Although the North Carolina field hockey team has had a tremendous season, it still manages to be humble.
The No. 1 field hockey team (22-0, 6-0 ACC) in the country is headed back to the NCAA title game for the sixth time since 2010 after defeating No. 12 Wake Forest, 4-1, on Friday. The team has played the Demon Deacons (13-10, 2-4 ACC) three times this year, beating them by a combined 16-4 margin across those contests.
“It is really hard to beat a good team three times," head coach Karen Shelton said. “They gave us everything we could possibly handle in periods of that game. They pressed, ran, they only used two subs. They showed incredible resilience and put unbelievable pressure on us.”
As the Tar Heels look ahead to Maryland, they're still undefeated after plowing ahead in their 10th consecutive final four. But in the midst of so much success, the players see room to improve.
“We are continuing to build who we are," Morgan Goetz said. "We're so much more unified and we all have a common goal.”
The Tar Heels scored four goals in the first half, good enough to build a lead that couldn't be caught. They've often overwhelmed teams this season with offensive flurries, combined with a stalwart defense on the other end.
Senior Malin Evert opened the game with a goal. Then, first-year Erin Matson scored a pair of goals and senior Eva van't Hoog piled another on top with a little less than 13 minutes until halftime.
In the second half, the Demon Deacons put the pressure on North Carolina, taking nine shots in the period alone while UNC failed to score on four shots of its own. Wake Forest finally scored its only goal in the 59th minute, when Kelsey Gill shot a ball over the end line.
But it was too late — that four-goal lead was much more than Wake Forest could overcome.
