Carolina Wins Third OT Game In A Row, 4-3 at Syracuse

Sunday, April 18

Syracuse, N.Y.

1 PM

North Carolina

(15-1, 5-1ACC)

Syracuse

(8-8, 4-6)

North Carolina

Syracuse

The Tar Heels won in overtime at Syracuse on Sunday.

Photo by: Daily Orange

April 18, 2021 | Field Hockey

Box Score

By: UNC Athletic Communications

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The top-ranked North Carolina field hockey team won its third overtime game in a row on Sunday, beating host Syracuse 4-3 on a goal by junior Erin Matson in the 67^th minute of play.

With the OT win, UNC improved to 15-1 overall and 5-0 this spring. The Tar Heels now head into the postseason and will host Wake Forest on Friday at 1 p.m. in a one-game playoff for the Atlantic Coast Conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. The game will air live on the ACC Network.

"I'm incredibly proud of our team – Syracuse is always a tough place to win," UNC coach Karen Shelton said. "We found a way to win and we'll take away important lessons from this game – we pulled the keeper, played man-up, played man-down ... there was a little bit of everything. It was a great game to win, but we still have a lot of work to do."

Matson scored three of UNC's four goals against the 11^th-ranked Orange (8-8) to record a hat trick for the second game in a row. In the Tar Heels' previous game, an overtime win at Virginia on April 9, Matson had all three goals, including the gamewinner. The forward from Chadds Ford, Pa., has scored 11 of UNC's 15 goals over the five spring games.

The first quarter was scoreless until the final minute of the period. With 33 seconds to play in the first quarter, Tar Heel forward Hannah Griggs put her team on the board, scoring from the front of the cage on a pass that freshman Katie Dixon lifted over the diving keeper.

Less than five minutes into the second quarter UNC got another, with Matson scoring on a penalty corner, assisted by Eva Smolenaars on the insert and Romea Riccardo on the stick stop to give the Tar Heels a 2-0 lead at halftime

Goalkeeper Amanda Hendry made three saves in the first half as the Tar Heels got off just three shots but put all three on goal.

Syracuse scored twice in the third quarter to even the game. The first goal came just over two minutes after halftime on a deflection by Hailey Bitters. The second was in the 44^th minute, with Eefke Van Den Nieuwenhof scoring on the penalty corner, assisted by Florine van Boetzelaer.

The Orange pulled ahead in the 53^rd minute scoring on another penalty corner deflection, this one by Pleun Lammers. UNC immediately pulled Hendry in favor of an additional field player. Just under three minutes later, the Tar Heels drew a corner and Matson blasted her shot into the cage, assisted by Riccardo and Paityn Wirth. "Erin is one of the greatest competitors we've had the privilege to coach," Shelton said. "When the game is on the line she wants the ball."

With the game tied up at 3-3, Hendry reentered and the teams played out the final 5:22 of regulation without a goal.

After an SU yellow card 2:58 into overtime, the Tar Heels played with the man-up advantage the rest of the way. In the 67^th minute, Matson and Meredith Sholder double-teamed an Orange player to force a turnover. Matson came up with the ball and sent it across the field to senior Eva Smolenaars, who passed ahead to Wirth. The sophomore forward carried the ball into the circle and controlled it long enough for Matson to get in place, positioning herself just to the keeper's right where she could get a stick on Wirth's pass and give the Tar Heels the win.

"I'm pleased with Paityn's assist on the gamewinning goal – she's shown great growth," Shelton said. "That was a team goal. Erin got herself in the right place at the right time, but she's got to have her teammates' help too. Paityn had pressure on her and was able to control the ball and find Erin."

The last time the Tar Heels played three overtime games in a row was in the 1993 NCAA Tournament, when they won the first two and lost the third. This time around they made it three for three to wrap up the regular-season portion of the spring.

The Tar Heels finished with just seven shots, half as many as the Orange took and equal to their season low, which was set last October at Louisville in the team's only loss of the year.

UNC earned the right to play in, and host, the automatic qualifier game by winning the ACC Tournament last November. The game is meant to pair up the fall and spring champions, but with Carolina taking both titles the spring runner-up gets a berth. Wake Forest and Boston College tied at 3-2 in the spring and WFU got the nod based on the head-to-head result, in which the Demon Deacons beat BC 3-0.

No. 1 UNC 4, No. 11 Syracuse 3
Scoring: UNC – Hannah Griggs (Katie Dixon), 14:27; UNC – Erin Matson (Romea Riccardo, Eva Smolenaars), 19:39; SU – Hailey Bitters (Charlotte de Vries), 32:05; SU – E. van den Niewenhof (F. van Boetzelaer), 43:40; SU – Pleun Lammers (Romee Joosten), 52:03; UNC – Matson (Wirth, Riccardo), 54:38; UNC – Matson (Wirth), 66:43
Shots: UNC 7 (2/1/1/1/2), SU 14 (5/0/4/4/1)
Penalty corners: UNC 3 (1/1/0/1/0), SU 7 (4/0/1/2/0)
Goalkeeper saves: UNC 4 (Amanda Hendry, 64:06, 4 saves, 3 goals allowed; Team, 2:37); SU 2 (Emily Streib, 66:43, 2 saves, 4 goals allowed)
Records: UNC 15-1, Syracuse 8-8