STORRS, Conn. — The top-ranked North Carolina field hockey team defeated the Nittany Lions of Penn State by a score of 3-0 to advance to the NCAA Championship game.
What happened?
The first quarter of this NCAA Semifinal was a slugfest. North Carolina brought the ball into the corner numerous times in an effort to draw early penalty corners. The Tar Heels were met by double teams and extreme defensive pressure from the Nittany Lions. Penn State forced UNC turnovers on the offensive end all throughout the first quarter, leaving no room for decent scoring chances for the Tar Heels. The first quarter ended with both teams knotted at zero.
The second quarter began with a penalty corner drawn by the Nittany Lions. The corner was taken by senior midfielder Mackenzie Allessie, who leads Penn State with 18 assists this season along with 12 goals. The UNC defense came out of the huddle looking sharp, and eliminated any scoring chance for Penn State off the corner.
The start of this quarter signaled that the Tar Heels had found their rhythm. They demonstrated pressure on both the offensive and defensive sides of the field. Senior forward Erin Matson drove down the field and got to a rolling ball before two Nittany Lion defenders in order to draw a penalty corner. First-year forward/midfielder Ashley Sessa took the corner, and Matson’s shot went wide to the right side of the cage.
Less than three minutes later, junior back Ciana Riccardo passed a bullet to Matson in front of the net. Matson made a nifty move to get the ball around the Penn State goalie and put the ball in the cage to give the Tar Heels a 1-0 lead going into halftime.
The third quarter was a similar story with lots of back and forth play. After failing to capitalize on two shots and a penalty corner early in the third quarter, the Nittany Lion remained scoreless. On the other end of the field, Matson took advantage of a rebound after a missed goal by Sessa and turned on the left side of the net and drilled the ball into the back of the cage. The Tar Heels went up 2-0 with five minutes remaining in the third quarter. After another failed penalty corner by Penn State, the quarter ended 2-0 favoring North Carolina.
Three minutes into the fourth quarter was all it took for the Tar Heels to find the back of the cage again. Matson found senior midfielder Paityn Wirth in front of the cage, and Wirth snuck the ball past the goalie to give UNC a three goal lead. The rest of the quarter played out in the Tar Heels’ favor and the game ended with a score of 3-0 and a bid to the National Championship.
