By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina has been a field hockey nightmare to Duke for years, and the Tar Heels delivered another heartbreaking blow Sunday with precision defense all afternoon.
Midfielder Sanne Hak shot home Sietske Bruning’s pass for a golden goal off a corner 97 seconds into overtime as No. 1 UNC beat No. 8 Duke 2–1 to earn a trip to the Final Four on the Blue Devils’ home field.
Coach Erin Matson, who is 15–0 against Duke as a player and a coach, has delivered many of those blows.
“It’s definitely a rivalry,” Matson said, despite it being more of the hammer-and-nail variety in field hockey. “I think, at our core, we’re hockey players, but we’re also Tar Heels, and that rivalry doesn’t go anywhere, even though I would say the record is pretty lopsided.”
For the second consecutive season, UNC earned a Final Four berth by eliminating Duke, marking the program’s 29th appearance. It was UNC’s third win over Duke this season (limiting the Devils to seven shots in each game) and 15th in a row.
UNC (21–1) faces Northwestern (20–1), a 3–2 second-round winner over Miami of Ohio, on Friday at 2:30 at Williams Field.
“To beat Duke on our home field, to send us to the Final Four in overtime with Sanne being the one to score — it’s really good energy rolling into this next week,” Matson said.
As if Carolina needed any extra motivation, Duke (13–8) provided it before the game.
UNC warmed up in its blue jerseys but had to switch to white jerseys because Duke only brought its blue jerseys. Matson was guarded in talking about that turn of events, but clearly wasn’t happy about it.
“How do I want to phrase this? Just an interesting decision,” said Matson, acknowledging that it motivated her and the team. “I guess we take pride in the fact that we don’t get rattled and we are problem-solvers.”
With the tension sky-high, knowing that each team’s season ends with an opponent’s goal, Carolina earned its second overtime corner.
Matson said that corners in overtime are based on principles, with star Ryleigh Heck, who hit the post on the first overtime corner, in the middle. Heck hit the post on the first corner.
“Sietske had the choice whether she shoots or passes, and she made the decision to pass it,” Matson said. “Sanne’s job is to read that, and she did exactly that.”
Hak, a junior, showed her veteran savvy when faced with a pivotal decision.
“I knew there was an option for me for the pass,” said Hak, who is in the top photo celebrating the game-winning goal. “[The ball] was kind of bouncing, so I got a little bit nervous, but it was an easy goal to just pop it in. So happy to help the team.”
Senior forward Ryleigh Heck, who had four shots, couldn’t hide her admiration for Hak, calling her one of her favorite players she’s played with over the past three seasons.
“She’s my go-to person to pass the ball or to get the ball from,” Heck said. “For her to finish it is just such a special thing, because she’s always there. When we do overtime corners, she’s always that person who’s ready on the back post. We are just so happy that she put it in the back of the net.”
Field hockey often doesn’t reward statistical dominance, and it seemed that way on an afternoon when Carolina dominated shots (24–7) and corners (15–3) and had a 10–6 advantage in shots on goal.
“I think the fact that we had 24 shots on cage describes the attack that we created, and a lot of it was because of these two guys next to me,” Matson said, referring to Hak and Ryleigh Heck. “Defensively, I think it was also an amazing game, holding them to only seven shots. Yes, we let one in, but for the most part, we’re proud with how tight we were on our marks and the clean tackles we came up with.”
After UNC couldn’t cash in on three corners in 96 seconds early in the game, Molly Catchpole fired it in the goal, but a violation wiped out the score. It was scoreless after the Tar Heels dominated the first quarter (9–0 on shots with three shots on goal; 7–0 on corners.)
“I’m big on consistency and not having to fix what’s not broken,” Matson said of dominating but not scoring early. “There are going to be games where the goalkeeper is hot or the other team gets sticks on balls. It’s too easy to get frustrated and go internal. We just stay the course and trust in Carolina field hockey.”
Matson has obviously spread that mentality to her team.
“One thing we’re really good at is reminding each other to keep going,” Ryleigh Heck said. “If we don’t get that shot off, OK, what’s next? What’s the next thing we have to do for our team? That culture has taken us a long way.”
Graduate UNC forward Kara Heck’s shot found the net in the second quarter after a pass from her sister, Ryleigh Heck, at 19:29. The review determined it was no goal because the pass was made with the back of her stick.
Kara Heck (No. 3 in below photo), a Rutgers transfer, came through less than four minutes later. She redirected a Charly Bruder pass, slipping it to the right of Duke goaltender Kaiya Chepow at 23:23 for her seventh goal of the season.
Duke’s Madison Beach chipped a backhanded shot in the upper-right portion of the goal late in the first half. After Carolina requested a review, it was ruled no goal because of a stick-shield violation, giving UNC a 1–0 halftime lead after second-quarter advantages of 6–3 in shots, 4–2 in shots on goal and 2–1 in corners.
A fourth-quarter UNC referral for a review failed at 47:23 after Duke midfielder Shae Wozniak tied the game on only the Blue Devils’ seventh shot and sixth on goal.
Notes
— Carolina won the earlier meetings with Duke: 2–1 in overtime at home on Oct. 31 and 5–2 on Nov. 8 in the ACC tournament semifinals.
— As has been the practice all season, UNC goalies, sophomore Merritt Skubisz (two first-half saves) and graduate Katie Wimmer (two saves in the second half and overtime), each played one half. Matson alternates who starts each game.
— This is the 42nd NCAA tournament appearance for UNC and its 13th No. 1 seed. The Tar Heels have won 11 championships.
— UNC leads the all-time series with Duke 89–12, including 43–5 in Chapel Hill.
— It was the second consecutive season that Carolina has eliminated Duke in the second round, winning last season 3–0.
— Northwestern redshirt sophomore Emilie Kirschner is the daughter of Steve Kirschner, UNC’s senior associate athletic director.
No. 1 UNC 2, No. 8 Duke 1, OT
NCAA tournament
Wednesday’s opening round results
Saint Joseph’s 2, Drexel 0
Fairfield 1, Boston University 0
Friday’s first round results
No. 1 North Carolina 2, Saint Joseph’s 1
No. 2 Princeton 3, Fairfield 1
No. 3 Harvard 8, New Hampshire 2
Miami (OH) 2, No. 4 Virginia 1
Duke 2, Iowa 1
Northwestern 5, Yale 1
UConn 2, Wake Forest 0
Syracuse 3, Liberty 2 (SO)
Sunday’s second round results
No. 1 North Carolina 2, Duke 1, OT
Northwestern 3, Miami of Ohio 2
No. 2 Princeton 2, Syracuse 1
No. 3 Harvard 1, UConn 0
Friday’s national semifinals
At Duke (both games on ESPNU)
Harvard (19–1) vs. Princeton (17–3), noon
North Carolina (21–1) vs. Northwestern (20–1), 2:30
Sunday’s national championship game
At Duke, 1 p.m., ESPNU
Photos courtesy of UNC Athletics Communications
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