By R.L. Bynum
For the third time in three matches, No. 7 North Carolina jumped out to an early lead and, just like the earlier two surges, the opponent never recovered.
The Tar Heels scored twice on set pieces just over two minutes apart early in the first half and held on for a 2–0 victory over hard-charging Arkansas at Razorback Field on Thursday on a steamy night in Fayetteville, Ark.
UNC (3–0) has outscored its three opponents 14–0 heading into Sunday’s big 1 p.m. home game against No. 5 Michigan State (2–0).
Eight minutes after an offside call nullified a Bella Devey goal, UNC quickly took a 2–0 lead. Graduate Georgia transfer Summer Denigan fired in a penalty shot in the 16th minute. Off a corner, senior midfielder Lilliah Blum flicked a shot in the upper-right corner of the net amid congestion in front of the goal in the 18th minute.
Denigan, who came out after taking a ball off her face in the second half, outshot the Razorbacks 7–5, as UNC dominated shots 19–5 and shots on goal 8–2.
Freshman UNC goaltender Peyton Trayer stopped Arkansas midfielder Molly Reed on a one-on-one shot at close range in the 37th minute.
Arkansas (0–2–1), picked to finish second in the SEC, gained the momentum in the second half and appeared to get a goal in the 61st minute on a Bella Field header off a corner. But a foul on the Razorbacks’ Makenzie Malham that impeded Trayer wiped off the score.
In the 81st minute, UNC’s Izzi Stratton was denied on a shot, thanks to a nice save by Arkansas goalkeeper Keegan Smith.
In UNC’s third consecutive shutout to start the season, Trayer got more activity than either of the first two matches, earning her first shutout after sharing time in the first two games.
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Notes
— Michigan State (2–0) beat Xavier 2–0 on Aug. 12 and Loyola 1–0 on Wednesday, both at home. Sunday’s match airs on ACC Network.
— Carolina has won three consecutive games against Arkansas and leads the all-time series 6–1, with the only loss coming 2–0 at Arkansas in 2019 when the Tar Heels were No. 1.
— There were hydration breaks in each half with the match-time temperature at 100 degrees.
— After the match against the Spartans, UNC heads to Dublin, Ireland, to face Shelbourne FC at 2 p.m. ET Friday.
— Junior UNC midfielder Shaela Bradley played 25 minutes in her season debut after missing most of last season with an injury.
— For the third consecutive match, freshmen Amari Manning and Deus Stanislaus were away from the team. They just returned to Chapel Hill from U-17 United States World Cup camp.
No. 7 UNC 2, Arkansas 0
| Date | Month/day | Time/ score | Opponent (current rankings) | Record/ TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August | ||||
| 5 | Wednesday | W, 1–0 | vs. South Carolina | Exhib. |
| 13 | Thursday | W, 4–0 | vs. Fairfield | 1–0 |
| 16 | Sunday | W, 8–0 | vs. Quinnipiac | 2–0 |
| 20 | Thursday | W, 2–0 | at Arkansas | 3–0 |
| 23 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | vs. No. 5 Michigan State | ACCN |
| 28 | Friday | 2 p.m. ET | at Shebourne FC (Dublin, Ireland, exhibition) | |
| September | ||||
| 3 | Thursday | 10 p.m. ET | at Arizona | ESPN+ |
| 6 | Sunday | 1 p.m. ET | at Arizona State | ESPN+ |
| 10 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | vs. California | |
| 13 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | vs. NJIT | |
| 17 | Thursday | 8 p.m. | vs. No. 2 Duke | ACCN |
| 20 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | vs. Alcorn State | |
| 25 | Friday | 7 p.m. | at No. 13 Virginia | |
| October | ||||
| 2 | Friday | 6 p.m. | vs. No. 8 Notre Dame | ACCN |
| 9 | Friday | 7 p.m. | at No. 3 Florida State | ESPNU |
| 15 | Thursday | 8 p.m. | at No. 24 Clemson | ACCN |
| 18 | Sunday | 3:30 | at Wake Forest | ACCN |
| 23 | Friday | 6 p.m. | vs. No. 1 Stanford | ACCN |
| 29 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | vs. SMU | |
| November | ||||
| 5 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | at Louisville | |
| 8, 12, 15 | Sunday, Thur., Sun. | ACC tournament | Semifinals, final in Cary | |
| NCAA tournament | (first four rounds at campus sites) | |||
| 20-22 | Fri.-Sun | First round | ||
| 26 | Thursday | Second round | ||
| 29 | Sunday | Third round | ||
| December | ||||
| 4, 5 | Fri., Sat. | Quarterfinals | ||
| 10, 13 | Thur., Sun. | Women’s College Cup Cary |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics Communications
Hi R.L., Just wondering if you heard how the Field Hockey exhibition game with Duke went today. It\’s not likely to be reported by anyone else, but you seem to have connections ??! Not a big deal, just looking forward to the new season to begin and any hints about how the team is looking is all. Hope you\’re doing well (sure seem to be keeping busy!). ________________________________
Hi Michael,
I drove over and watched the scrimmage. Duke won 2-0, and UNC got badly outshot. The game was called with about 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter because a storm was moving in. Carolina’s young players are going to have to play well because they lost a ton of scoring off of last season’s Final Four team.