CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (theACC.com) – For the NCAA-record 11th time, the field hockey world runs through Chapel Hill, North Carolina, as the No. 1 North Carolina Tar Heels claimed their second straight national championship with a 2-1 penalty shootout win over No. 2 Northwestern. The Tar Heels’ championship is the 16th in 22 years for the Atlantic Coast Conference and the NCAA-record 23rd in conference history.

The title tilt was one for the ages and etched its way into immediate field hockey lore. North Carolina and Northwestern needed a penalty shootout to claim the crown. Even then, the Tar Heels and Wildcats needed extra shots to break the deadlock. Following a stop by North Carolina’s Maddie Kahn, Ryleigh Heck buried the game-winner to send Karen Shelton Stadium into pure pandemonium.

“The one thing that Erin [Matson] said to me, right when Maddie had that big save, she said, ‘Go win a national championship’,” remarked Heck. “Right then and there, my mind just went blank. I literally don’t remember spinning or scoring, I just remember being with my teammates and cheering. One of the greatest feelings ever.”

On a beautiful Sunday afternoon in November, 3,200 fans crammed into every nook and cranny of Karen Shelton Stadium to watch the Tar Heels compete for their 11th national championship. The North Carolina complex seats 900 fans but fans packed the stadium, nearby hills, streets, and more, just for the chance to witness history.

“We’ve told these guys they’ve completely changed the game. You see more people turning on a field hockey game when they’re out at a restaurant or at a bar and you see hockey, you’re like ‘That’s not normal’. You see sold-out in the same sentence as field hockey games. That also has not been normal,” Matson remarked following the victory. “You see stands full like this, the hill full, this grass full, and people standing basically on the road so they can see one corner of the field, but they’re here. It’s something that America hasn’t seen… But it’s because of what they’ve done and what this entire program and staff has done.”

The championship was just the fourth in NCAA history to end in penalty strokes and the second time for the Tar Heels. North Carolina also became the sixth team to lift the field hockey national championship on their home turf and once again, marked the second time in program history that the Tar Heels achieved the feat.

In her first year as the Tar Heels’ bench boss, Erin Matson, 23, became the youngest coach in NCAA history to claim a national championship.

“I am still very much, as you guys know, learning the whole coaching thing. With that comes the emotions of the game. I have a lot of experience handling it as a player but I could obviously do something about it where I have a very different role now,” said Matson, the five-time ACC Offensive Player of the Year. “I think throughout the season, I’ve leaned on these guys and learned from them and they’ve helped me grow as well. I think that’s the only way it was possible because I had them next to me.”

The Tar Heels had chances to win the game in both regulation and overtime. After a scoreless first half, ACC Freshman of the Year Charley Bruder opened the scoring following the Tar Heels’ first penalty corner of the game. With Paityn Wirth and Romea Riccardo being credited with the assists, Bruder’s 15th goal of her first campaign sent the North Carolina faithful into a frenzy.

In the closing minutes of the third quarter, Northwestern drew the game to an even score with a penalty stroke conversion.

Heck, who scored the eventual game-winner in the penalty shootout, had a penalty stroke in the second overtime period. Annabel Skubisz, the Wildcats’ goalkeeper, made a tremendous diving save to extend Northwestern’s season a few more minutes.

Heading into the Tar Heels’ fourth shot of the penalty shootout, North Carolina was trailing 2-1. Katie Dixon, a senior from Cary, North Carolina, knotted the shootout at two, much to the delight of the Tar Heel fandom. The Tar Heels received a pair of phenomenal stops from Kahn, the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Field Hockey Championship.

With her back to the goal, Heck dribbled the ball around Skubisz, before burying it into the right side of the cage and capping off the back-to-back national championships for North Carolina.