Field Hockey Hosts Wake Forest On Senior Day - University of North Carolina Athletics

Friday, October 23

Chapel Hill

6 PM

North Carolina

Wake Forest

Erin Matson University of North Carolina Field Hockey v Syracuse Karen Shelton Stadium Chapel Hill, NC Sunday, October 18, 2026

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

October 23, 2026 | Field Hockey

Game Notes

By: William Soulé

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Carolina field hockey hosts its final home game of the regular season on Friday night when No. 10 Wake Forest comes to Karen Shelton Stadium before hitting the road on Sunday for a matchup at App State.

The program will honor five seniors: Ella Barbacci, Charly Bruder, Caroline Golden, Hope Haynes and Tessa Shahbo. All except for Shahbo, an Ivy League grad transfer, would have one more year of eligibility after this season, under the new 5-for-5 guidelines, should they choose to use it. It is a big-time matchup between two top-10 teams that are both battling for the top seed in the ACC. Carolina and Duke sit on one conference loss while Wake has two (one being to Duke).

SCHEDULE
Game 1: vs. #10 Wake Forest - Friday, October 23 – 6 PM ET – ACCNX – Live Stats
Game 2: at App State - Sunday, October 25 – 11 AM ET – ACCNX – Live Stats

#9 North Carolina Tar Heels (9-5)(5-1 ACC)
Head Coach: Erin Matson
Record at UNC: 68-11
Record vs. Wake: 2-1
Record vs. App State: 3-0

#10 Wake Forest Demon Deacons (10-5)(4-2 ACC)
Head Coach: Jennifer Averill
Record at Wake Forest: 451-254-3
Record vs. UNC: 22-53

App State Mountaineers (8-7)(4-3 MAC)
Head Coach: Emily Dinsmore
Record at App State: 47-26
Record vs. UNC: 0-3

PROTECTED THEIR HOUSE
➤ The Heels swept their double-home weekend with wins over Boston College and No. 13 Syracuse.
➤ On Friday, it was a dominant 4-0 win for UNC over the Eagles. Four different goalscorers contributed while the defense picked up its sixth shutout of the season.
➤ Sunday against the Orange was a much tighter contest, as Carolina needed a late fourth quarter goal from Charly Bruder to take the 2-1 victory.
➤ Bruder and fellow senior Barbacci played big roles in both victories. Both girls scored in each game and Barbacci added an assist on Bruder's game winner against Syracuse.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
78 - Carolina has won 78 times in their provincial palace Karen Shelton Stadium, holding a .929 winning percentage in 84 games played.
30 - In their last seven games, the Heels are outscoring their opponnents 30-4.
5 - Charly Bruder and Ryleigh Heck sit in 5th in program history in career goals and career points respectively with the other right behind in each category.
3.36 - UNC leads the ACC, the sport's best conference, by firing at a 3.36 goals per game clip.

FHockey Heels vs. the Demon Deacons
➤ Friday's game will be the 87th all-time meeting between the two programs.
➤ When last they met: In last year's meeting it was the Demon Deacons who emerged victorious with a 2-1 double overtime win in Winston-Salem. The result snapped a 13 game win streak for Carolina in the series.
➤ The Heels thought they had their winner when Eliza Perrin scored with five minutes left in the fourth quarter, but Wake equalized with two minutes to go and then found the winner in the second OT period.

vs. the Mountaineers
➤ Sunday's game will be the 14th all-time meeting between the two programs.
➤ When last they met: Carolina hosted the contest last season and cruised to a 5-0 win thanks to two goals from Charly Bruder and one each from Ryleigh Heck and Dani Mendez. Four of the five were scored before halftime.
➤ UNC and App have faced two common opponents, Wake Forest and Liberty. The Mountaineers lost both of those contests by a combined score of 2-13.
➤ Carolina's Reid Miller and App's Sarah Callery both graduated from Cary Christian School.