The season got off to a rough start for the #2-ranked UNC field hockey team this weekend.
The Tar Heels dropped both of their games at the ACC-Big Ten Challenge in Winston-Salem, losing 2-1 in overtime to #14 Michigan on Friday before #11 Iowa handed them a 3-2 defeat on Sunday. It’s the first 0-2 start for Carolina since 2021.
In the game against Michigan–which was delayed two hours by bad weather–Wolverines junior Eva Bernardy opened the scoring on a penalty stroke with less than two minutes remaining
in the third quarter, but Carolina senior Charly Bruder got her team back on level footing a little over three minutes into the fourth. Redshirt freshman Sofia Ghanbari provided the OT winner for Michigan just under five minutes into overtime. The Wolverines outshot the Tar Heels 12-9, including a 9-2 advantage in shots on goal, and had a 3-0 edge in penalty corners. It was the first game without a penalty corner for Carolina in more than a decade.
Against Iowa, UNC took a 1-0 lead shortly before the 11-minute mark on a backhander by freshman Sofia Ferri. The Hawkeyes answered 38 seconds into the second quarter courtesy of senior Dionne van Aalsum, but the Tar Heels pulled back ahead just over a minute later when redshirt senior Molly Catchpole scored her first goal in two years. Carolina’s 2-1 lead disappeared in the first six minutes of the third quarter, with fifth year Fréderique van Cleef and senior Rachel Herbine tallying for Iowa. The Tar Heels outshot the Hawkeyes 25-10 with a 12-8 edge in shots on goal and had a 7-2 advantage in penalty corners.
Up next for Carolina is a three-game home stand, beginning with the two-game Conference Crossover. The Tar Heels face Penn at 6:00 PM ET on Sept. 4 and #3 Princeton at 12:30 PM ET on Sept. 6. The Penn game will air on ACCNX, and the Princeton game will air on ACC Network.
