UNC field hockey beats Michigan for second time, advances to 10th straight Final Four

On Sunday, the No. 1 North Carolina field hockey team played its last game of the 2018 season in Karen Shelton Stadium. 

It ended the season with a 5-2 win over Michigan (14-7, 7-1 Big Ten), the same team it played in the inaugural game there.

Since the Tar Heels (21-0, 6-0 ACC) opened their season with a 5-1 win over the Wolverines, they've won 20 games, scored 92 goals and have only allowed opponents to score 14 goals.

After Sunday's win sent UNC to the Final Four for the 10th consecutive season, senior Ashley Hoffman looked back at how the team has progressed between the wins.  

“I think we have grown so much. We are connecting better," Hoffman said “They gave us a run for their money, they have gotten a lot better too. I think it was a great game."

UNC's rematch with Michigan was close throughout the first half. Senior Malin Evert scored first in nearly the eighth minute off a penalty corner. About twelve minutes later, Hoffman joined in and doubled her team’s lead.   

Michigan responded in the 27th minute, when Kathryn Peterson shot the ball from the top of the circle and past the goalkeeper. With that goal, the Wolverines were able to cut the UNC lead. The score remained 2-1 until the 35th minute when Hoffman scored her second goal of the game off a penalty corner.   

Hoffman has shown a tendency to give her team the lead in critical moments against Michigan. The last time these two teams played against each other in the NCAA Tournament was in 2015, when Hoffman was a first-year.  

In that contest, Hoffman scored the team’s only goal of the game. Just like this year, her goal gave North Carolina the edge and sent them to the NCAA Final Four. 

"(It's a) huge momentum shift, it relieves some pressure,” head coach Karen Shelton said. "If it would have been a one-goal game going into the second half, as well as they played, it might have been different. So it was good to get that two goal cushion."   

In the second half, Michigan kept the pressure on North Carolina, but UNC was able to extend the two-goal lead Hoffman gave it before the break and hold off the Wolverines. 

In the 56th minute, junior Feline Guenther sent the ball past the goalkeeper off the rebound of her first shot. The goal put the Tar Heels up, 4-1.   

“I was very lucky because the first shot went right into her (goalkeeper)," Guenther said, “With the second one it was kind of sneaky. It went right over her stick. I got it back and tipped it with my stick a little.” 

The Wolverines would not go down without a fight. In the 59th minute, Sofia Southam cut the UNC lead to 4-2. With five minutes remaining and down two goals, the Wolverines pulled their goalkeeper to push for the equalizing goals.  

Yet with one minute remaining in the game and no goalie in the net for Michigan, UNC junior Megan DuVernois scored off the break and capped off the victory, 5-2.   

The win was UNC's second of the season over Michigan, which is the No. 8 team in the country. In two games, UNC has outscored the Wolverines, 10-3. It shows just how dominant this North Carolina team has been. But the Tar Heels aren't satisfied yet. They've been denied a national championship nine straight seasons, and with two games left to play, they have their eyes on the ultimate goal.   

"We are not finished yet," Hoffman said. "I think that is the best part about this team is we still haven't reached our potential.”  

@TorreNetkovick

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