DURHAM — It was national semifinal heartbreak for the second straight season for No. 1 North Carolina, this time delivered in agonizing fashion.
Tag: Carolina field hockey
No. 1 UNC ousts Duke again, delivering golden goal, 29th Final Four berth
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.
Tar Heels top seed in NCAA field hockey tournament for fourth straight year
The No. 1-ranked North Carolina field hockey team is once again at the top of the national stage. For the fourth consecutive year and the seventh time in eight seasons, UNC (19–1) has earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament. The Tar Heels last week won their ninth consecutive ACC title.
No. 2 Heels, Heck look dominant, primed for another title after blowing out No. 15 Syracuse
CHAPEL HILL — The stakes weren’t as high as for North Carolina’s previous home field hockey match at Karen Shelton Stadium 309 days earlier, but the expectations are. The No. 2 Tar Heels finally played their home opener Friday on a sun-drenched afternoon, dominated possession and brought consistent offensive pressure to thump No. 15 Syracuse 5–0 in a packed stadium in their ACC opener.
Field hockey royalty: UNC earns 11th NCAA title and second straight in shootout thriller
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 at Karen Shelton Stadium.
UNC women’s soccer, field hockey fall out of No. 1 spots; men’s soccer slips in poll after first loss
Two Carolina women’s teams that have won multiple national championships — field hockey and soccer — fell Tuesday from No. 1 to No. 3, and the Tar Heels slipped in the men’s soccer poll.
UNC field hockey back at No. 1, giving Heels three top-ranked teams
Coach Erin Matson’s Carolina field hockey team is back on top. The Tar Heels (8–1, 1–0 ACC) were the preseason No. 1 team, but Iowa supplanted them after the Hawkeyes’ 3–2 overtime win over UNC on Aug. 27. That gives Carolina three teams currently ranked No. 1, with Coach Anson Dorrance’s women’s soccer team and Coach Andrew DiBitetto’s men’s golf team also top-ranked. In addition, the football team is No. 14 and the men’s soccer team is No. 18.
UNC holds at No. 2 in field hockey poll, faces unbeaten No. 4 Louisville in ACC opener
North Carolina held on to the No. 2 spot in the NFHCA Coaches Poll released Tuesday morning after a 2–1 road victory Sunday over Old Dominion. The Tar Heels (4–1), who have only lost to No. 1 Iowa (3–2 in overtime on Aug. 27), fell from nine first-place votes last week to three this week.
Tar Heels fall out of top ranking in field hockey poll; Riccardo earns ACC honor
In the first Top 20 NFHCA poll since North Carolina garnered the top preseason ranking, the Tar Heels fell to No. 2 in the poll released Tuesday morning. The Tar Heels rebounded from a 3–2 Aug. 27 home overtime loss to Iowa, their first setback since 2021, to sweep a pair of games last weekend at the ACC-Ivy Challenge in Philadelphia. UNC beat Penn 4–0, then knocked off Princeton 2–1 in overtime, dropping the Tigers from No. 10 to No. 15.
Matson coaching era starts much like her playing career: with an impressive win
CHAPEL HILL — The transition from Erin Matson, one the best college field hockey players in the sport’s history, to Coach Erin is complete. As she leads many of her former teammates — including one who is older — the team calls the 23-year-old first-year head coach Erin. But there’s plenty of respect for Matson, whose top-ranked team beat No. 4 Michigan 3–2 Friday night in her coaching debut at Karen Shelton Stadium in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge before a record crowd.
Reigning field hockey national champion UNC No. 1 in preseason national poll
From the last season’s final September poll until Erin Matson led North Carolina to the field hockey national championship, the Tar Heels were No. 1 in the NFHCA National Coaches Poll. Matson will begin her head coaching career with her team back in the same spot as UNC tops the preseason poll, released on Tuesday.
One legend replaces another: Matson succeeds Shelton as UNC field hockey coach
How will the Carolina field hockey program maintain its high standard without transcendent star Erin Matson on the field next season? By making her the head coach, as one legend replaces another.
Matson leads UNC to field hockey national championship game
By R.L. Bynum Erin Matson ensured that her storied Carolina career will end in the national championship game. Matson, one … More
UNC rolls to 26th field hockey Final Four; Matson gets hat trick in final home game
CHAPEL HILL — Carolina’s redemption season took another step on an emotional day that marked the final home game for transcendent Tar Heels star Erin Matson. She’s given fans so many eye-popping memories over her five-year UNC career and added another one with a hat trick in her final game at Karen Shelton Stadium. One season after the Tar Heels lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament, top-ranked Carolina rolled past Saint Joseph’s 5–1 on Sunday in the quarterfinals with the domination that showed why it’s the best and the most tradition-rich program in the country.
Unbeaten UNC ascends to No. 1 in field hockey poll
Carolina’s field hockey team is back in a familiar place atop the NFHCA national coaches poll. The Tar Heels (8–0, 2–0 ACC), who have won nine NCAA titles, ascended to No. 1 in the latest poll released Tuesday after they beat Wake Forest at home 2–0 and the previously top-ranked Northwestern lost 2–0 to Iowa in Friday action. Four of UNC’s victories have come against teams ranked in the Top 10.
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