Carolina Picks Up 4-1 Win At No. 21 Albany

Sunday, October 13

Albany, N.Y.

1:00 PM

North Carolina

(12-0)

Albany

(9-5)

North Carolina

UAlbany

Erin Matson led UNC with three goals and an assist in Sunday's win at Albany.

Photo by: Dana Gentry

October 13, 2019 | Field Hockey

Box Score

By: UNC Athletic Communications

ALBANY, N.Y. – In the second of back-to-back road games against ranked teams, North Carolina beat No. 21 Albany 4-1 Sunday afternoon in field hockey action at the Great Danes' Alumni Turf. Tar Heel sophomore Erin Matson scored three goals and assisted on the other in the win.

UNC improved to 12-0 this season and tied the Atlantic Coast Conference record by winning the program's 35^th game in a row. The Tar Heels earned a 3-1 ACC victory at Syracuse on Saturday afternoon before busing across the state for Sunday's game.

"This was a team effort," UNC coach Karen Shelton said. "I'm proud of our defense and the way we held solid – having the opportunity to play tough defense under pressure was really good for our team.

"I put us in a tough position by playing back-to-back games on the road without the opportunity to practice first at either venue. Today we had to come from behind – Albany put pressure on us early with a goal and we didn't lose composure. It wasn't our best passing effort, but we were able to get the 3-1 lead at the half and one late to secure the win."

Next up for the Tar Heels is another road game, but this one won't require them to leave the state: Carolina travels to Winston-Salem, N.C., on Friday to face Wake Forest in an ACC matchup. After that UNC plays four in a row at home to close out the regular season.

Albany scored first on Sunday, getting on the board in the seventh minute of play. It marked the first time UNC had trailed since the Princeton game on Sept. 6, when Carolina was down 3-1 at halftime but came back to win 4-3.

The Tar Heels tied the game at 1-1 in the 19^th minute on a penalty corner give-and-go, with senior Yentl Leemans passing to Matson for the score.

On their next penalty corner, in the 26th minute, the Tar Heels reversed that combo with Matson assisting Leemans for a goal that gave UNC a 2-1 lead and would prove to be the gamewinner.

Matson scored again just before halftime to make it 3-1. Redshirt freshman Romea Riccardo sent a hard ball into the circle, where it deflected off a defender's stick. Matson picked the ball out of the air and tipped it into the cage.

Matson's third goal came late in the game, in the 56^th minute on an unassisted shot. She has 20 goals this fall, tying her team-leading total in last year's 23 games. Sunday's game was her fifth multi-goal game of the fall and her third time with three or more goals.

UNC's winning streak is now at 35, with 23 victories last year and 12 this fall. That matches the streak by Maryland (then a member of the ACC and now in the Big Ten) between the 2008 and 2009 seasons.

No. 1 UNC 4, No. 21 Albany 1
Scoring: UA – Hanna Zarrilli, 6:47; UNC – Erin Matson (Yentl Leemans), 18:04; UNC – Leemans (Matson), 25:35; UNC – Matson (Romea Riccardo), 29:03; UNC – Matson, 55:40
Shots: UNC 13 (1/5/4/3), UA 12 (4/0/2/6)
Penalty corners: UNC 5 (1/2/1/1), UA 6 (1/0/1/4)
Saves: UNC 4 (Amanda Hendry, 60:00, 4 saves, 1 goal allowed), UA 5 (Melissa Nealon, 60:00, 5 saves, 4 goals allowed)
Records: UNC 12-0, UA 9-5

UNC starters: Amanda Hendry, Erin Matson, Madison Orobono, Catherine Hayden, Romea Riccardo, Abby Pitcairn, Yentl Leemans, Eva Smolenaars, Megan DuVernois, Marissa Creatore, Ellen Payne
UNC subs: Hannah Griggs, Bryn Boylan, Karlijn Goes, Riley Fulmer, Ellen Payne