Matson's Hat Trick Leads UNC To 3-2 OT Win At UVA

Friday, October 29

Charlottesville, Va.

5 PM

North Carolina

(10-6, 4-2ACC)

Virginia

(10-7, 3-3ACC)

North Carolina

Virginia

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

October 29, 2021 | Field Hockey

Box Score 2021 ACC Tournament Bracket

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Erin Matson is back.

After missing three games with an injury, the Tar Heel senior announced her return loudly on Friday with a hat trick that led her team to an Atlantic Coast Conference field hockey win at Virginia, 3-2 in overtime.

Playing at the Cavaliers' Turf Field, UNC improved to 10-6 on the season and 4-2 in ACC play. Virginia fell to 10-7 (3-3) in the final regular-season game for both teams. With the win, Carolina is the third seed in the upcoming ACC Championship in Syracuse, N.Y., and will take on No. 6 Wake Forest Thursday at 6 p.m. in the third of three quarterfinal games that day.

"It was a great game by two good teams, hard-fought both ways," UNC coach Karen Shelton said. "I thought UVa had the better of us in the first half even though it was tied at halftime. But I thought our Heels fought hard, we turned on some aggression, and we gained an intercept mentality that was lacking in the first half.

"Of course, it's great to have Erin Matson back. She was spectacular and always gives the team a lift."

Matson finished the Virginia game with a total of 103 career goals and now owns the ACC goals record. In moving into the top spot with a trio of goals on the Cavaliers' blue turf, she coincidentally passed two Virginia alums who had held first (Meridith Thorpe, 101 goals from 1995-98) and shared second (Paige Selenski, 100 goals from 2006-10) coming into the game.

UNC led 2-0 early after Matson scored twice in the first 18 minutes of play, and the game looked like it might not be quite so tight. The first came in the 12^th minute of play, when Matson got a pass from junior Romea Riccardo, carried the ball through the circle and toward the baseline, and shot across the cage from the right side, hitting just inside the left post.

Matson scored again in the 18^th minute on a penalty corner, assisted by freshman Jasmina Smolenaars, who received the insert then passed to Matson at the center of the circle. Matson received then took a quick shot to put her team up 2-0 and make her the ACC's goals leader.

But the Cavaliers stormed back to tie the game up before halftime. Just over a minute after Matson's second goal, Makayla Gallen came up with one on a second effort to make the score 2-1. In the 28^th minute, Laura Janssen popped a shot up and over UNC keeper Abigail Taylor and into the cage to make the score even at halftime.

There it stayed through the next 30 minutes and into overtime. For UNC, it was the second overtime contest in a row after the Tar Heels fell 3-2 at home last Friday to No. 4 Louisville. This time, the result was flipped, although not without suspense.

Matson's game winner was a study in perseverance, as she made a run from midfield, got tripped up, lost the ball and landed on the turf, then got up and ran into the circle as Smolenaars controlled the ball on the left side. Smolenaars passed to Matson, who settled the ball in the center of the circle as the keeper came out to challenge. When Matson got around the keeper and took a shot, the ball rebounded off a Virginia player who leaned in low to make the stop. The ball then dribbled toward the open cage and Matson battled another Virginia defender to get to it and knock it in, again falling to the turf.

After Matson finally got it into the cage and the Tar Heels celebrated briefly, the officials took several minutes to review the score before announcing that it would stand.

UNC led 13-10 in shots for the game, including 3-0 in the overtime period. The Tar Heels also held the advantage in penalty corners, 6-2.

The past two games are the Carolina's only overtime contests this season.

"When you get to overtime it can go either way," Shelton said. "It was a great game by both teams and I'm proud of how hard we played."

The win was UNC's ninth in a row in the series against Virginia. The most recent matchup was also a 3-2 overtime win in Charlottesville, back on April 9^th.

No. 10 UNC 3, No. 16 Virginia 2, OT
Scoring: UNC – Erin Matson, 11:43; UNC – Matson (Jasmina Smolenaars), 17:51; UVa – Makayla Gallen, 19:06; UVa – Laura Janssen (Peyton Tollaksen), 27:24; UNC – Matson, 64:31
Shots: UNC 13 (4/3/3/0/3), UVa 10 (1/6/1/2/0)
Penalty corners: UNC 6 (3/2/1/0/0/), UVa 2 (0/2/0/0/0)
Goalkeeper saves: UNC 2 (Abigail Taylor, 64:31, 2 goals allowed, 2 saves), UVa 5 (Tyler Kennedy, 64:31, 3 goals allowed, 5 saves)
Defensive saves: UNC 1 (Kelly Smith)
Records: UNC 10-6 (4-2 ACC), UVa 10-7 (3-3 ACC)