Friday, October 27
Chapel Hill
6 PM
North Carolina
(12-3 (5-1ACC))
2
vs
1
Duke
(14-3 (5-1ACC))
1
2
3
4
F
Duke
0
0
0
1
1
North Carolina
0
0
0
2
2
Katie Dixon celebrates after scoring the gamewinner in the 51st minute of Friday's matchup.
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
FH Tops No. 2 Duke To Grab Top Seed In Tournament
October 27, 2023 | Field Hockey
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Nobody scored, then everybody scored, and when the dust settled the No. 4 North Carolina field hockey team had earned a 2-1 victory over No. 2 Duke to cap the regular season on Friday night at Karen Shelton Stadium.
After a 47-minute defensive battle, Duke scored to kick off a four-minute offensive flurry. UNC answered 26 seconds later, and then the Tar Heels scored again less than three minutes after that to earn the rivalry win.
The Carolina victory means that both teams finish Atlantic Coast Conference play 5-1 and share the regular-season championship. With the head-to-head win, UNC gets the top seed and a first-round bye in the upcoming ACC Tournament, set for next week in Charlottesville, Va. Play starts on Tuesday and the Tar Heels will join on Wednesday, facing off in the semifinals with the winner of the Syracuse-Virginia matchup.
Duke's goal on a penalty corner in the 47th minute broke the deadlock and gave the Blue Devils a brief 1-0 lead. But Carolina – which last Friday saw a 2-0 halftime lead evaporate when Virginia scored three quick goals to claim a 3-2 win – huddled up, gathered itself and played on. Transitioning quickly, senior Paityn Wirth dribbled into the circle and took a shot from the left side of the arc. Duke keeper Piper Hampsch saved it and the ball bounced out to freshman Sanne Hak at the far post. Hak put back the rebound to tie the game in the 48th minute of play.
Just over three minutes later, freshman Charly Bruder backed down a defender and sent a ball toward the cage from the top of the circle. It bounced through Wirth and a defender and to senior Katie Dixon, who spun and shot it into the cage for what would prove to be the gamewinner.
The Tar Heels continued the celebration into postgame, when they honored six seniors and two graduate students in Senior Night ceremonies.
"We needed a game like that for obvious reasons ... motivation, seniors, everything, but just pure belief in ourselves and a game that we feel confident that we dictated the majority of it," UNC coach Erin Matson said. "I think that's exactly what it was. Duke came out with great energy, good fire and they're threatening all over – we knew that. They like to play with speed and it was our job to handle that and then match it and exceed it. The team did great – they played exactly to the gameplan, they've grown so much on this field but also off of it this year and I think it really showed this game."
The Friday night crowd was UNC's second-biggest of the season at 1,356, trailing only the 1,500-strong capacity crowd for the season opener back in August.
No. 4 UNC 2, No. 2 Duke 1
Scoring: DU – Charlie van Oirschot (Macy Szukics), 46:49; UNC – Sanne Hak, 47:15; UNC – Katie Dixon (Charly Bruder), 50:33
Shots: UNC 15 (3/2/3/7), DU 7 (1/1/1/4)
Penalty corners: UNC 8 (4/0/2/2), DU 6 (1/1/1/3)
Goalkeeper saves: UNC 3 (Maddie Kahn, 60:00, 3 saves, 1 goal allowed), DU 3 (Piper Hampsch, 56:39, 3 saves, 2 goals allowed; Team, 3:21)
Defensive saves: DU 1 (Macy Szukics)
Records: UNC 12-3 (5-1 ACC), Duke 14-3 (5-1)
After a 47-minute defensive battle, Duke scored to kick off a four-minute offensive flurry. UNC answered 26 seconds later, and then the Tar Heels scored again less than three minutes after that to earn the rivalry win.
The Carolina victory means that both teams finish Atlantic Coast Conference play 5-1 and share the regular-season championship. With the head-to-head win, UNC gets the top seed and a first-round bye in the upcoming ACC Tournament, set for next week in Charlottesville, Va. Play starts on Tuesday and the Tar Heels will join on Wednesday, facing off in the semifinals with the winner of the Syracuse-Virginia matchup.
Duke's goal on a penalty corner in the 47th minute broke the deadlock and gave the Blue Devils a brief 1-0 lead. But Carolina – which last Friday saw a 2-0 halftime lead evaporate when Virginia scored three quick goals to claim a 3-2 win – huddled up, gathered itself and played on. Transitioning quickly, senior Paityn Wirth dribbled into the circle and took a shot from the left side of the arc. Duke keeper Piper Hampsch saved it and the ball bounced out to freshman Sanne Hak at the far post. Hak put back the rebound to tie the game in the 48th minute of play.
Just over three minutes later, freshman Charly Bruder backed down a defender and sent a ball toward the cage from the top of the circle. It bounced through Wirth and a defender and to senior Katie Dixon, who spun and shot it into the cage for what would prove to be the gamewinner.
The Tar Heels continued the celebration into postgame, when they honored six seniors and two graduate students in Senior Night ceremonies.
"We needed a game like that for obvious reasons ... motivation, seniors, everything, but just pure belief in ourselves and a game that we feel confident that we dictated the majority of it," UNC coach Erin Matson said. "I think that's exactly what it was. Duke came out with great energy, good fire and they're threatening all over – we knew that. They like to play with speed and it was our job to handle that and then match it and exceed it. The team did great – they played exactly to the gameplan, they've grown so much on this field but also off of it this year and I think it really showed this game."
The Friday night crowd was UNC's second-biggest of the season at 1,356, trailing only the 1,500-strong capacity crowd for the season opener back in August.
No. 4 UNC 2, No. 2 Duke 1
Scoring: DU – Charlie van Oirschot (Macy Szukics), 46:49; UNC – Sanne Hak, 47:15; UNC – Katie Dixon (Charly Bruder), 50:33
Shots: UNC 15 (3/2/3/7), DU 7 (1/1/1/4)
Penalty corners: UNC 8 (4/0/2/2), DU 6 (1/1/1/3)
Goalkeeper saves: UNC 3 (Maddie Kahn, 60:00, 3 saves, 1 goal allowed), DU 3 (Piper Hampsch, 56:39, 3 saves, 2 goals allowed; Team, 3:21)
Defensive saves: DU 1 (Macy Szukics)
Records: UNC 12-3 (5-1 ACC), Duke 14-3 (5-1)
Team Stats
DU
NC
Goals
1
2
Shots
7
15
Shots on Goal
4
6
Saves
4
3
Corners
6
8
Offsides
0
0
Fouls
0
0
Scoring Plays
Charlie van Oirschot (4)
Assisted By: Macy Szukics
Penalty corner
46:49
Sanne Hak (5)
Put-back after save
47:15
Katie Dixon (4)
Assisted By: Charly Bruder
quick shot in front of cage
50:33
Game Leaders
Players
Shots
1
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
7
SOG
2
Goals
0
Assists
1
Shots
2
SOG
1
Goals
0
Assists
0
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Field HockeyMidfielder/Back
/ Field Hockey
Goalkeeper
/ Field Hockey
Forward
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