By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — For the 11th time in North Carolina program history and the second year in a row, the Tar Heels are NCAA field hockey national champions.
In UNC’s first season under 23-year-old head coach Erin Matson, sophomore forward Ryleigh Heck buried a stroke in the sixth round to propel UNC to win the shootout 3–2 and the game 2–1 over Northwestern, after 80 minutes and two overtimes, before a standing-room-only crowd of 3,200 at Karen Shelton Stadium.
It gave the Tar Heels (18–3) their second consecutive win over Northwestern in the NCAA championship game, after winning last season in Storrs, Conn., by the same score last season on a late Matson goal for her fourth NCAA title as a player.
“I don’t know how to put it into words,” said Matson, who didn’t remember after the game that her team trailed in the shootout because she was focused on the next shooter. “I don’t know what more you would want in the national-championship matchup than tied at end of regulation, two overtimes, sudden-death shootout. Just a phenomenal atmosphere, game, everything, our team. I’m proud of them for absolutely dominating. Everything we’ve worked so hard on all season, all of the conversations we’ve had every practice, they’ve just grown and blossomed. Even more amazing hockey players than I ever could have imagined, but even greater leaders and people.”
UNC, which outshot Northwestern 14–8, was down 2–1 in the shootout before rallying. In the shootout, Carolina also got an earlier shootout score from Heck and one from Katie Dixon, with Michigan scores coming from Peyton Halsey and Lauren Wadas.
Heck made a spin move on Northwestern goaltender Annabel Skubisz, circling around and firing it wide and into the right side of the cage to win the national championship.
“She knows how to finish and find the back of the net, and that’s exactly what she did in the big moment today,” Matson said of Heck. “All of the girls, they had shots, they had circle entries, they had opportunities, but sometimes they don’t all fall and no one remembers those if you’re sitting here with a national championship hat on and smiling.”
The season was hanging on every shot during the sudden-death overtime periods, with many UNC fans likely feeling plenty of heart palpitations. Ultimately, the heartbreak fell to the Wildcats (21–2) once again.
“There were lots of emotions, but it I have complete and utter confidence in these guys,” Matson said. “So, in all of those moments, I feel my heart rate going, I feel my mind going, ‘whatever, take a deep breath, because they’ve got it,’ and that’s exactly what was happening in the final shootout. Everyone’s squeezing each other standing there. Everyone’s shaking; I was literally shaking. And then it’s just after that second deep breath, it’s fine, and no matter what happens, this season would have been a success because of what this team did. So it’s great, obviously, you put the cherry on top.”
Matson stood looking calm on the sidelines with her hands in her pants pockets, but she was anything but calm inside.
“Well, my hands are in my pockets because my hands get really cold and I have hand warmers,” Matson said. “And I’m shaking and trying to fake it. So, I’m glad at least it seems that I’m calm.”
The title came thanks to Heck, a veteran of shootouts, coming through with the game-winner after UNC goaltender Maddie Kahn, the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, denied Halsey.
“I love shootouts, and it’s one of my favorite things,” Heck said. “I did it in a very important game for USA. So, I have a lot of experience and the one thing that Erin said to me, right when Maddie had a big save, she said ‘just go win a national championship.’ Right then and there, my mind just went blank and I literally don’t even remember spinning or scoring, I just remembered being with my teammates, and one of the greatest feelings ever, so I couldn’t be happier.”
Carolina seized on its first corner of the game when freshman forward Charly Bruder fired in a shot in the 33rd minute off assists from senior forward Paityn Wirth and senior back Romea Riccardo for her 15th goal of the season.
Northwestern, which had four corners in the third quarter, tied it on Peyton Halsey’s penalty stroke in the 44th minute.
A shot by the Wildcats’ Ilse Tromp went into the goal with 25 seconds left in regulation but didn’t count because it was too high and didn’t hit the backboard.
Skubisz made a nice save on a Heck penalty stroke in the 68th minute near the end of the first overtime.
Matson’s left hand held the right hand of junior midfielder Jasmina Smolenaars, who later missed in the shootout, before Carolina failed to convert a corner in the 75th minute.
Kahn made a huge save on a Wadas shot on a two-on-one transition chance in the 78th minute or the game might not have made it to overtime. Northwestern botched a chance at a close-in shot a minute later.
