On away turf, in its last regular season game of the season, the No. 1 North Carolina field hockey team secured another win, beating No. 25 Old Dominion, 3-0, to secure an undefeated season.
What happened?
UNC (17-0, 6-0 ACC) stepped on a strong offensive front early in the first half, outshooting the Monarchs (10-7, 3-4 Big East) 7-0 in the opening nine minutes. The Tar Heels took the lead in the 12th minute of the game with a goal from captain Ashley Hoffman.
North Carolina remained dominant in the first half, preventing any offensive action from Old Dominion. The Tar Heels did not decline in the second half as they continued to put offensive plays together and keep the action off their half of the field. In the 54th minute, Meredith Sholder added another goal for the Tar Heels.
Quickly to follow came goal number three scored by UNC’s Marissa Creatore. The team remained dominant for the rest of the half and gained its 17th win of the season.
Who stood out?
Hoffman, in her last regular season game as a Tar Heel, had four shots on goal and was one of three scorers in the game. She leads the Tar Heels in minutes played this season. First-year forward Erin Matson is currently ranked tied for eighth in the nation for assists per game with a .69 percentage and has the most assists for the team (13). She has played in all 17 games this season and added two more assists to her season against Old Dominion.
“We’ve had a target all year," head coach Karen Shelton said. "It’s not like we have set out to be undefeated, every game we try and win and that’s not going to change in post-season. Every game we are going to approach things the same way, we’re going to try to play well, together, hard and smart in hopes that the score will take care of itself.”
