By R.L. Bynum
After a pair of victories last weekend, North Carolina jumped five spots in the Top 25 field hockey poll to No. 5.
The Tar Heels (2–2), rebounded from opening the season with narrow overtime losses to now top-10 teams in Winston-Salem (2–1 to Michigan and 3–2 to Iowa) with a 7–0 thumping of Penn on Friday and a 1–0 shootout victory Sunday over Princeton.
Senior forward Charly Bruder leads the Tar Heels in points with seven and is tied with freshman midfielder Sofia Ferri for the team goals lead with three. Sophomore goaltender Merritt Sckubisz, who played every minute of both weekend games, has a 0.56 goals-against average and a save percentage of 86.7% with two shutouts.
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Iowa (4–0) moved up two spots to No. 2 in the NFHCA National Coaches Poll, and Michigan (3–1) remained No. 8. Princeton (1–1) fell two spots to No. 4.
Five other ACC teams made the poll, with Wake Forest (2–1) up one spot to No. 6, Duke (2–2) falling three spots to No. 9, Virginia (2–1) plummeting six spots to No. 11, Louisville (4–0) up one spot to No. 14 and Syracuse (3–1) down three spots to No. 15.
The Blue Devils lost twice last week in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in Newton, Mass., falling 4–3 in overtime to reigning national champion and No. 1 Northwestern (4–0) and 3–2 in a shootout against Maryland (4–0), which jumped six spots to No. 7.
UNC returns to Karen Shelton Stadium at 5 p.m. Friday to face Old Dominion (2–1), which fell two spots to No. 20 after splitting two games in Chapel Hill over the weekend, losing 4–0 to Princeton and beating Penn 3–0.
Top 25
| Rank | School | Record | Poll points (1st-place votes) | Previous | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northwestern | 4–0 | 220 (11) | 1 | ― |
| 2 | Iowa | 4–0 | 199 (0) | 4 | ▲2 |
| 3 | Harvard | 2–0 | 198 (0) | 3 | ― |
| 4 | Princeton | 1–1 | 171 (0) | 2 | ▼2 |
| 5 | North Carolina | 2–2 | 167 (0) | 10 | ▲5 |
| 6 | Wake Forest | 2–1 | 162 (0) | 7 | ▲1 |
| 7 | Maryland | 4–0 | 148 (0) | 13 | ▲6 |
| 8 | Michigan | 3–1 | 146 (0) | 8 | ― |
| 9 | Duke | 2–2 | 144 (0) | 6 | ▼3 |
| 10 | Connecticut | 3–1 | 129 (0) | 9 | ▼1 |
| 11 | Virginia | 2–1 | 113 (0) | 5 | ▼6 |
| 12 | UMass | 4–0 | 109 (0) | 11 | ▼1 |
| 13 | Liberty | 3–1 | 81 (0) | 14 | ▲1 |
| 14 | Louisville | 4–0 | 74 (0) | 15 | ▲1 |
| 15 | Syracuse | 3–1 | 68 (0) | 12 | ▼3 |
| 16 | Miami (Ohio) | 2–1 | 50 (0) | 16 | ― |
| 17 | Rutgers | 2–2 | 40 (0) | 20 | ▲3 |
| 18 | Yale | 2–0 | 32 (0) | 19 | ▲1 |
| 19 | Monmouth | 2–1 | 22 (0) | 17 | ▼2 |
| 20 | Old Dominion | 2–1 | 15 (0) | 18 | ▼2 |
| 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 | W, 1–0, OT (3–2 shootout) | No. 2 Princeton | 2–2 |
| 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
