By R.L. Bynum

Carolina’s field hockey team is back in a familiar place atop the NFHCA national coaches poll.

The Tar Heels (8–0, 2–0 ACC), who have won nine NCAA titles, ascended to No. 1 in the latest poll released Tuesday after they beat Wake Forest at home 2–0 and the previously top-ranked Northwestern lost 2–0 to Iowa in Friday action. Four of UNC’s victories have come against teams ranked in the Top 10.

Carolina, which has shut out its last five opponents, is the only Division I team in the country that’s still undefeated.

Fifth-year forward Erin Matson is the ACC offensive player of the week for the second time this season after scoring both goals in the Wake Forest victory.

The Wildcats (9–1) fell to No. 2 and Iowa, which UNC defeated 3–2 in overtime in Winston-Salem on Aug. 28, slid up a spot to No. 3. Carolina got 35 first-place votes compared to five for Northwestern and one for No. 4 Maryland.

Northwestern had been No. 1 and UNC No. 2 in every poll until this week.

The Tar Heel Tribune Facebook group moved to a new location. Follow the page at this link so that you don’t miss any UNC sports coverage.

Other ranked ACC teams are No. 5 Louisville (down one spot), which Carolina beat 3–0 on Sept. 16, No. 7 Virginia (up three spots), No. 13 Syracuse (down two slots), No. 16 Boston College (up two spots), the No. 17 Deacons (down two spots) and No. 22 Duke (down two spots).

Carolina plays its next three games on the road: against No. 14 Liberty at 1 p.m. Sunday, BC on Friday, Oct. 7 at 4 p.m. and No. 11 UConn at 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 9. The Tar Heels’ next home game is against Syracuse on Friday, Oct. 14 at 3 p.m.

Top 25

Rank	School	Record	Points (first-place votes)	Previous rank	Change
1	North Carolina	8–0	1,019 (35)	2	▲ 1
2	Northwestern	9–1	930 (5)	1	▼ 1
3	Iowa	8–1	915	5	▲ 2
4	Maryland	9–1	908 (1)	3	▼ 1
5	Louisville	8–1	824	4	▼ 1
6	Penn State	8–1	792	6	―
7	Virginia	5–3	708	10	▲ 3
8	Michigan	5–4	674	8	―
9	Princeton	5–4	644	7	▼ 2
10	Saint Joseph’s	6–3	608	12	▲ 2
11	Connecticut	6–2	568	9	▼ 2
12	Old Dominion	6–2	553	13	▲ 1
13	Syracuse	8–2	540	11	▼ 2
14	Liberty	6–3	461	16	▲ 2
15	Harvard	6–2	441	14	▼ 1
16	Boston College	5–4	388	18	▲ 2
17	Wake Forest	6–3	375	15	▼ 2
18	James Madison	7–3	370	21	▲ 3
19	William and Mary	6–3	337	17	▼ 2
20	Mass., Amherst	8–2	293	22	▲ 2
21	Rutgers	6–4	257	19	▼ 2
22	Duke	4–6	138	20	▼ 2
23	Maine	6–3	101	Unranked	―
24	Ohio State	3–5	88	23	▼ 1
25	American	6–3	71	25	―

Date	Month/day	Time/ score	Opponent/event (current ranking)	Record/ TV
	August		ACC/Big Ten Challenge
30	Friday	W, 4–1	at No. 8 Michigan	1–0
	September
1	Sunday	W, 2–1	vs. No. 7 Iowa in Ann Arbor, Mich.	2–0
			ACC-Ivy League Conference Crossover Louisville, Ky.
6	Friday	W, 5–0	Penn	3–0
8	Sunday	W, 2–0	No. 16 Princeton	4–0
			——————————
20	Friday	W, 5–0	vs. No. 15 Syracuse	5–0, 1–0 ACC
22	Sunday	W, 7–0	at No. 1`4` Liberty	6–0
	October
4	Friday	W, 3–0	at Stanford	7–0, 2-0
6	Sunday	W, 3–1	at Cal	8–0, 3-0
11	Friday	W, 2–1	at No. 13 Louisville	9–0, 4-0
13	Sunday	Noon	at Appalachian State	ESPN3
18	Friday	6 p.m.	vs. Wake Forest	ACCN
20	Sunday	1 p.m.	vs. No. 18 Old Dominion	ESPN3
25	Friday	5 p.m.	vs. No. 3 Virginia	ESPN3
27	Sunday	Noon	vs. No. 11 Boston College	ACCN
	November
1	Friday	6 p.m.	at No. 9 Duke	ACCN
			ACC tournament at Wake Forest
5	Tuesday	TBA	Quarterfinals	ACCN
6	Wednesday	TBA	Semfinals	ACCN
8	Semifinals	TBA	Championship	ACCN
			NCAA tournament
15	Friday	TBA	First round Campus sites
17	Sunday	TBA	Second round Campus sites
22	Friday	TBA	National semifinals Ann Arbor, Mich.
24	Sunday	TBA	Championship Ann Arbor, Mich.