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The University of North Carolina field hockey team put on a statement weekend at Karen Shelton Stadium as the Tar Heels took home two wins in dominating fashion to reaffirm themselves as national championship contenders. The victory was capped off Sunday with a close and nail-biting overtime 1-0 shutout against No. 2 Princeton following a dominant 7-1 display against Penn on Saturday morning.
Playing against Princeton in the finale of Conference Crossover, the Tar Heels were in a tight defensive battle with Princeton dominating most of the open play, outshooting UNC 15-9 as well as earning eight penalty corners. The UNC defense did not back down; sophomore goalkeeper Merritt Skubisz was on another level in her time in the cage, notching five saves, including a diving stick save at the goal line throughout all of regulation play as well as the sudden-death overtime period.
Both defenses continued the back-and-forth till penalty strokes, where UNC jumped up 2-0 early and a total of 5-3 thanks to successful penalty strokes by senior forward Coco Courtright and junior midfielder Reese Anetsberger, while denying three Princeton penalty strokes to close out the victory on a sliding stick-saved goal by Ferri to secure the 1-0 shutdown against Princeton.
The two wins at Karen Shelton Stadium improve the Tar Heels’ record to 2-2 on the year after starting the year 0-2. This defensive display of perseverance against a quality opponent shows that UNC has ice in its veins to earn massive victories as they begin their lengthy home stand to start the season against Old Dominion on Tuesday night.
Source: University of North Carolina Athletics (GoHeels.com) & Chapelboro Sports Reports.
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