Field Hockey Wins At Virginia In OT

Friday, April 9

Charlottesville, Va.

2 PM

North Carolina

(14-1, 4-0ACC)

Virginia

(6-11, 1-4ACC)

North Carolina

Virginia

The Tar Heels won 3-2 in overtime at Virginia on Friday.

Photo by: UVA MEDIA RELATIONS

April 9, 2021 | Field Hockey

Box Score

By: UNC Athletic Communications

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – For the second game in a row, regulation wasn't enough time to decide a winner and the UNC field hockey team played into overtime. And for the second game in a row, the top-ranked Tar Heels were the ones celebrating at the end.

Junior Erin Matson's third goal of the game just 58 seconds into overtime gave UNC the 3-2 victory over No. 12 Virginia Friday afternoon at the Cavaliers' Turf Field. The Tar Heels improved to 14-1 overall and 4-0 in Atlantic Coast Conference play this spring while UVA fell to 6-11 overall, 1-4 this spring.

"I'm delighted with the overtime execution," UNC coach Karen Shelton said. "We took the pushback and never let UVA get a touch. I'm really pleased with the win and relieved to come out of Charlottesville with a victory."

A week after a 4-3 double-overtime win over Duke on their home turf at Karen Shelton Stadium, the Tar Heels headed north for their second road game of the spring. After a scoreless first period, Matson scored twice in the second quarter, the first on a penalty corner in the 22^nd minute, assisted by Paityn Wirth and Madison Orobono.

Matson added another 10 seconds before halftime. She stole the ball from a Cavalier and dished it off to junior Hannah Griggs, who sent it right back to her for a hard shot from the left baseline and a two-goal lead heading into halftime.

"Credit to Virginia," Shelton said. "They didn't fold, they came out and played well in the second half." The Cavaliers scored two goals off penalty corner deflections, one in the third quarter and then again with less than five minutes remaining in regulation to tie the game at 2-2. Virginia outshot UNC 9-3 in the second half and 16-14 for the game, but the Tar Heels got the one that counted, less than a minute into the seven-on-seven overtime period.

After the Tar Heels passed the ball downfield, Wirth sent a ball into the circle from the right baseline and Matson lofted her seventh shot of the game past the Virginia keeper and into the cage. The goal was Matson's team-high 21^st of the season.

"We got the pushback , we were patient, waited for an opportunity, and we took it," Shelton said. "That's how you're supposed to play 7-v-7."

UNC senior Amanda Hendry made five saves on the day and Virginia's Lauren Hausheer had eight.

The Tar Heels were on the bus heading back to Chapel Hill around the time the game was originally scheduled to start – on Friday morning the start time was bumped up two hours, from 4 to 2, because of storms headed in later in the afternoon.

Next up for the Tar Heels is another road game, this one at Syracuse on April 18. That's the final game of the regular season for the Tar Heels, who will then prepared for the ACC Automatic Qualifier game on April 23 in Chapel Hill.

No. 1 UNC 3, No. 14 Virginia 2, OT
Scoring: UNC – Erin Matson (Paityn Wirth, Madison Orobono), 21:18; UNC – Matson (Hannah Griggs), 29:50; UVA – Adele Iacobucci (Amber Ezechiels), 43:59; UVA – Laura Janssen (Cato Geusgens), 55:15; UNC – Matson (Wirth), 60:58
Shots: UNC 14 (2/8/1/2/1), UVA 16 (3/4/4/5/0)
Penalty Corners: UNC 3 (0/3/0/0/0); UVA 7 (1/2/3/1/0)
Goalkeeper Saves: UNC 5 (Amanda Hendry, 60:68, 2 goals allowed, 5 saves); UVA 8 (Lauren Hausheer, 60:58, 3 goals allowed, 8 saves)
Records: UNC 14-1 (4-0 ACC), UVA 6-11 (1-4 ACC)