Liberty University
(7-4)
North Carolina
(9-0)
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| Liberty | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
No. 1 North Carolina Gets Past No. 14 Liberty 6-3, Sunday
10/2/2022 6:13:00 PM | Field Hockey
The top-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels got past No. 14 Liberty 6-3, Sunday afternoon at the Liberty Field Hockey Field.
Tar Heels senior forward Erin Matson led the way with four goals in the match. Meanwhile, Liberty received goals from Lizzie Hamlett, Pima Iturraspe and Bethany Dykema in the setback.
UNC stays unbeaten at 9-0 following the triumph. Liberty slips to 7-4 and sees a three-game winning streak ended.
Scoring Summary
5' – NORTH CAROLINA – Erin Matson | Penalty Stroke
7' – NORTH CAROLINA – Lisa Slinkert (Ryleigh Heck)
10' – LIBERTY – Lizzie Hamlett (Jodie Conolly) | Penalty Corner
30' – NORTH CAROLINA – Erin Matson (unassisted)
35' – NORTH CAROLINA – Paityn Wirth (Erin Matson)
42' – NORTH CAROLINA – Erin Matson (Romea Riccardo)
47' – NORTH CAROLINA – Erin Matson (unassisted)
54' – LIBERTY – Pima Iturraspe (Lizzie Hamlett)
57' – LIBERTY – Bethany Dykema (Daniella Rhodes) | Penalty Corner
Goalkeepers
W: Abigail Taylor 6-0, two saves
L: Azul Iritxity Irigoyen 7-4, four saves
Turning Point
UNC forward Erin Matson scored her first of four goals on the day on a penalty stroke in the early going at the 4:46 mark. Just over two minutes later (6:55 mark), the Tar Heels' Lisa Slinkert lifted a shot into the cage from the right side for a 2-0 lead for the visitors.
Liberty answered, as Lizzie Hamlett scored on a short corner tip at the 9:53 mark. Neither team scored until 23 seconds remaining in the opening half, when Matson sent a blast into the right side for a 3-1 UNC lead heading into the break. The Tar Heels scored three goals in the first 16:16 of the second half to open up a 6-1 lead before Liberty scored twice later in the fourth quarter for the final outcome.
Key Stats & Notes
• Liberty did not surrender a penalty corner goal on five North Carolina chances. The Lady Flames have not yielded a short corner goal all season long on 32 attempts from their counterparts.
• The Lady Flames won a season-low two penalty corners today but scored on both of them. Liberty has scored on 21-of-83 (25.3 percent) of its penalty corner opportunities this year.
• North Carolina held a 16-6 edge in total shots and 11-3 edge in shots on goal. Matson led the way with a game-high eight shots (six on goal) for UNC. All six Liberty shots were on frame.
• Hamlett's goal was her eighth of the year in only her 11th game. The Fredericksburg, Va. native had a career-best nine goals in 23 games a season.
• Liberty slips to 4-2 on its home turf in 2022.
• UNC improves to 8-1 all-time versus Liberty. The Lady Flames defeated the Tar Heels for the first time last year, doing so by a 4-0 final in Chapel Hill, N.C.
• This is the first time Liberty has given up more than four goals in a game since Oct. 26, 2019. The Lady Flames fell 6-3 to No. 3 Connecticut that day.
Up Next
Liberty, currently in first place in the BIG EAST at 3-0, will return to conference play on Friday afternoon at Villanova (7-3, 1-2 BIG EAST). Game time is 3 p.m. at the Villanova Field Hockey Field in Conshohocken, Pa.
The Lady Flames and Wildcats last met on Oct. 8, 2021 in Lynchburg, a 7-0 Liberty win. Liberty is 8-0 all-time against Villanova and 7-0 against the Wildcats since joining the BIG EAST in 2016.
Team Stats
Erin Matson (10)
NC Erin Matson PENALTY STROKE GOAL, goal number 10 for season.
4:46
Lisa Slinkert (5)
Assisted By: Ryleigh Heck
Right from right side, lifted in
6:55
HAMLETT, Lizzie (8)
Assisted By: CONOLLY, Jodie
Tip on corner, right side
9:53
Erin Matson (11)
Transition, blast into right side
29:37
Paityn Wirth (2)
Assisted By: Erin Matson
Transition, scored from left side
34:05
Erin Matson (12)
Assisted By: Romea Riccardo
Reverse into left side
41:08
Erin Matson (13)
Shot from right into left side
46:16
ITURRASPE, Pima (3)
Assisted By: HAMLETT, Lizzie
Reverse into top left corner
53:59
DYKEMA, Bethany (6)
Assisted By: RHODES, Daniella
Scored on corner, sweep from left post
56:30
