FH Clinches Top Seed At ACC Championship With 5-2 Win Over Duke

Friday, November 1

Durham, N.C.

6 PM

North Carolina

(15-0, 8-0)

Duke

(11-5, 6-2)

North Carolina

Duke University

Photo by: Natalie Ledonne

FH Clinches Top Seed At ACC Championship With 5-2 Win Over Duke

November 1, 2024 | Field Hockey

Box Score

By: William Soule

DURHAM, N.C. – North Carolina field hockey finished off an undefeated regular season campaign with a convincing, 5-2 win over rival Duke on Friday night.

The victory gives the Tar Heels (15-0, 8-0 ACC) the regular season Atlantic Coast Conference title and the No. 1 seed in next week's championship tournament. Head coach Erin Matson's team came into this game with a lot on the line, but faced the challenge as they have all season, together.

"This team is very mature," Matson said postgame. "In the way they play, in the way they think…this group has played a lot of games together and has gained a lot of experience as a unit. It's stuff that's hard to teach without being in those positions. Lots of different things motivating them coming into today, but they are certain they can handle anything as long as they do it together."

Carolina jumped out to an early lead through an impressive Sanne Hak solo run in the first minute of play and never looked back. Transfer forward Avery Donahue added the all-important second goal of the evening by putting herself in the perfect position to pounce on a saved shot from Ryleigh Heck. It was Donahue's second of the season and showed just how deep this team is.

"Super happy for Avery," Maston said of Donahue. "She works so hard and asks all the right questions. She wants it really badly and it means a lot to us for her to be the one to score there."

The goal barrage for the Tar Heels continued with Heck doing what she does best, slicing through defenses to find the back of the net. Less than a minute after Duke score their first, Heck received the ball on the edge of the circle and slalomed her way through half of the Blue Devils on the field to score her 12th of the year.

Charly Bruder put the game to bed in her classic fashion with a rocket off a corner. The fourth quarter goal extended the team's streak to six straight games with a goal from a corner attack and it is the 10^th time Bruder has scored in that fashion.

Senior captain Katie Dixon also got her second goal of the campaign on a counter attack after the Blue Devils had pulled their goalie. It is the sixth time this year the Tar Heels have put up five goals in a game, this time doing it against a Duke team that came in leading the conference in goals allowed at just 0.33 per game.

With the top seed in the upcoming ACC Championship secured, North Carolina will face Cal on Tuesday, November 5 at 10:00 a.m. ET in Winston-Salem, N.C. Coverage for that game and the entirety of the tournament will be held on the ACC Network.