LOUISVILLE, Ky. (theACC.com) – Top-seeded North Carolina and No. 2-seed Virginia won semifinal matches on Thursday, November 6, at Trager Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky, to advance to the 2025 ACC Field Hockey Championship Game. Virginia has advanced to the ACC Championship Game for the first time since 2022, while North Carolina has won each of the last eight ACC Field Hockey Championships.
#1 North Carolina 5, #4 Duke 2
North Carolina and Duke opened the first semifinal by trading goals in the first five minutes. The Tar Heels struck first when Dani Mendez converted on the Heels’ first penalty corner attempt, getting an assist from Isabel Boere. Less than two minutes later, Duke’s Alaina McVeigh notched an equalizer off an assist from Madison Beach.
The Tar Heels responded with a trio of unanswered goals to push their lead to 4-1. North Carolina pushed the lead to 2-1 before the end of the first quarter when Ryleigh Heck redirected a ball from Coco Courtright into the back of the cage. The score remained 2-1 into the third quarter, when Mendez scored her second goal of the game and 12th of the season. The high-scoring North Carolina offense continued to roll when Charly Bruder recorded her 16th goal of the season.
McVeigh cut the deficit to two goals, scoring her second goal of the game and ninth of the season, after an assist from Shae Wozniak. However, late in the fourth quarter, the Tar Heels pushed their lead back to three goals after Sanne Hak connected on the back-breaking goal to send North Carolina to its 11th consecutive ACC Field Hockey Championship Game.
#2 Virginia 3, #6 Syracuse 2 (UVA Advances 4-1 in SO)
Virginia cracked into the scoring column on Thursday afternoon with a first-quarter goal from Catalina Quinteros, who deflected a Emma Watchilla entry past the Syracuse goalkeeper for her fourth goal of the season.
The Orange entered a pair of second-quarter goals off penalty corners, both from Bo van Kempen. The Syracuse defender recorded her 20th and 21st goals of the season to give her team a 2-1 advantage heading into the halftime break.
Syracuse would hold its one-goal advantage into the early moments of the fourth quarter, when Virginia’s Suze Leemans converted on the Cavaliers’ first penalty corner of the afternoon.
The Cavaliers and Orange headed to the first overtime contest of the 2025 ACC Field Hockey Championship and traded scoring opportunities throughout the two, 10-minute overtime periods, but headed to a shootout tied at two goals apiece.
Virginia eventually won the semifinal match in a shootout, taking down the Orange, 4-1 in the shootout. Mia Abello logged the game-winning goal on a penalty stroke and sent the Cavaliers to the ACC Championship Game for the first time since 2022.
2025 ACC Field Hockey Championship (All Times Eastern)
Quarterfinals | Tuesday, November 4
#1 North Carolina 2, #8 Louisville 1
#4 Duke 7, #5 California 1
#2 Virginia 4, #7 Stanford 3
Quarterfinals | Wednesday, November 5
#6 Syracuse 3, #3 Wake Forest 1
Semifinals | Thursday, November 6
#1 North Carolina 5, #4 Duke 2
#2 Virginia 3 #6 Syracuse 2 (Virginia advances 4-1 in a shootout)
Championship | Friday, November 7
#1 North Carolina vs. #2 Virginia | 3 p.m. | ACC Network