Field Hockey Improves To 10-0 With One-Goal Win At BC

Friday, October 7

Newton, Mass.

4 p.m.

North Carolina

(10-0 (3-0ACC))

Boston College

(5-7 (2-2ACC))

UNC

Boston College

Ashley Sessa scored the gamewinner on Friday at Boston College (Photo courtesey of BC Athletics)

October 7, 2022 | Field Hockey

Box Score

NEWTON, Mass. – Top-ranked North Carolina improved to 10-0 on the season and 3-0 in Atlantic Coast Conference play with a 4-3 field hockey win at No. 19 Boston College on Friday afternoon. The Tar Heels led 3-0 at halftime before the host Eagles rallied for three goals in the second half at the Newton Field Hockey Complex.

Next up for Carolina is a nonconference game at No. 12 UConn on Sunday. Game time in Storrs, Conn., is 1 p.m.

Freshman Ashley Sessa scored nine minutes into the game, on Carolina's first penalty corner of the day, to put the Tar Heels up for good. After inserting the ball, she set up to take a pass from Sietske Brüning and delivered her seventh goal of the season.

The Tar Heels added two more in the second quarter, both on penalty corners. The first was by sophomore Jasmina Smolenaars two minutes into the period, assisted by Sessa. Sessa inserted the ball directly to Smolenaars, who stopped it at the top left of the circle and blasted a shot that deflected up and in off a BC players' stick.

In the 25^th minute, the Tar Heels scored on another corner. This time Smolenaars took the initial shot and freshman Ryleigh Heck deflected it in to make the score 3-0 at the break.

BC got on the board just under five minutes into the third quarter on a goal by Kara Heck, the older sister of UNC's Ryleigh. Kara Heck, who had scored just one goal coming into Friday's game, added another with just over 10 minutes remaining in the action to pull the Eagles within a goal at 3-2.

Tar Heel senior Erin Matson gave UNC a bit of breathing room less than three minutes later when she pounced on a rebound and put it back to make it 4-2 UNC. BC's Carine Van Wiechen made back-to-back saves before Matson's goal.

BC scored its final goal on a penalty stroke in the 58^th minute, when Peyton Hale sent her shot into the roof of the cage, past Tar Heel keeper Kylie Walbert. With the margin down to one, neither team got off a shot in the final 2:24 of play.

After being held without a shot in the first quarter, Boston College finished the day with 20 shots, a season high by a Tar Heel opponent and twice as many as any other team had taken. The Eagles took 10 shots in the fourth quarter alone. It marked the first time this season that UNC has been outshot and the third time Carolina had been out-cornered, after BC led 9-7 in that category.

No. 1 UNC 4, No. 19 Boston College 3
Scoring: UNC – Ashley Sessa (Sietske Brüning), 9:03; UNC – Jasmina Smolenaars (Sessa), 17:02; UNC – Ryleigh Heck (Smolenaars), 24:18; BC – Kara Heck, 34:45; BC – Kara Heck, 49:48; UNC – Erin Matson, 52:29; BC – Peyton Hale (penalty stroke), 57:35
Shots: UNC 15 (3/4/2/6), BC 20 (0/4/6/10)
Penalty Corners: UNC 7 (1/3/2/1), BC 9 (0/2/2/5)
Saves: UNC 5 (Kylie Walbert, 30:00, 1 goal allowed, 2 saves; Abigail Taylor, 30:00, 2 goals allowed, 3 saves); BC 5 (Carine Van Wiechen, 60:00, 4 goals allowed, 5 saves)
Records: UNC 10-0 (3-0 ACC), BC 5-7 (2-2 ACC)

No. 1 UNC 4, No. 19 Boston College 3
Scoring: UNC – Ashley Sessa (Sietske Brüning), 9:03; UNC – Jasmina Smolenaars (Sessa), 17:02; UNC – Ryleigh Heck (Smolenaars), 24:18; BC – Kara Heck, 34:45; BC – Kara Heck, 49:48; UNC – Erin Matson, 52:29; BC – Peyton Hale (penalty stroke), 57:35
Shots: UNC 15 (3/4/2/6), BC 20 (0/4/6/10)
Penalty Corners: UNC 7 (1/3/2/1), BC 9 (0/2/2/5)
Saves: UNC 5 (Kylie Walbert, 30:00, 1 goal allowed, 2 saves; Abigail Taylor, 30:00, 2 goals allowed, 3 saves); BC 5 (Carine Van Wiechen, 60:00, 4 goals allowed, 5 saves)
Records: UNC 10-0 (3-0 ACC), BC 5-7 (2-2 ACC)