Sunday, November 7
Syracuse, N.Y.
Noon
North Carolina
(13-6)
1
vs
0
Virginia (ACC Championship)
(12-8)
1
2
3
4
F
Virginia
0
0
0
0
0
North Carolina
0
0
1
0
1
Tar Heels Claim Fifth ACC Title In A Row
November 7, 2021 | Field Hockey
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – For the fifth year in a row and the 24th time in program history, North Carolina celebrated an Atlantic Coast Conference Field Hockey Championship on Sunday, after beating Virginia 1-0 on a sunny afternoon at J.S. Coyne Stadium.
The title earns the Tar Heels (13-6) an automatic NCAA Tournament berth. The 2021 bracket will be announced at 10 p.m. Sunday evening on ncaa.com.
Both third-seeded UNC and fifth-seeded Virginia had to pull off upsets and wait out delays – Thursday's quarterfinal games all were pushed back 90 minutes because of icy conditions – to earn the right to play in Sunday's balmy 50-degree temperatures. Virginia beat top-seeded Louisville in a penalty shootout on Friday and UNC knocked off second-seeded Syracuse, the tournament host, in the other semifinal to advance to the final.
"Congratulations to Virginia for making it to the final," UNC coach Karen Shelton said. "This defensive battle could have gone either way. I'm so proud of our kids – they found a way to win. I thought it would be a matter of who scored first and once we got a goal I felt good about our chances."
Senior forward Erin Matson scored the Tar Heels' lone goal and was named Tournament MVP for the second year in a row. She scored the gamewinner in all three of UNC's Tournament victories, totaling six goals and assisting on the team's other two to set an ACC Tournament record with a total of 14 points. (Her six goals tied the ACC Tournament record.) Freshman goalkeeper Abigail Taylor and senior midfielders Meredith Sholder and Cassie Sumfest joined Matson on the All-Tournament Team.
Matson's gamewinner Sunday came on a penalty corner shortly after halftime. It was one of just two corners the Tar Heels drew all day, a season low, and the only one in which Matson participated. (On the other, in the second quarter, Matson was whistled for a green card and wasn't in the game for the corner play.)
After a scoreless first half in which Carolina threatened on several occasions but only got off two shots, the corner came just 3:43 into the third quarter. Junior Paityn Wirth inserted to junior Madison Orobono for the stop and Matson's shot, which just got past Virginia keeper Tyler Kennedy, gave Carolina a lead it wouldn't give up.
UNC finished with four shots on the day to Virginia's five, one of which came in the game's opening minute. UVa's Makayla Gallen got off a point-blank shot just 38 seconds into the game, but Taylor made the save to keep the Cavaliers from taking an early lead.
"Hats off to Abigail Taylor," Shelton said. "She made a spectacular save right out of the blocks. If Virginia had scored on that one, that would have changed the whole complexion of the game.
"I thought our defense played so well in the second half, keeping them from getting quality shots on target. It was an ugly game for both teams, but we just found a way to gut it out and I'm proud of our group."
Virginia pulled Kennedy with 4:18 to play in favor of an extra field player, but the Tar Heel defense didn't yield down the stretch. The last time UNC earned a shutout in the championship game was in 2017, when the Tar Heels beat host Louisville 1-0.
"It's a different team every year, but we have the same values every year," Matson said. "Coach instills the same ones and we built off of that. A difference this year was all the losses, so we had humility from all of that. Now we're peaking at the right time. We have to keep working hard and keep it going. Today was super special – Carolina blue skies and an awesome environment."
No. 10 UNC 1, No. 14 Virginia
Scoring: UNC – Erin Matson (Paityn Wirth, Madison Orobono), 33:42
Shots: UNC 4 (0/2/2/0), UVA 5 (2/1/0/2)
Penalty corners: UNC 2 (0/1/1/0), UVA 2 (1/0/0/1)
Goalkeeper saves: UNC 2 (Abigail Taylor, 60:00, 0 goals allowed, 2 saves); UVA 0 (Tyler Kennedy, 55:42, 1 goal allowed, 0 saves; Team, 4:18, 0 goals allowed, 0 saves)
Records: UNC 13-6, Virginia 12-8
The title earns the Tar Heels (13-6) an automatic NCAA Tournament berth. The 2021 bracket will be announced at 10 p.m. Sunday evening on ncaa.com.
