ACC leading scorer Charly Bruder propels UNC field hockey past Wake Forest

Charly Bruder is the second child in a family of five siblings.

As the No. 2 in her family, she was always the "devious one," always causing chaos.

It's a trait that has translated to the field hockey turf, represented by her threatening "wind-up rocket" and her tendencies to consistently find the back of the cage. It's also signified by the number she wears across her chest.

On Friday night against Wake Forest, No. 2 scored two goals, leading the top-ranked Tar Heels to a 7-0 victory over the Demon Deacons. The sophomore forward leads the ACC in goals, averaging more than one per game. Representative of the chaos she brings inside the circle, her 15 goals this season account for a third of North Carolina's total goals across 11 games.

Coming off a hat-trick performance against App State last Sunday, Bruder's teammates asked what her goals were for the match against Wake. 

Her answer was simple: "Sink it."

In the fifth minute, UNC earned its second penalty corner of the evening. Off the insert, senior back Kelly Smith stopped the ball for Bruder at the top of the circle. The sophomore forward tapped the ball inside, pulled back her stick and fired with as much power as she could muster into the right corner of the cage.

The Wake Forest goalie couldn't do anything to stop it. North Carolina took a 2-0 lead. 

"If you sink it, it can't come back out," Bruder said.

Her penalty corner prowess is nothing new. Her powerful strokes are a familiar sight. In 2023, she led the Tar Heels with 15 goals and ranked second in points.

But head coach Erin Matson said Bruder dedicated time during the off-season to diversifying the tools in her arsenal and fine-tuning her shot. Most importantly, she worked on her decision-making before shots.

"I think, in the past, her biggest strength is her wind-up rocket," Matson said. "Teams know that. She's got to learn how to a be little bit more finessed. She's got to learn that she doesn't need the back swing. She's got to learn positioning so that she can get the one-time kind of scrappier goal."

For Bruder, that meant she had to learn maturity. It isn't always necessary to kill the ball 100 percent of the time.

With four minutes remaining in the half, junior midfielder Sietske Brüning, swarmed by defenders, connected with Bruder in the middle of the circle.

In those moments, the sophomore forces herself to be calm and to focus on finishing off her teammates' work — the "cherry on top" as she refers to it.

Bruder leaned down to sweep the pass into the opposite corner of the cage in one fluid motion. No wind-up necessary. Goal North Carolina. A 3-0 lead.

"She has a beautiful hit," senior forward Kennedy Cliggett said. "She's a workhorse. She won't give up."

Cliggett is Bruder's hitting partner. Before every single practice and game, the two warm-up together. Cliggett affectionately refers to Bruder as a "big dog" because she's seen firsthand the power behind Bruder's stroke. She's capable of recovering the ball in six seconds if it's stolen from her. 

As for whether Bruder gives off second child energy, Cliggett believes the sophomore is more of a firstborn or baby of the family.

Either way, she's definitely the "favorite."

@carolinewills03

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