OT Win Gives Shelton A Record and UNC A Spot In ACC Finals

Friday, November 6

Chapel Hill

4:00 PM

North Carolina

(9-1 (4-1ACC))

Syracuse (ACC Semifinals)

(5-4 (3-2ACC))

Syracuse

North Carolina

Bryn Boylan's penalty stroke in overtime gave the Tar Heels a 4-3 win over Syracuse.

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

November 6, 2020 | Field Hockey

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: UNC Athletic Communications

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – A thrilling 4-3 overtime win over Syracuse on Friday earned the North Carolina field hockey team a spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference finals and made Tar Heel coach Karen Shelton, competing in the stadium that bears her name, the winningest coach in NCAA field hockey history.

UNC senior Bryn Boylan, who came into Friday's game with a total of three goals in her career, scored the first one and the final one for the Tar Heels, with the gamewinner coming on a penalty stroke in the fifth minute of overtime.

With the win, the Tar Heels (9-1) will face Louisville, the only team to have beaten them since the end of the 2017 season, on Sunday at noon at Karen Shelton Stadium for the conference championship. The Cardinals, the top seed in the ACC field, beat UNC 3-1 in Louisville on Oct. 2 to end Carolina's 47-game winning streak. UL advanced Friday with a 5-2 win over Virginia in the day's first semifinal.

Louisville (8-1) will play for its first ACC title, while UNC is after its 23^rd overall and fourth in a row.

A hard-fought win sends us to the ACC Championship! Highlights from tonight's game: ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/8C3KOBpctD
— UNC Field Hockey (@UNCFieldHockey) November 6, 2020

Carolina's path to winning a title on its home turf started with a win over BC on Thursday. That gave Shelton the 700^th victory of her career and equaled the NCAA record. On Friday, she moved ahead of now-retired UConn coach Nancy Stevens to claim the all-time record at 701, but her focus was squarely on the task at hand.

"When we get to postseason we just talk about surviving and advancing," said Shelton, who is 701-165-9 in her 40^th season at UNC. "We know sometimes you have to win ugly. This was an ugly win tonight – both teams gutted through stuff. It was exciting and back and forth – maybe for a spectator it would have been a fun game to watch but as a coach it wasn't all that much fun. But I'm proud of our team for finding a way to win. We wanted to play for a championship, we wanted to have another chance to play Louisville, and we've earned that."

Boylan's first goal came on UNC's first shot of the game just 3:08 into the action. On a penalty corner, the first of the game and the only one by either team in the first quarter, sophomore Madison Orobono stopped the ball then sent a shot toward the left post. Senior Bryn Boylan got her stick on it and poked it past the Orange keeper for a 1-0.

The Tar Heels still led 1-0 at halftime, but Syracuse came out and quickly evened the score. After zero penalty corners through the first two periods, the Orange drew one just 46 seconds into the third quarter and made it count, scoring on a shot by Eefke Van Den Nieuwenhof, assisted by SJ Quigley and Claire Cooke.

The game was still tied at 1-1 going into the fourth quarter, which featured an offensive flurry. First the Tar Heels came up with back-to-back scores to grab a two-goal lead. On a break in the 48^th minute, junior Meredith Sholder passed into the circle from the right side to junior Erin Matson, who buried it in the back of the cage from close range. Just over two minutes later, junior Hannah Griggs carried the ball down the left side and passed to Matson, who drew out the keeper and passed to sophomore Paityn Wirth, who stopped the ball then sent a shot into the empty cage to put UNC up 3-1 with less than 10 minutes remaining in the game.

The Orange answered quickly. Just 37 seconds later, Pleun Lammers scored on an assist from Carly Bothof to make it a one-goal game. The Tar Heels held onto the lead until the final minute of the game. With 48 seconds to play, Hailey Bitters scored on a pass from Carolin Hoffmann to tie the score and send the game into overtime. It was the Orange's second OT game in less than 24 hours, following a win over Duke in Thursday's final quarterfinal game.

The teams played 4:52 into the extra period with two shots by each before Matson was fouled in the circle and the Tar Heels were awarded a stroke. Boylan calmly sent her shot just inside the right post to give UNC the win.

SU led 17-16 in shots and 5-4 in corners. It was just the second time this season that UNC has been outshot and outcornered, with the other the loss at Louisville.

The victory was UNC's second OT win in this abbreviated season – the other was a 5-4 win over Duke on Oct. 18 – and improved the Tar Heels to 7-0 at home this fall.

While the team celebrated its coach after the game with cheers and flowers, Shelton turned the attention to the 40 years' worth of Tar Heels who have run up that record-breaking total. Then she put her focus back on the Tar Heels who will compete for a title on Sunday. "It's a moment to pause and celebrate all the student-athletes that have participated in those wins," she said. "But for me it's about the next game and I'm happy that we're fighting for another ACC Championship."

UNC 4, Syracuse 3, OT
Scoring: UNC – Bryn Boylan (Madison Orobono), 3:08; SU – E. van den Niewenhof (SJ Quigley, Claire Cooke), 30:46; UNC – Erin Matson (Meredith Sholder), 48:31; UNC – Paityn Wirth (Matson), 50:45; SU – Pleun Lammers (Carly Bothof), 51:22; SU – Hailey Bitters (Carolin Hoffmann), 59:12; UNC – Bryn Boylan (penalty stroke), 64:52
Shots: UNC 16 (3/5/2/3/3), SU 17 (2/2/4/7/2)
Penalty Corners: UNC 4 (1/1/2/0/0), SU 5 (0/0/3/2/0)
Goalkeeper Saves: UNC 8 (Amanda Hendry, 64:52, 8 saves, 3 goals allowed); SU 6 (Syd Taylor, 64:52, 6 saves, 4 goals allowed)
Defensive Saves: UNC 1 (Courtnie Williamson)
Records: UNC 9-1, SU 5-4

Gallery: (11-6-2020) UNC Advances To ACC Title Game