“I saw I had one defender left and I was just honestly hoping that [Northwestern’s Olivia Bent-Cole] was going to pass it across cage,” Kahn said, a fifth-year player who transferred in the offseason from Lehigh, said of the save on the two-on-one. “I saw that Lauren Wadas receive the ball, head down. I was praying that she was going to shoot it and it was going to hit me and it was going to go out of the circle, which it did. And I saw [UNC’s] Sanne [Hak] come get the ball, and I think that was a real momentum swing and I felt good after that. And I think we all had a good feeling after that.”
The teams played a scoreless first half, with UNC holding a 6–1 edge in shots, including 4–0 in the second quarter. Northwestern couldn’t convert the only corner of the half as time expired.
NOTES — Kahn, Heck, Bruder and Dixon made the All-Tournament team. … This was UNC’s 22nd appearance in the NCAA championship game … Matson is the fourth former UNC athlete to win an NCAA title as a Carolina coach after Anson Dorrance (women’s soccer), Joe Breschi (men’s lacrosses) and Dave Karmann (men’s lacrosse). … Carolina was Final Four host for the third time. The Tar Heels lost in overtime to Maryland in the 1987 championship game and beat Michigan in overtime in May 2022. … Emilie Kirschner, the daughter of Steve Kirschner, UNC’s Senior Associate Athletic Director for Sports Information and Media Relations, is a freshman midfielder at Northwestern. She was in uniform but redshirted this season. … At 23 years old, Matson is two years younger than fifth-year UNC guard Cormac Ryan. … There was a lengthy line more than an hour before the game to snag standing-room-only tickets. … After back-to-back NCAA championship game victories, Carolina leads the all-time series with Northwestern 6–5–1. The Wildcats beat UNC in the first round of the 2021 tournament. … Roy and Wanda Williams were at the game.
No. 1 UNC 2, No. 2 Northwestern 1, 2 OTs
(Carolina wins shootout 3–2)
| Date | Month/day | Time/ score | Opponent/event (current ranking) | Location | Record/ TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August | ACC/Big Ten Challenge | ||||
| 25 | Friday | W, 3–2 | No. 16 Michigan | Home | 1–0 |
| 27 | Sunday | L, 3–2 (OT) | No. 8 Iowa | Home | 1–1 |
| September | ACC/Ivy Challenge | ||||
| 1 | Friday | W, 4–0 | Penn | Philadelphia | 2–1 |
| 3 | Sunday | W, 2–1 (OT) | Princeton | Philadelphia | 3–1 |
| —————————— | |||||
| 10 | Sunday | W, 2–1 | No. 17 Old Dominion | Norfolk, Va. | 4–1 |
| 15 | Friday | W, 2–0 | No. 10 Louisville | Home | 5–1, 1–0 ACC |
| 22 | Friday | W, 3–0 | Wake Forest | Winston-Salem | 6–1, 2–0 ACC |
| 24 | Sunday | W, 6–1 | Appalachian State | Home | 7–1 |
| October | |||||
| 1 | Sunday | W, 4–1 | No. 13 Saint Joseph’s | Philadelphia | 8–1 |
| 6 | Friday | W, 3–1 | No. 14 Boston College | Home | 9–1, 3–0 ACC |
| 8 | Sunday | L, 2–1 (OT) | No. 7 Liberty | Home | 9–2 |
| 13 | Friday | W, 4–1 | No. 11 Syracuse | Syracuse | 10–2, 4–1 ACC |
| 15 | Sunday | W, 4–3 | No. 18 Albany | Albany, N.Y. | 11–2 |
| 20 | Friday | L, 3–2 | No. 5 Virginia | Charlottesville | 11–3, 4–1 ACC |
| 27 | Friday | W, 2–1 | No. 3 Duke | Home | 12–3, 5–1 ACC |
| November | ACC tournament | ||||
| 1 | Wednesday | W, 3–2 | Semifinals: No. 4 Virginia | Charlottesville | 13–3 |
| 4 | Friday | W, 2–0 | Final: No. 3 Duke | Charlottesville | 14–3 |
| NCAA tournament Link to bracket | |||||
| 10 | Friday | W, 6–1 | First round: William & Mary | Chapel Hill | 15–3 |
| 12 | Sunday | W, 4–2 | Second round: No. 9 Harvard | Chapel Hill | 16–3 |
| 17 | Friday | W, 2–0 | National semifinal: No. 5 Virginia | Chapel Hill | 17–3 |
| 19 | Sunday | W, 2–1, 2 OTs (UNC wins shootout 3–2) | Championship: No. 2 Northwestern | Chapel Hill | 18–3 |
Photos courtesy of UNC Athletics Communications
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