Ryleigh Heck's two goals send UNC field hockey to the Final Four

Junior forward Ryleigh Heck hasn’t scored more than one goal in a game since September. It’s been 13 games. 797 minutes of playing time. 66 shots. 39 on goal. 

She scored three against Liberty and two against Penn. That was two months ago. Since then, she’s had seven one-off goals. Before Sunday, the ACC Offensive Player of the Year only scored once in the postseason. She was eager. 

“Someone like that is wired to want goals, to want to score,” head coach Erin Matson said. 

In the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament against No. 9 Duke, Heck got her chance. The reigning National Player of the Year scored the first two goals of No. 1-seeded North Carolina’s 3-0 win at Karen Shelton Stadium, sending the Tar Heels to the Final Four for the third consecutive year. UNC has advanced to 15 of the last 16 NCAA semifinals. 

Matson attributes Heck’s low-scoring spell to opposing goalies making great saves or the junior forward’s touch being slightly off. Her words of advice to Heck were simple: stay present, take it one step at a time and be consistent. The head coach repeated that the shots would soon find the back of the cage. 

Heck’s practice routine didn’t change. According to her roommate, senior forward Kennedy Cliggett, Heck wakes up at 7 a.m. for individual workouts on the field. She keeps shooting. She’s strict about recovery and treatment. 

It took almost 15 minutes to record her first goal against the second-best defense in the ACC. 

In the first quarter, deadlocked at 0-0, the seconds were dwindling off the clock. UNC broke into the Duke circle. 

Sophomore forward Charly Bruder attempted a shot from the right side. Too wide. Senior forward Lisa Slinkert got the rebound on the left. Deflected. But there was Heck, standing right in front of the goal — stick at the ready. 

With three seconds on the clock, she swatted it right into the backboards of the cage. 

“I was like, ‘Heck, yes,'” Cliggett said. 

Down went the first one. But she wasn’t done. 

Two minutes into the second quarter, senior midfielder Jasmina Smolenaars flicked the ball. It ricocheted off a Duke defender’s stick high into the air. 

Heck collected the wild ball, put her back to her defender and created some space. Then, almost as if she had eyes on the back of her head, she fired over her left shoulder. The ball darted right between the legs of the goalkeeper. UNC 2-0. 

“It’s a lot of practice, and I just keep doing it and go with my gut,” Heck said. “Luckily, they go in.”

The behind-the-back is a Heck signature. She practices it on her own. She tries it with the team. She’s always working on it. 

Matson, the ACC’s all-time scoring leader, has learned in her two years at the helm of North Carolina that she can’t teach players the innate instinct of knowing how to put the ball away. 

Heck has always had it. She gets to the ball first. She knows how to use her body to receive and to get off a great shot. She’s always hungry. She’s aware. 

It just took a little time to leave a greater mark on a game's stat sheet.   

“There are definitely moments during practice or during games or at night watching film where we’re watching it back and just like, ‘That’s Ryleigh Heck,’” Matson said. “That’s just how you explain it.”

@carolinewills03

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