The No. 1 Tar Heels, who entered the tournament as a second-seeded squad, defeated No. 15 Boston University (15-7) in a 4-2 contest on Saturday and took down No. 10 Michigan (18-5) by a score of 1-0 on Sunday.
With the victories, UNC (20-2) is headed to its 20th Final Four, including its seventh in a row.
“Everybody played their hearts out,” Coach Karen Shelton said. “I couldn’t be prouder of our group.”
But despite clinching a semifinal berth, Shelton acknowledged her team played nervous in the opening minutes against Boston University.
“Certainly, I thought we had some tournament jitters early in the game,” she said.
Those nerves could be seen through UNC’s offense, which struggled to get the ball into the cage for the first portion of Saturday’s contest. But once the first goal was scored, the team began to loosen up.
“It’s a relief to get the first goal ...” Shelton said. “And once you get the first one, it’s easier to be aggressive.”
Experience played a big part for UNC this weekend, as senior Nina Notman fired the opening salvo Saturday to jump-start the Tar Heel attack.