Field Hockey Ready For Another Road Trip

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Carolina field hockey readies up for another ACC road trip this weekend with games upcoming against No. 13 Wake Forest and Boston College.

The Heels are 7-0 in road conference games under head coach Erin Matson in her three seasons at the helm. The team returns to Kentner Stadium, a site where they've claimed three national titles (1995, 2009, 2019) and three ACC championships (1993, 2004, 2024).

SCHEDULE
Game 1: #13 Wake Forest - Friday, Sept. 26 - 5 PM ET - ACCNX
Game 2: Boston College - Sunday, Sept. 28 - 12 PM ET - ACC Network

SCOUTING REPORT
vs. the Demon Deacons
➤ Friday's game will be the 86th all-time meeting between the two programs.
➤ It will move Wake into a tie for the second most games against the Heels, level with Virginia. Only Duke has more at 98.
➤ Last time they met: Carolina's offense ran wild with a season-high seven goals in a shutout of the Demon Deacons. Heck, Hak, and Brüning scored while Bruder put two on the board.
➤ UNC won it's second, sixth, and eighth national championships in Winston-Salem. In the eighth they took down Princeton 6-1 in 2019. The tournament's Most Outstanding Player Erin Matson scored twice in the game.

vs. the Eagles
➤ Sunday's game will be the 29th all-time meeting between the two programs.
➤ Last time they met: These teams last squared off in the ACC tournament title game, where Carolina took a 4-1 win to claim its 27th ACC Championship and eighth in a row. Bruder, Hak, and Heck all scored to seal it. Bruder was named tourney MVP for her efforts.
➤ Forward Kara Heck spent three years at Boston College before transferring to Rutgers and eventually UNC. She played 37 games for the Eagles and scored 10 goals, was named second team All-ACC in 2023.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
5 - Ryleigh Heck scored 5 goals against Stanford, tying the UNC single-game record last hit in 2015 by Gab Major.
4 - Carolina has 4 wins over top-15 opponents already this year, the most in the country.
12 - UNC has won 12 more ACC Championships than all of the other schools combined, 10 of which belong to Maryland who is no longer in the conference.
8 - The Heels scored 8 against the Cardinal on Sunday, their most in a conference contest since an 8-0 win over Wake Forest on October 28, 1992.

CALIFORNIA CRUSHED
➤ The Tar Heels claimed two big ACC wins last weekend, beating Cal 5-1 and Stanford 8-1 to open up conference play with a bang. It's the most goals the team has scored in back-to-back games since facing the same opponents on the road in 2022.
➤ Against the Golden Bears, Bruder, Heck, Perrin, and Mendez all got on the scoresheet to give UNC its 10th straight win in regular season ACC matchups.
➤ Eight more goals found the back of the net against Stanford on Sunday, highlighted by five from Ryleigh Heck. It was the most UNC has scored in a game since Sept. 5, 2021.
➤ Carolina has scored three or more goals in all eight games this year, with five or more on four occasions.

HECK MATCHES HISTORY
➤ The captain came to play in Carolina's conference clash against the Cardinal, scoring five times to tie the program record for goals in a game.
➤ The last Tar Heel to hit the mark was Gab Major against Virginia in 2015.
➤ One of the few scoring record Matson herself was unable to achieve, topping out at four on four different occasions.
➤ The scoring outburst also catapulted her into the top-10 on the Carolina career goals list.

Players Mentioned

Kara Heck

Ryleigh Heck

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