Friday, April 23
Chapel Hill
1 PM
North Carolina
(16-1)
3
vs
2
Wake Forest (ACC Automatic Qualifier)
(6-11)
1
2
3
4
5
6
F
Wake Forest
1
0
1
0
0
0
2
North Carolina
1
0
1
0
0
1
3
Teammates rush to congratulate Bryn Boylan after her gamewinning penalty stroke.
Photo by: Andy Mead
Field Hockey Earns NCAA Berth With Fourth Consecutive OT Win
April 23, 2021 | Field Hockey
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Overtime games have been the norm lately for the top-ranked North Carolina field hockey team, which on Friday afternoon at Karen Shelton Stadium played into extra time for the fourth game in a row, a program-record streak.
The way Friday's battle with Wake Forest ended looked familiar as well, with Tar Heel senior Bryn Boylan calmly burying a penalty stroke in the second overtime period to ignite the Carolina celebration. UNC's 3-2 double OT win over the 11th-ranked Demon Deacons came on Boylan's second OT gamewinner this month and earned Carolina the Atlantic Coast Conference's automatic berth in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. The field will be announced on Saturday night at 10 p.m on NCAA.com.
UNC (16-1) and Wake Forest (6-11) met for the fourth time this season, with Carolina having won the previous three and outscored WFU 10-1 overall. But Friday's game, set up to decide the overall conference champion for 2020-21, was even throughout and could have wrapped up with either team celebrating.
"I want to congratulate Wake Forest and the coaching staff for an amazing game – either team could have won it," UNC coach Karen Shelton said. "It was the epitome of an ACC game – clean, hard-fought, exciting. They went up, we tied it, we went up, they tied it, both teams had chances in overtime – it was a fun game to be a part of and a fantastic display of ACC field hockey.
"I'm proud of our kids. To find a way to win in overtime is significant. We practice it and I think we're reasonably good at it, but Wake could have won today."
Wake Forest scored first, in the 11th minute of play on a pass from Immie Gillgrass to Maggie Dickman. The Tar Heels trailed for just under three minutes before junior Erin Matson scored to tie the game. Wake keeper Tori Glaister saved her first shot, but Matson gathered the rebound and sent it back into the cage to make the score 1-1.
The Tar Heels drew a penalty corner a minute in to the third quarter and scored to go up 2-1. Junior Cassie Sumfest had the shot, with Paityn Wirth on the insert and Romea Riccardo on the stop. UNC led until the 44th minute when Wake Forest scored on a penalty corner deflection to make it 2-2.
After that, the score stayed knotted up for more than 30 more minutes of play before Boylan was fouled in the circle and UNC was awarded the stroke. Boylan sent her shot into bottom right corner of the cage for the win and is now three-for-three in penalty stroke attempts this season, with all three cfor game-winners. She also scored to beat Duke in double overtime on April 2, in UNC's most recent home game, and to beat Syracuse in overtime in the ACC Tournament semifinal game, back in November.
"I'm happy to be able to convert for my team," Boylan said. "Strokers tend to get a lot of the credit, but this was definitely a team win."
UNC is now 6-0 in overtime games this season.
Friday's game was designed as a matchup between the fall tournament champion and the spring champion, with the winner getting the conference's automatic bid. With UNC winning both, Wake Forest got the other spot as the spring runner-up.
As the ACC's automatic qualifier for the fourth year in a row, the Tar Heels can be sure that when the NCAA bracket comes out on Saturday they'll be making their 18th consecutive tournament appearance and the 37th in program history. UNC has made more NCAA appearances than any other school.
"There's comfort in the automatic bid and that's one of the things that you work for," Shelton said. "Going into this unusual year, we knew we wanted to win the ACC Tournament in the fall and win the AQ in the spring – that's been a goal. Now we enter a second season and everybody is 0-0 and you've got to survive and advance. That will be our goal."
UNC will host NCAA first and second round play at Shelton Stadium on April 30 and May 2 and also will host the final four on May 7 and 9.
No. 1 UNC 3, No. 11 Wake Forest 2, 2OT
Scoring: WFU – Maggie Dickman (Immie Gillgrass). 10:16; UNC – Erin Matson, 13:21; UNC – Cassie Sumfest (Romea Riccardo, Paityn Wirth), 31:10; WFU – Gillgrass (Meike Lanckohr), 43:10; UNC – Bryn Boylan (penalty stroke), 73:24
Shots: UNC 19 (2/4/3/5/3/2), WFU 16 (4/0/7/2/3/0)
Penalty corners: UNC 6 (0/2/3/0/1/0), WFU 4 (1/0/2/1/0/0)
Goalkeeper saves: UNC 5 (Amanda Hendry, 73:24, 2 goals allowed, 5 saves); WFU 7 (Tori Glaister, 73:24, 3 goals allowed, 7 saves)
Records: UNC 16-1, WFU 6-11
The way Friday's battle with Wake Forest ended looked familiar as well, with Tar Heel senior Bryn Boylan calmly burying a penalty stroke in the second overtime period to ignite the Carolina celebration. UNC's 3-2 double OT win over the 11th-ranked Demon Deacons came on Boylan's second OT gamewinner this month and earned Carolina the Atlantic Coast Conference's automatic berth in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. The field will be announced on Saturday night at 10 p.m on NCAA.com.
