Friday, November 3
Charlottesville, Va.
7 PM
North Carolina
(14-3)
2
vs
0
Duke (ACC Championship)
(16-4)
1
2
3
4
F
Duke
0
0
0
0
0
North Carolina
0
0
2
0
2
The Tar Heels celebrate the 2023 ACC Championship
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
FH Claims Seventh-Consecutive ACC Crown
November 3, 2023 | Field Hockey
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – North Carolina broke open a scoreless game with a pair of third-quarter goals and then held on for a 2-0 victory over Duke Friday night in the Atlantic Coast Conference Field Hockey Championship Game at Virginia's Turf Field. The Tar Heels' title is the team's seventh in a row and the 26th in program history.
"I thought it was special celebrating on the turf and between the white lines and now being able to watch them celebrate something that is so well-deserved, it's totally indescribable," said first-year UNC coach Erin Matson, who celebrated five ACC titles as a player before watching from the sidelines Friday as her team claimed her first title as a coach.
Sophomore Ryleigh Heck, who was named the tournament MVP, scored the gamewinner on a penalty corner in the 33rd minute of play. After her first shot was blocked, she grabbed the rebound, balanced the ball on her stick and popped it over the Duke keeper and into the cage to give her team an advantage it wouldn't give up.
It was the first goal allowed in the tournament by Duke, which advanced to the final with a pair of shutout wins. The Tar Heels added a second goal just over six minutes later, with Heck passing from the top of the circle through traffic to freshman Charly Bruder, who lofted a ball over the Duke keeper and in for a 2-0 Tar Heel advantage.
Bruder, who also scored in UNC's 3-2 semifinals win over Virginia on Wednesday, joined Heck on the All-Tournament team, as did freshman Sanne Hak and junior Jasmina Smolenaars.
UNC (14-3) and Duke (16-4) faced off for the second Friday night in a row. Last week in Chapel Hill, Carolina won 2-1 and the teams both finished ACC play at 5-1, sharing the regular-season title.
The championship earns UNC an automatic bid into the 2023 NCAA Tournament field, which will be announced on Sunday night. The Tar Heels are the defending national champions and are set to host this year's final four at Karen Shelton Stadium.
No. 2 UNC 2, No. 3 Duke 0
Scoring: UNC – Ryleigh Heck, 32:11; UNC – Charly Bruder (Heck), 38:38
Shots: UNC 12 (0/3/4/5), Duke 7 (1/0/4/2)
Penalty corners: UNC 6 (0/2/2/2), Duke 6 (1/0/3/2)
Goalkeeper saves: UNC 3 (Maddie Kahn, 60:00, 0 goals allowed, 3 saves), Duke 2 (Piper Hampsch, 56:34, 2 goals allowed, 2 saves; Team, 3:26)
Defensive saves: Duke 1 (Josephine Veen)
Records: UNC 14-3, Duke 16-4
𝘐𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘭𝘥 🎉#GoHeels | #GTDBATH pic.twitter.com/cmNLUtv38x— UNC Field Hockey (@UNCFieldHockey) November 4, 2023
"I thought it was special celebrating on the turf and between the white lines and now being able to watch them celebrate something that is so well-deserved, it's totally indescribable," said first-year UNC coach Erin Matson, who celebrated five ACC titles as a player before watching from the sidelines Friday as her team claimed her first title as a coach.
Sophomore Ryleigh Heck, who was named the tournament MVP, scored the gamewinner on a penalty corner in the 33rd minute of play. After her first shot was blocked, she grabbed the rebound, balanced the ball on her stick and popped it over the Duke keeper and into the cage to give her team an advantage it wouldn't give up.
It was the first goal allowed in the tournament by Duke, which advanced to the final with a pair of shutout wins. The Tar Heels added a second goal just over six minutes later, with Heck passing from the top of the circle through traffic to freshman Charly Bruder, who lofted a ball over the Duke keeper and in for a 2-0 Tar Heel advantage.
Bruder, who also scored in UNC's 3-2 semifinals win over Virginia on Wednesday, joined Heck on the All-Tournament team, as did freshman Sanne Hak and junior Jasmina Smolenaars.
🗣️ 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘭 𝘏𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/vAE4sqAIXs— UNC Field Hockey (@UNCFieldHockey) November 4, 2023
UNC (14-3) and Duke (16-4) faced off for the second Friday night in a row. Last week in Chapel Hill, Carolina won 2-1 and the teams both finished ACC play at 5-1, sharing the regular-season title.
The championship earns UNC an automatic bid into the 2023 NCAA Tournament field, which will be announced on Sunday night. The Tar Heels are the defending national champions and are set to host this year's final four at Karen Shelton Stadium.
No. 2 UNC 2, No. 3 Duke 0
Scoring: UNC – Ryleigh Heck, 32:11; UNC – Charly Bruder (Heck), 38:38
Shots: UNC 12 (0/3/4/5), Duke 7 (1/0/4/2)
Penalty corners: UNC 6 (0/2/2/2), Duke 6 (1/0/3/2)
Goalkeeper saves: UNC 3 (Maddie Kahn, 60:00, 0 goals allowed, 3 saves), Duke 2 (Piper Hampsch, 56:34, 2 goals allowed, 2 saves; Team, 3:26)
Defensive saves: Duke 1 (Josephine Veen)
Records: UNC 14-3, Duke 16-4
Team Stats
DU
NC
Goals
0
2
Shots
7
12
Shots on Goal
3
5
Saves
3
3
Corners
6
6
Offsides
0
0
Fouls
0
0
Scoring Plays
Ryleigh Heck (11)
bounced in over goalie
32:11
Charly Bruder (11)
Assisted By: Ryleigh Heck
bounced in
38:38
Game Leaders
Players
Shots
3
SOG
2
Goals
1
Assists
1
Shots
4
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
3
SOG
1
Goals
0
Assists
0
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Field HockeyForward
/ Field Hockey
Goalkeeper
/ Field Hockey
Midfielder
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