Field Hockey Opens Home Slate With Victory

Friday, September 2

Chapel Hill

5 PM

North Carolina

(3-0)

Princeton

(0-1)

Princeton

North Carolina

Senior Erin Matson had two goals and an assist in Friday's win.

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

September 2, 2022 | Field Hockey

Box Score Photo Gallery

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The second-ranked North Carolina field hockey team opened its home schedule Friday with a 4-3 win over No. 13 Princeton at Karen Shelton Stadium. Senior Erin Matson scored twice for the Tar Heels, who also got goals from freshman Ryleigh Heck and sophomore Lisa Slinkert to improve to 3-0 on the season.

UNC is back in action at home on Sunday, hosting Penn at 1:30 p.m. in the final game of the ACC-Ivy Conference Crossover. In Friday's early game, Louisville beat Penn 4-1. The Cardinals will take on Princeton Sunday at 11 a.m.

"I'm thrilled that our team was able to come away with a victory," UNC coach Karen Shelton said. "It was a hard-fought game – I thought Princeton defended us very, very well. They have a penalty corner that is incredibly threatening. I give them credit for playing as hard and as tough as they did – they made us fight and scratch for everything we got.

"You love games like this that stretch you to the absolute limits early in the season so you can get better. We learn from these games. I'm grateful for the game, I'm delighted that we won, and I think we're going to get better."

For the second time in three career games, Heck started off the scoring early on Friday. In her first game as a Tar Heel, against Michigan a week ago, she scored 2:27 into the action to put Carolina ahead for good. Against the Tigers, she scored at the 2:10 mark, beating her defender and popping a shot past Princeton keeper Robyn Thompson for an early lead.

Princeton answered quickly, on a penalty corner just 1:23 later. The game sat at 1-1 for just over three minutes before Matson scored her first to move Carolina ahead for good. In the 26^th minute of play, Matson assisted Slinkert's goal that gave the Tar Heels a 3-1 lead, but the breathing room was short-lived, as the Tigers capitalized on another corner in the 28^th minute to make it a one-goal game at halftime, 3-2.

Neither team scored in the third quarter, and UNC headed into the fourth having not drawn a penalty corner all afternoon. The Tar Heels finally did, and scored on the third of three in a row, with Matson on the goal, assisted by Ashley Sessa on the insert and Romea Riccardo on the stick stop.

With UNC up 4-2 and just over a minute to play, Princeton was awarded a penalty stroke and Sam Davidson delivered to make it 4-3 with 1:06 remaining. The Tigers continued to threaten and drew a penalty corner with seconds to play. Freshman Kylie Walbert, who played the second half in goal for UNC, made a save on Princeton's shot to preserve the win.

No. 2 UNC 4, No. 13 Princeton 3
Scoring: UNC – Ryleigh Heck, 2:10; Princeton – Sammy Popper (Beth Yeager), 3:33; UNC – Erin Matson, 6:41; UNC – Lisa Slinkert (Matson), 25:23; Princeton – Yeager (Grace Schulze, Ophelie Bemelmans), 27:17; UNC – Matson (Ashley Sessa, Romea Riccardo), 56:33; Princeton – Sam Davidson (penalty stroke), 58:54
Shots: UNC 10 (2/3/2/3), Princeton 8 (2/2/2/2)
Penalty corners: UNC 3 (0/0/0/3). Princeton 6 (2/1/2/1)
Goalkeeper saves: UNC 3 (Abigail Taylor, 30:00, 2 goals allowed, 1 save; Kylie Walbert, 30:00, 1 goal allowed, 2 saves); Princeton 2 (Robyn Thompson, 56:33, 4 goals allowed, 2 saves; Team, 3:27, 0 goals allowed, 0 saves)
Records: UNC 3-0, Princeton 0-1