Fall season 🏆
Spring season 🏆
Highlights from our win in the ACC's Automatic Qualifier ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/D1gWHjZwBA— UNC Field Hockey (@UNCFieldHockey) April 23, 2021
UNC (16-1) and Wake Forest (6-11) met for the fourth time this season, with Carolina having won the previous three and outscored WFU 10-1 overall. But Friday's game, set up to decide the overall conference champion for 2020-21, was even throughout and could have wrapped up with either team celebrating.
"I want to congratulate Wake Forest and the coaching staff for an amazing game – either team could have won it," UNC coach Karen Shelton said. "It was the epitome of an ACC game – clean, hard-fought, exciting. They went up, we tied it, we went up, they tied it, both teams had chances in overtime – it was a fun game to be a part of and a fantastic display of ACC field hockey.
"I'm proud of our kids. To find a way to win in overtime is significant. We practice it and I think we're reasonably good at it, but Wake could have won today."
Wake Forest scored first, in the 11th minute of play on a pass from Immie Gillgrass to Maggie Dickman. The Tar Heels trailed for just under three minutes before junior Erin Matson scored to tie the game. Wake keeper Tori Glaister saved her first shot, but Matson gathered the rebound and sent it back into the cage to make the score 1-1.
The Tar Heels drew a penalty corner a minute in to the third quarter and scored to go up 2-1. Junior Cassie Sumfest had the shot, with Paityn Wirth on the insert and Romea Riccardo on the stop. UNC led until the 44th minute when Wake Forest scored on a penalty corner deflection to make it 2-2.
After that, the score stayed knotted up for more than 30 more minutes of play before Boylan was fouled in the circle and UNC was awarded the stroke. Boylan sent her shot into bottom right corner of the cage for the win and is now three-for-three in penalty stroke attempts this season, with all three cfor game-winners. She also scored to beat Duke in double overtime on April 2, in UNC's most recent home game, and to beat Syracuse in overtime in the ACC Tournament semifinal game, back in November.
"I'm happy to be able to convert for my team," Boylan said. "Strokers tend to get a lot of the credit, but this was definitely a team win."
UNC is now 6-0 in overtime games this season.
Friday's game was designed as a matchup between the fall tournament champion and the spring champion, with the winner getting the conference's automatic bid. With UNC winning both, Wake Forest got the other spot as the spring runner-up.
As the ACC's automatic qualifier for the fourth year in a row, the Tar Heels can be sure that when the NCAA bracket comes out on Saturday they'll be making their 18th consecutive tournament appearance and the 37th in program history. UNC has made more NCAA appearances than any other school.
"There's comfort in the automatic bid and that's one of the things that you work for," Shelton said. "Going into this unusual year, we knew we wanted to win the ACC Tournament in the fall and win the AQ in the spring – that's been a goal. Now we enter a second season and everybody is 0-0 and you've got to survive and advance. That will be our goal."
UNC will host NCAA first and second round play at Shelton Stadium on April 30 and May 2 and also will host the final four on May 7 and 9.
No. 1 UNC 3, No. 11 Wake Forest 2, 2OT
Scoring: WFU – Maggie Dickman (Immie Gillgrass). 10:16; UNC – Erin Matson, 13:21; UNC – Cassie Sumfest (Romea Riccardo, Paityn Wirth), 31:10; WFU – Gillgrass (Meike Lanckohr), 43:10; UNC – Bryn Boylan (penalty stroke), 73:24
Shots: UNC 19 (2/4/3/5/3/2), WFU 16 (4/0/7/2/3/0)
Penalty corners: UNC 6 (0/2/3/0/1/0), WFU 4 (1/0/2/1/0/0)
Goalkeeper saves: UNC 5 (Amanda Hendry, 73:24, 2 goals allowed, 5 saves); WFU 7 (Tori Glaister, 73:24, 3 goals allowed, 7 saves)
Records: UNC 16-1, WFU 6-11
Team Stats
WAKE
NC
Goals
2
3
Shots
16
19
Shots on Goal
7
10
Saves
7
5
Corners
4
6
Offsides
0
0
Fouls
0
0
Scoring Plays
Maggie Dickman (2)
Assisted By: Immie Gillgrass
GOAL by WAKE Maggie Dickman (FIRST GOAL), Assist by Immie Gillgrass, goal number 2 for season.
10:16
Erin Matson (25)
On rebound after first shot was saved
13:12
Cassie Sumfest (5)
Assisted By: Romea Riccardo , Paityn Wirth
Penalty corners
31:10
Immie Gillgrass (1)
Assisted By: Lee Ann Gordon
Deflection on corner
43:10
Bryn Boylan (5)
NC Bryn Boylan PENALTY STROKE GOAL, goal number 5 for season.
73:24
Game Leaders
Players
Shots
7
SOG
3
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
3
SOG
2
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
2
SOG
2
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
2
SOG
1
Goals
0
Assists
1
Players Mentioned
Forward/Midfielder
/ Field Hockey
Goalkeeper
/ Field HockeyForward
/ Field Hockey
Back
/ Field HockeyBack
/ Field HockeyMidfielder
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