UNC To Celebrate Seniors On Sunday

Sunday, November 3

Chapel Hill

1:00 PM

North Carolina

Saint Joseph's

The Tar Heel seniors (l to r): Alex Halpin, Ellen Payne, Ali Rushton, Marissa Creatore, Catherine Hayden, Feline Guenther, Yentl Leemans and Megan DuVernois

Photo by: UNC Athletic Communications

November 2, 2019 | Field Hockey

ACC Tournament Bracket Set

By: UNC Athletic Communications

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The top-ranked North Carolina field hockey team will close out the 2019 regular season and celebrate its seniors on Sunday, hosting No. 13 Saint Joseph's at 1 p.m. at Karen Shelton Stadium. Senior Day ceremonies will take place right before the start of the game, honoring fourth-year players Marissa Creatore, Megan DuVernois, Feline Guenther, Alex Halpin, Catherine Hayden, Yentl Leemans, Ellen Payne and Ali Rushton.

"I'm incredibly proud of these seniors," UNC coach Karen Shelton said. "They've just been an absolute joy to work with. The leadership they've provided this young group and particularly the young defense, has been outstanding. I can't say enough about what they've meant to the success of our team this season. They're hardworking, vocal, care passionately about who we are and how we go about things. They've just been fantastic leaders."

The first 150 students at Sunday's game will get free t-shirts and the first 200 fans will get ram horns headbands.

✅ Mark your calendar and we'll see you on Sunday! pic.twitter.com/ydyYNwhFzk — UNC Field Hockey (@UNCFieldHockey) November 1, 2019

The Tar Heels are 16-0 coming into the game. The SJU Hawks are 15-2 overall and wrapped up Atlantic 10 play 8-0. The teams have met just once before, in the first round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament in Charlottesville, Va. UNC won that matchup 4-0.

The Tar Heels and Hawks sit atop the NCAA scoring stats, with SJU averaging 4.41 goals per game and UNC 4.06. (No other team is averaging more than four.) They are also one and two in points per game (SJU 12.35, UNC 10.75) and scoring margin (UNC 3.13, SJU 2.87).

UNC wrapped up Atlantic Coast Conference play last weekend with a 6-0 mark to earn the top seed in the upcoming ACC Tournament, to be hosted by Boston College in Newton, Mass. As the No. 1 seed, the Tar Heels get a first-round bye and will open play Friday at 1 p.m. in the semifinals, against the winner of a quarterfinals matchup between fourth-seeded Syracuse and fifth-seeded Louisville.