Field Hockey Shuts Out Penn, 4-0

Sunday, September 4

Chapel Hill

1:30 PM

North Carolina

(4-0)

Penn

(0-2)

Penn

North Carolina

Carolina improved to 4-0 on the season with Sunday's 4-0 win.

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

September 4, 2022 | Field Hockey

Box Score Photo Gallery

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Four different Tar Heels scored and the UNC defense earned its first shutout of the season as the No. 2 North Carolina field hockey team beat Penn 4-0 at Karen Shelton Stadium Sunday afternoon to improve to 4-0 this season.

Carolina's win gave the Atlantic Coast Conference teams a sweep of the ACC-Ivy Conference Crossover, after Louisville beat Princeton 2-1 in Sunday's early game. On Friday, Louisville beat Penn 4-1 and UNC beat Princeton 4-3.

Next up for UNC is a trip to the West Coast – the Tar Heels travel to play at California on Friday and at Stanford on Sunday, and will play six of their next seven games on the road.

First, however, they took full advantage of the home turf. After a 4-3 win over No. 13 Princeton Friday in the home opener, the Tar Heels kept rolling against the Quakers on Sunday, with freshman Ryeigh Heck scoring the gamewinner just 2:18 into play. Classmate Sietske Brüning sent a ball into the circle to Heck, who spun around the Penn keeper and deposited a shot into the open cage for an early 1-0 lead. It marked the third time in her four collegiate games that Heck has gotten UNC on the board within the first three minutes of play.

The Tar Heels came up with two goals in the second quarter. In the 24^th minute of play, senior Erin Matson sent a shot from the right baseline just inside the far post for a 2-0 lead.

Less than a minute later, freshman Ashley Sessa sent a pass in from the right side. Sophomore Lisa Slinkert got her stick on it and deflected it across the cage to the right post, where junior Kiersten Thomassey directed it in for a 3-0 lead.

UNC's final goal came 1:27 after halftime, on one of three UNC penalty corners in the third quarter. Brüning took the initial hit and senior Meredith Sholder deflected it in for a 4-0 lead.

A total of 24 players saw action for the Tar Heels, who finished the day with 21 shots to Penn's five.

"I thought it was a very successful weekend for the Heels," UNC coach Karen Shelton said. "It's fun to host a tournament on our home field and to get two wins, so I'm thrilled. I thought today's game was good – I liked the way we scored goals, I liked that everybody had a chance to play, and we earned our first shutout of the season.

"I'm proud of the team. I think we continue to grow, and everybody is working hard. It was a great weekend – great weather, great crowd, love the band. Every bit of it helps us, and it was a wonderful weekend."

No. 2 UNC 4, Penn 0
Scoring: UNC – Ryleigh Heck (Sietske Brüning), 2:18; UNC – Erin Matson, 23:59; UNC – Kiersten Thomassey (Lisa Slinkert), 24:39; UNC – Meredith Sholder (Brüning), 31:27
Shots: UNC 21 (6/7/5/3), Penn 5 (0/3/2/0)
Penalty corners: UNC 5 (1/1/3/0), Penn 3 (0/2/1/0)
Goalkeeper saves: UNC 2 (Kylie Walbert, 30:00, 2 saves, 0 goals allowed; Abigail Taylor, 30:00, 0 saves, 0 goals allowed); Penn 9 (Hayley Hayden, 60:00, 9 saves, 4 goals allowed)
Records: UNC 4-0, Penn 0-2