By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — After one-goal losses and its first 0–2 start in five years, North Carolina’s field hockey team clearly has turned an early corner.
The young No. 10 Tar Heels, who lost 67% of their goal production from last season’s Final Four team, steamrolled Penn 7–0 Friday evening at Karen Shelton Stadium in the Conference Crossover event behind two goals each from senior forward Charly Bruder and freshman midfielder Sofia Ferri.
After not earning a corner in last weekend’s 2–1 overtime loss at the ACC-Big Ten Challenge to No. 8 Michigan and going 0-for-7 on corners in the 3–2 loss to No. 4 Iowa, UNC (1–2) converted three of their first four corners in the first 20½ minutes to take control.
Carolina coach Erin Matson said the difference on corners was the result of work in practice since last weekend.
“I think we practiced them all week and they executed them,” Matson said. “I think we’re working a lot on our mentality all over the field, but especially in our circles and the attacking penalty corners.
“Those are a prime example of that,” she said. “So, making sure everyone’s on the same page, everyone’s executing their job, and if you don’t have a job — tipping, shooting, whatever that is — you’re still making an impact, having a presence, anticipating the rebounds, whatever it is.”
UNC (1–2) was No. 2 in the preseason poll and favored to win the ACC despite losing seven starters from a year ago. The chief losses were forward Ryleigh Heck (the two-time national player of the year), goaltender Kate Wimmer (who finished her career as the NCAA active career saves leader) and midfielder Dani Mendez (second-team All-American).
Matson resisted the suggestion that this was her biggest coaching challenge because of the roster turnover.
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“I think it’s a different challenge. Every season’s been challenging. We went from me being hired and coaching my teammates to now most of my teammates gone, some still here, and more new and more different, and a lot of people who we’re asking a lot of them,” said Matson, who added that the fact that every year is a different challenge is what makes it beautiful.
That framing extended to how she described the roster itself, which she called one of the youngest groups she’s coached, populated by players still learning to trust their instincts under pressure.
“I think we’re young, inexperienced in a way of game management playing at this level, and it’s not a bad thing,” Matson said. “We’re owning that, and totally embracing it. That just means we need to develop more, or learn quicker, be more open, and be more direct with each other.”
Bruder, who had 18 goals last season and scored twice on corners Friday, leads a team that had seven players make their Tar Heels debut last weekend in Winston-Salem.
The turnaround, Ferri said, traced directly back to how the team responded after its frustrating first weekend and the hard work since then.
“I think that wow factor really put this drive, this hungry dog mentality into everyone,” Ferri said of the 0–2 start. “We’re gonna be so intentional in everything we do in this practice, and we know we were lacking on the attack side, so we did everything in our power this week to be on the front foot in that area.”
After Quakers goaltender Ruby de Frees saved a shot from junior midfielder Coco Courtright in the fourth minute, graduate back Grace Pottebaum gathered the rebound. She made a spin move, then buried a shot near the cage for her first college goal and the Tar Heels’ first corner conversion of the season.
Nearly seven minutes later, on UNC’s third corner of the game, senior midfielder Ella Barbacci set up Ferri for a laser shot just inside the circle. Courtright easily penetrated the circle and fired in a long, backhanded shot in the 17th minute for her first goal of the season.
Matson pointed to Ferri specifically when asked how the freshman has acclimated.
“We’ve said it as a staff since she stepped on campus,” Matson said. “We knew before she got on campus that she’s playing like she’s been here for years, and she’s extremely comfortable in one of the hardest positions out there, tactically, for herself and understanding what her role is. But also her position that she plays is a prime organizational position for the rest of the team, whether it’s on when we have the ball or when we’re defending.”
Bruder hammered a goal from just inside the circle off a corner in the 21st minute, making it 4–0. That’s where it stood at halftime, with UNC outshooting Penn 9–1.
The Heels kept the corner party going in the second half, with senior back Hope Haynes setting up the first two goals after halftime. First it was Ferri with a score on a shot a few yards away from the cage in the 32nd minute for her third goal of the season. Midfielder Molly Nussbaumer, a freshman from Chapel Hill, got the second goal.
For Ferri, the two-goal night doubled as validation after an unsettled start to her college career.
“As soon as the game started, obviously there was a little bit of nervousness, but it’s the same as every other game before,” she said. “Just going out there, putting it all on the field, and with the goals, corners called, you just got to execute and do your best, and just believe that you can do it.”
