout of Boston College in the Atlantic Coast Conference Field Hockey Championship quarterfinals carried more than bit of extra significance.

With the victory in the stadium that bears her name, the second-seeded Tar Heels delivered Shelton her 700th career win, which ties UConn's Nancy Stevens for the most wins in NCAA field hockey history.

🗣 I haven't played one second of any of those 700 wins. I couldn't be more proud of the hundreds of student-athletes that have worked so hard, gotten great degrees and represented UNC so well. – @CoachSheltonUNC#GoHeels pic.twitter.com/n5pUEpvRrp — UNC Field Hockey (@UNCFieldHockey) November 6, 2020

But neither Shelton nor her team had time to dwell on the moment, as they quickly turned their attention to Friday's 4 p.m. semifinal match with third-seeded Syracuse, which beat Duke in overtime in Thursday's last quarterfinal game.

UNC sophomore Paityn Wirth scored the first goal of the match and her third of the season to put UNC up 1-0 midway through the opening quarter. Wirth, a transfer from Penn State, scored again three minutes into the second period, driving home a deflected pass from in front of the net to give the Tar Heels a 2-0 lead.

Madison Orobono's first career goal in the closing seconds of the third quarter made it 3-0. ACC leading scorer Erin Matson capped the scoring by driving home her 10th goal of the season with 2:18 remaining in the match.

The three-time defending ACC champion and two-time defending NCAA champion Tar Heels now stand 56-15 in ACC Field Hockey Championship play as they continue their quest for their 23rd overall title. UNC is now 29-0 in games played at Karen Shelton Stadium.

The Tar Heels outshot the Eagles by a margin of 26-13. Goalkeeper Jonna Kennedy recorded 11 saves for Boston College (0-3), which saw the bulk of its fall season wiped out by cancelations related the COVID-19 pandemic.

UNC keeper Amanda Hendry made nine saves in goal while posting the Tar Heels' fourth shutout of the season.