CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – For the 15th time in 16 seasons, the North Carolina Tar Heels are heading to the NCAA Field Hockey Championship semifinals. The No. 1 Tar Heels will be joined by No. 2 Northwestern, No. 4 Saint Joseph’s and UMass in this year’s semifinals. The semifinals will begin on Friday, November 22, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as the University of Michigan will serve as the host.
The Atlantic Coast Conference has placed at least one team in the NCAA title game in 23 of the last 25 NCAA Championships – and 31 times in the last 34 years. In the ACC’s first 43 years as an NCAA Field Hockey conference, league teams have accounted for more than half of the total appearances in the national title game (44 of 86).
#1 North Carolina 3, Duke 0
With 3.9 seconds remaining in the first quarter, North Carolina’s Ryleigh Heck put the Tar Heels on top with the first goal of the game. With UNC holding a one-player advantage following a Duke green card, Heck used a third-chance shot to beat the goalkeeper and give the top-ranked Heels the lead heading into the second quarter.
Less than three minutes later, Heck, the ACC Offensive Player of the Year, scored her second goal of the afternoon to push the North Carolina lead to 2-0. With her back to the cage, Heck spun and fired a shot that deflected off the goalkeeper’s pads and into the back of the cage. The two goals marked the 14th and 15th of the season for Heck.
With Heck being issued a yellow card in the second quarter, the Blue Devils had a one-player advantage for five minutes, which allowed for extra offensive pressure. Defensively, North Carolina stood strong, allowing just one shot from Duke’s Julia Buehringer which went wide of the cage. Abigail Taylor, the Tar Heels’ goalkeeper, finished the first half without facing a shot on goal.
The third quarter was more of the same for the Tar Heel,s who looked dominant in the period. The Tar Heels ripped five shots in the quarter, landing four on frame, including a goal from Kennedy Cliggett that pushed the lead to 3-0. Cliggett, a senior playing her last game at home, redirected a penalty corner into the back of the cage with Sietske Brüning getting credit for the assist.
North Carolina will meet No. 4 seed Saint Joseph’s in the national semifinals at Phyllis Ocker Field in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Game times for the semifinals will be announced at a later date.
Duke finished the season with a 13-7 record.
#2 Northwestern 3, Virginia 2 (OT)
Just before halftime, Virginia opened the scoring when Suze Leemans buried a shot into the back of the cage. With an assist from ACC Defensive Player of the Year Jans Croon, Leemans gave the Cavaliers a 1-0 advantage heading into the halftime break.
Northwestern found an answer shortly after halftime to knot the game at one goal apiece. The Wildcats connected on their first shot of the second half after Virginia goalkeeper Nilou Lempers made three saves in the opening 30 minutes. Later in the third quarter, the Wildcats took advantage of a one-player advantage to take a 2-1 lead on a penalty corner.
On just their third penalty corner of the day, the Cavaliers logged its second goal of the contest via the corner as Daniela Mendez-Trendler buried the equalizier just 28 seconds into the fourth quarter. Mendez-Trendler, who scored the game-winning goal in Virginia’s first round win over Michigan, launched a second-chance effort into the top of the cage and tied the game at two goals apiece.
The two teams would remain deadlocked into the first overtime period when Northwestern buried the game-winning goal into the right side of the cage. Virginia finished the season with a 14-5 record.