FH returns to victory in overtime over Princeton
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania — North Carolina trailed most of Sunday’s game with Princeton but held a lead when they cruised to a 2-1 overtime win in a top-ten hockey battle. At a neutral site at Ellen Vagelos Field in Pennsylvania, the Tar Heels played from behind for nearly 50 minutes before tying the game in the 54th minute.y minutes of play and then scored the winning goal from a penalty kick in extra time.
The Tar Heels improved to 3-1 with their second win of the weekend, after beating Penn 4-0 on Friday. Princeton fell to 0-2, including a 2-1 loss to Louisville on the first day of ACC/Ivy League Conference crossover play.
“It was quite a challenge and I think we responded well,” UNC coach said Erin Mattson He said. “There wasn’t one second of doubt from anyone. It was good, we made it a little harder on ourselves, but we’re going to do this together, and it was good to see that fire in their eyes.”
Princeton scored four minutes into the game. UNC guard Madi Khan She blocked the Tiger’s first shot of the day, but Bridget Murphy collected the rebound and returned it for a 1-0 lead.
Despite the vast advantage in chances – Carolina had 20 shots in regulation to Princeton’s five – the Tar Heels were unable to score until late in regulation. On their fifth penalty kick in the fourth quarter, the ninth of the game, they finally scored their goal. junior Yasmina Smolinars Take the first and second shot Riley Heck He converted it from the right side of the cage to tie the game at 1-1 with 6:26 left in regulation.
The score remained tied for the rest of the season, and the Tar Heels went into overtime for the second time in this season’s four games. They kept pressing and eventually won a penalty after Heck saved an illegal shot. junior Lisa Slinkert She stepped up to take it and sent her shot to the left side of the cage for Karolina to win.
Nerves of steel 💪
Lisa Slinkert sinks the stroke to give Carolina a 2-1 win over Princeton in OT#GoHeels pic.twitter.com/8AZRNgsHpO
— UNC Field Hockey (@UNCFieldHockey) September 3, 2023
UNC finished the day with a season-high 23 shots to Princeton’s five. Including Friday’s victory over the Quakers, the Tar Heels outscored their opponents 37-8 in both games in Philadelphia.
Kahn played a full 68:05 against Carolina on Sunday, making two saves. Princeton guard Robin Thompson finished with a career-high 10 saves.
“I think one of the biggest takeaways is going to come like we did in the fourth quarter, but in the first quarter until we feel good and have a strong start and sustain that for the next 60 minutes,” Mattson said. “It was another good lesson learned, another good fight, and we found a way.”
Next up in the Tar Heels is a trip to Old Dominion on Sunday (September 10th). Norfolk playing time is noon.
No. 1 UNC 2, No. 10 Princeton 1, OT
Scoring: Princeton – Bridget Murphy, 4:04; United Nations Command – Riley Heck (Yasmina Smolinars), 53:34; United Nations Command – Lisa Slinkert (penalty)
Screenshots: UNC 23 (3/6/3/8/3), Princeton 5 (2/3/0/0/0)
Penalty corners: UNC 10 (1/1/2/5/1), Princeton 1 (0/1/0/0/0)
Goalkeeper save: United Nations Command 2 (Madi Khan68:05, 1 goal allowed, 2 saves), Princeton 10 (Robin Thompson, 68:05, 2 goals allowed, 10 saves)
