The No. 1-seeded North Carolina field hockey team (16-0, 8-0 ACC) defeated the No. 8-seeded Cal Golden Bears (7-10, 1-6 ACC), 5-0, on Friday morning in the first round of the ACC tournament in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Behind two penalty corner goals from sophomore forward Charly Bruder, the Tar Heels dominated Cal to advance to the tournament semifinals. Without ACC Offensive Player of the Year junior forward Ryleigh Heck for the second half of the game, UNC relied on all players to pull out the win.
One minute into the game, North Carolina was awarded a penalty corner.
Senior back Ciana Riccardo inserted the ball, and senior back Kelly Smith stopped it. This allowed Bruder to swing her stick and soar the ball directly into the back of the net, marking UNC’s first goal of the postseason.
Throughout the first quarter, UNC took eight more shots, but tallied no more goals. Heck attempted two of these shots only to be blocked by Cal’s goalkeeper.
Five minutes into the second quarter, the Tar Heels were awarded another penalty corner. After the ball was inserted by graduate forward Pleun Lammers and stopped by fifth-year back Katie Dixon, Bruder found the back of the net again to score her second goal of the game. North Carolina led 2-0.
After a penalty corner was awarded to UNC due to a Cal green card, Riccardo inserted the ball again. Bruder swung at it from the top of the arc, but was snuffed by Cal.
Seconds later, UNC was awarded a penalty stroke after Heck was tripped inside the circle by a Cal stick. Sophomore midfielder Sanne Hak took the stroke, finding the back of the net with ease.
As the second quarter dwindled away, senior goalkeeper Abigail Taylor saw her first action of the game. Cal was awarded a penalty corner, but Taylor swatted it away to close the half.
