CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – When the NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship heads to the semifinals on Friday, Nov. 12, the Atlantic Coast Conference will be well represented, as three ACC programs – No. 1 North Carolina, No. 3 Duke, and Virginia – all punched their tickets to Karen Shelton Stadium at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on Sunday afternoon.
With three teams advancing to the semifinals, it marks the first time since 2019 that three ACC teams are among the last four standing. A total 15 of the last 21 national champions have hailed from the ACC with North Carolina winning four of the last five titles, including last year in 2022. On the other hand, Duke and Virginia both look to claim their first field hockey national championships.
The ACC has now placed at least one team among the NCAA Women’s Field Hockey final four for the 34th time in the last 35 years. Additionally, 47 of the last 84 teams to reach the national semifinals have been ACC teams.
No. 1 North Carolina 4, Harvard 2
For the 14th time in 15 years, the top-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels are heading to the national semifinals. This time, though, the road to the Tar Heels’ 11th national championship will run through Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The Tar Heels will be the first team to play a semifinal game on their home turf since then-ACC member Maryland did so in 2010.
A high-octane first quarter saw 16 shots and nine penalty corners, with the Tar Heels taking the advantage in both. North Carolina opened the scoring in the fifth minute when Charly Bruder found the back of the net on a penalty corner. Harvard followed suit in the 10th minute with a penalty corner strike of its own, bringing the game to a 1-1 deadlock.
Bruder, the ACC Freshman of the Year, wasted no time in the second quarter to put the Tar Heels into the scoring column. Much like her first goal, Bruder connected on a penalty corner with assists once again coming from Paityn Wirth and Katie Dixon.
Playing down a woman in the third quarter due to a green card, North Carolina managed to extend its lead and essentially put the game on ice. Wirth notched her third assist of the day when Ryleigh Heck buried her 12th goal of the season, a tap in from the left side of the frame.
Harvard got a goal back in the 48th minute but the one-goal deficit did not last long. For the third time on the afternoon, the Tar Heels buried a penalty corner chance, pushing their lead back to a pair. Following the goal by Lisa Slinkert, Wirth and Dixon once again picked up assists, combining for seven in the Sunday matinee.
No. 3 Duke 2, Syracuse 1
With a trip to the national semifinals on the line, Sunday’s contest between the ACC’s highest-scoring offense squaring off with the conference’s best defensive team had all the makings of a dramatic finish. However, the roles were reversed on Sunday afternoon as defensive-minded Duke edged past the high-scoring Syracuse to punch its ticket to the national semifinals for the first time since 2015.
Needing just one shot in the first quarter, Syracuse found its way onto the scoreboard first with Pieke van de Pas ripping a shot from just inside the circle to the high left corner of the goal. The 11th minute strike gave Syracuse a 1-0 advantage.
The Orange held the one-goal lead until the final 60 seconds of the first half. Following a collision between a Blue Devil and an Orange, Duke was awarded a penalty stroke, which Alaina McVeigh, the ACC Co-Offensive Player of the Year, buried for her 17th goal of the season.
Just 40 seconds out of the halftime break, Duke took a a 2-1 lead following a goal from Hannah Miller, redirecting a stroke from Kira Curland. The Blue Devils clung to the one-goal lead for the remainder of the second half and will meet No. 2 Northwestern on Friday at 3:00 p.m. in Chapel Hill.
Virginia 4, No. 4 Maryland 0
For the sixth time in program history and the first time since 2019, the Virginia Cavaliers are once again heading to the national semifinals. As was the case with the 2019 run, the Cavaliers upended fourth-seeded Maryland to punch their ticket to Chapel Hill. Virginia torched the fourth-seeded Terrapins on Sunday afternoon, capping off a 4-0 rout.
For the second time in the NCAA tournament, Dani Mendez-Trendler found the back of the net and put the Cavaliers on top. The wrist shot into the top right corner was Mendez-Trendler’s eighth goal of the season, coming in the 10th minute.
Later in the opening half, Virginia went back to the left side of the frame to beat the Maryland keeper, opening a two-goal lead. After inserting a penalty corner, Madison Orsi notched her first career goal in a huge moment for the Virginia squad.
The momentum carried through the halftime break into the second half for Virginia as the Cavaliers saw their lead swell to four. Six minutes after the intermission, Minnie Pollock put the Cavaliers up by three with her fourth goal of the season.
In the 49th minute, Pollock ripped another shot towards the Terrapin goalkeeper with a rebound landing right in front of the net, leading to Adele Iacobucci netting her fourth goal of the season.
Virginia will meet No. 1 North Carolina in the semifinals. The game time will begin at 12:00 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.
No. 2 Northwestern 3, Louisville 2
After 58 minutes of tremendous effort and determination in the national quarterfinals, the Louisville Cardinals’ hopes at a national championship came to a close in Evanston, Illinois, when No. 2 Northwestern notched a last-second goal to secure a 3-2 victory.
Louisville’s Minna Tremonti lit up the scoreboard first when she took advantage of a penalty corner chance. With assists being credited to Lara Niebler and Izzy Bianco, the Cardinals took a 1-0 lead on Tremonti’s fourth goal of the season. Northwestern answered the call just 87 seconds later with their first goal of the afternoon.
With just nine ticks left of the clock in the third quarter, Louisville once again took a one-goal advantage. The Cardinals used the penalty corner to its full advantage, this time Tyler Everslage recorded the goal on an assist from Aimee Plumb.
In the 48th minute, Northwestern managed to find an equalizer before taking a 3-2 advantage with just 68 seconds remaining in regulation. Northwestern held off the final push from the Cardinals and will meet No. 3 Duke in the semifinals on Friday.