Both third-seeded UNC and fifth-seeded Virginia had to pull off upsets and wait out delays – Thursday's quarterfinal games all were pushed back 90 minutes because of icy conditions – to earn the right to play in Sunday's balmy 50-degree temperatures. Virginia beat top-seeded Louisville in a penalty shootout on Friday and UNC knocked off second-seeded Syracuse, the tournament host, in the other semifinal to advance to the final.
"Congratulations to Virginia for making it to the final," UNC coach Karen Shelton said. "This defensive battle could have gone either way. I'm so proud of our kids – they found a way to win. I thought it would be a matter of who scored first and once we got a goal I felt good about our chances."
Senior forward Erin Matson scored the Tar Heels' lone goal and was named Tournament MVP for the second year in a row. She scored the gamewinner in all three of UNC's Tournament victories, totaling six goals and assisting on the team's other two to set an ACC Tournament record with a total of 14 points. (Her six goals tied the ACC Tournament record.) Freshman goalkeeper Abigail Taylor and senior midfielders Meredith Sholder and Cassie Sumfest joined Matson on the All-Tournament Team.
Matson's gamewinner Sunday came on a penalty corner shortly after halftime. It was one of just two corners the Tar Heels drew all day, a season low, and the only one in which Matson participated. (On the other, in the second quarter, Matson was whistled for a green card and wasn't in the game for the corner play.)
After a scoreless first half in which Carolina threatened on several occasions but only got off two shots, the corner came just 3:43 into the third quarter. Junior Paityn Wirth inserted to junior Madison Orobono for the stop and Matson's shot, which just got past Virginia keeper Tyler Kennedy, gave Carolina a lead it wouldn't give up.
UNC finished with four shots on the day to Virginia's five, one of which came in the game's opening minute. UVa's Makayla Gallen got off a point-blank shot just 38 seconds into the game, but Taylor made the save to keep the Cavaliers from taking an early lead.
"Hats off to Abigail Taylor," Shelton said. "She made a spectacular save right out of the blocks. If Virginia had scored on that one, that would have changed the whole complexion of the game.
"I thought our defense played so well in the second half, keeping them from getting quality shots on target. It was an ugly game for both teams, but we just found a way to gut it out and I'm proud of our group."
Virginia pulled Kennedy with 4:18 to play in favor of an extra field player, but the Tar Heel defense didn't yield down the stretch. The last time UNC earned a shutout in the championship game was in 2017, when the Tar Heels beat host Louisville 1-0.
"It's a different team every year, but we have the same values every year," Matson said. "Coach instills the same ones and we built off of that. A difference this year was all the losses, so we had humility from all of that. Now we're peaking at the right time. We have to keep working hard and keep it going. Today was super special – Carolina blue skies and an awesome environment."
No. 10 UNC 1, No. 14 Virginia
Scoring: UNC – Erin Matson (Paityn Wirth, Madison Orobono), 33:42
Shots: UNC 4 (0/2/2/0), UVA 5 (2/1/0/2)
Penalty corners: UNC 2 (0/1/1/0), UVA 2 (1/0/0/1)
Goalkeeper saves: UNC 2 (Abigail Taylor, 60:00, 0 goals allowed, 2 saves); UVA 0 (Tyler Kennedy, 55:42, 1 goal allowed, 0 saves; Team, 4:18, 0 goals allowed, 0 saves)
Records: UNC 13-6, Virginia 12-8
Team Stats
VA
NC
Goals
0
1
Shots
5
4
Shots on Goal
2
1
Saves
0
2
Corners
2
2
Offsides
0
0
Fouls
0
0
Scoring Plays
Erin Matson (22)
Assisted By: Paityn Wirth , Madison Orobono
top of circle from corner
33:43
Game Leaders
Players
Shots
2
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
0
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
1
Shots
0
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
1
Shots
1
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
0
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Field HockeyBack
/ Field Hockey
Forward
/ Field HockeyMidfielder
/ Field Hockey
Goalkeeper
/ Field HockeyMidfielder
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