Asked what the team is chasing this season, she didn’t hesitate. “Win. Go out there, put it all on the field, go as far as we possibly can, have no regrets. Just do it together. Do it as a team. Do it as a family.”
Bruder’s second goal, and third of the season, on another corner made it 7–0 in the 47th minute. Assisting were Pottebaum and freshman back Morgan O’Donnell.
Sophomore goaltender Merritt Skubisz, in her second start of the season, only needed to make one save to record the shutout after giving up two goals against Michigan.
Bruder credited the defense’s identity for setting the tone in front of Skubisz all night.
“To get to them, you have to face a very attacking-minded press, which I think is hard to find in other teams because we’re on the front foot,” she said. “We’re so aggressive. We’re so in your face, and I just think our defense does such a good job of executing the ball out of the circle in a very calm but very concise way.”
After coming up short in challenges against two teams now ranked in the top 10, Carolina faces another Sunday at Shelton Stadium against No. 2 Princeton. The Tigers easily dispatched No. 18 Old Dominion 4–0 in Friday’s first game.
Bruder said the mindset heading into that matchup will stay the same regardless of Friday’s lopsided score.
“The most important game is the next,” she said. “So after the next, after the game’s finished, that’s great. We won, but on to the next. Head down, we’re gonna take every lesson we learn, every mistake we made or improvement we made, bring that into tomorrow, into our practice and film session, and hit the ground running on Sunday.”
Carolina, which outshot Penn 18–4 with advantages of 14–1 on shots on goal and 8–3 on corners, repeatedly took advantage of defensive lapses from Penn, which was playing its season opener after going 9–7 last season.
Notes
— On Sunday, Penn faces Old Dominion at 10 a.m., with the Tar Heels meeting Princeton at 12:30 p.m. on ACC Network. UNC has won 12 in a row against Princeton and leads the all-time series 17–3.
— The last time UNC began a season 0–2 was in 2021, the fourth of Matson’s five seasons as a player; the Tar Heels finished 13–7 and lost 2–0 to Northwestern in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
— UNC opened the preseason with a 2–0 rain-shortened scrimmage loss at No. 6 Duke, then played better during a scrimmage at Wake Forest.
— Carolina has won all 11 meetings with Princeton.
— It’s the most UNC goals since an 8–1 road win against Cornell on Oct. 19 last season.
No. 9 UNC 7, Penn 0
| Date | Month/day | Time/ score | Opponent/event (current ranking) | Record/ TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August | ACC/Big Ten Challenge in Winston-Salem | |||
| 28 | Friday | L, 2–1, OT | No. 8 Michigan | 0–1 |
| 30 | Sunday | L, 3–2, OT | No. 4 Iowa | 0–2 |
| September | ||||
| 4 | Friday | W, 7–0 | Penn | 1–2 |
| 6 | Sunday | 12:30 p.m. | No. 2 Princeton | ACCN |
| 11 | Friday | 5 p.m. | No. 18 Old Dominion | ACCNE |
| 13 | Sunday | Noon | at Richmond | ESPN+ |
| 20 | Sunday | Noon | vs. No. 5 Virginia | ACCN |
| 25 | Friday | 9 p.m. ET | at Stanford | |
| 27 | Sunday | 4 p.m. ET | at California | |
| October | ||||
| 2 | Friday | 3 p.m. | at No. 15 Louisville | |
| 9 | Friday | 3 p.m. | at Saint Joseph’s | |
| 11 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | at No. 14 Liberty | |
| 16 | Friday | 6 p.m. | vs. Boston College | ACCNE |
| 18 | Sunday | 2 p.m. | vs. No. 12 Syracuse | ACCN |
| 23 | Friday | 6 p.m. | vs. No. 7 Wake Forest | ACCNE |
| 25 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | at Appalachian State | |
| 30 | Friday | 6 p.m. | at No. 6 Duke | ACCN |
| November | ACC tournament | |||
| 3–6 | Tue.–Fri | At Karen Shelton Stadium | ACCN | |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 13 | Friday | TBA | First round Campus sites | |
| 15 | Sunday | TBA | Second round Campus sites | |
| 20 | Friday | TBA | National semifinals Louisville | |
| 23 | Sunday | TBA | Championship Louisville |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics Communications
