Pair Of Ranked ACC Clashes Ahead For Field Hockey

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Carolina field hockey marches into a massive weekend featuring a pair of ranked conference clashes.

First, the team travels up the back roads to Charlottesville to play No. 2 Virginia on Friday night.. It will be the first time since the final week of the 2023 regular season that UNC enters a game as an "underdog" facing a higher ranked team.

The Sunday matinee will see head coach Erin Matson and company return to the friendly confines of Karen Shelton Stadium for the first time in three weeks for a game against No. 19 Louisville.

SCHEDULE
Game 1: at #2 Virginia - Friday, Oct. 10
Watch: ACCNX

Game 2: #19 Louisville - Sunday, Oct. 12
Karen Shelton Stadium
Watch: ACC Network

SCOUTING REPORT
vs. the Cavaliers
➤ Friday's game will be the 86th all-time meeting between the two programs.
➤ It will move Virginia into a tie for the second most games against the Heels, level with Wake Forest. Only Duke has more at 98.
➤ Last time they met: Like so many games before, Charly Bruder and Ryleigh Heck ruled the day for the Tar Heels in the 2024 clash with the No. 4 Cavaliers. Bruder racked up a second half hat trick to help the Heels roll to a 4-0 win in Chapel Hill.
➤ UNC star midfielder Dani Mendez transferred to Chapel Hill this offseason after spending two years with the Cavaliers.

vs. the Cardinals
➤ Sunday's game will be the 20th all-time meeting between the two programs.
➤ Last time they met: The Heels squared off with the Cardinals on the road last season and came away with a 2-1 win thanks to a second career goal from Molly Catchpole and a second half Sanne Hak score won the game for Carolina.
➤ Louisville's last trip to Chapel Hill ended with a 2-0 victory for UNC, but in 2021 the Cardinals came to town and earned the second loss in Karen Shelton Stadium history (one of only four overall since it's debut in 2018).

NUMBERS TO KNOW
1 - UNC is currently ranked No. 1 in the country in the Division I RPI.
4 - Carolina has 4 wins over top-15 opponents already this year, the most in the country.
9 - Since returning from injury in the second weekend of the season, Charly Bruder has 9 goals in 9 games played.
373 - Katie Wimmer leads all active goalkeeper in the country with 373 career saves, 354 at Columbia and 19 now at UNC.

TOOK DOWN THE MONARCHY
➤ The Tar Heels only had the one mission to focus on last weekend, trekking up to Norfolk, Va., and coming home with a 4-1 win over old foe Old Dominion on Sunday afternoon.
➤ In a game between two programs that boast a total of 20 national championships between them, Carolina once again asserted themselves as the dominant force. Isabel Boere scored in the sixth minute to put the Heels right where they want to be, on the front foot.
➤ Three different Tar Heels followed Boere's lead, as Kara Heck, Dani Mendez, and Charly Bruder got on the score sheet to make quick work of the Monarchs.

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Players Mentioned

Isabel Boere

Charly Bruder

Molly Catchpole

Sanne Hak

Kara Heck

Ryleigh Heck

Dani Mendez

Katie Wimmer

Scoreboard Slider

University of North Carolina Athletics