The North Carolina field hockey team defeated Louisville, 3-1, and California, 6-0, this past weekend in Louisville, Ky., to improve to 6-0 on the season.
What happened?
On Friday, the No. 2 Tar Heels (6-0, 1-0 ACC) played their first conference game of the year against Louisville. The Cardinals (4-2, 0-1 ACC) scored first in the game, but UNC was able to muster enough energy to pull in front with three goals in the first half. Neither team scored in the second half, allowing the Tar Heels to pull out a 3-1 win, their first ACC victory of this season.
Following Friday’s game against Louisville, the Tar Heels were scheduled to play against California at 3 p.m. on Saturday. But due to forecasted weather, the game was moved up to 1 p.m., giving the Tar Heels less than 20 hours of rest.
However, the lack of rest didn’t hinder UNC too much, as it was able to crush California (2-2) with a 6-0 win. The Tar Heels scored three times in each half, with four goals scored off nine penalty corners.
Junior Catherine Hayden led the way with a two-goal performance against the Golden Bears.
Who stood out?
Hayden stood out the most this weekend. With one goal against Louisville and two against California, she did not let up. With seven minutes left in the first half against Louisville, Hayden received a pass from senior midfielder Eva van’t Hoog, turned, and scored UNC's second goal of the game.
In the game against California on Saturday, Hayden scored the first and third goals of the contest. Hayden’s fist score was a reverse-stick shot four minutes after the start of the game and her second goal right before halftime was on a deflected shot that van't Hoog had sent towards the goalie.
