No. 1 North Carolina Takes Down No. 8 Princeton, 2-0

Friday, September 1

Princeton, N.J.

4:00 PM

Princeton University

(0-1)

North Carolina

(2-1)

North Carolina

Princeton

Photo by: Beverly Schaefer

No. 1 North Carolina Takes Down No. 8 Princeton, 2-0

September 01, 2017 | Field Hockey

Box Score

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PRINCETON, N.J. – The No. 1 North Carolina Tar Heels defeated the No. 8 Princeton Tigers, 2-0, at Bedford Field on Friday afternoon.

Despite three saves from Grace Baylis and an incredible defensive stop from MaryKate Neff, the Tigers were held off the scoreboard, dropping its season-opener for the third straight season to North Carolina.

The Tar Heels got on the board early as Meredith Sholder swiped the ball from a Princeton defender and then sent it from the far side of the circle into the back of the cage three minutes in.

Princeton's first scoring threat came off a corner in the 25th minute. Off an insert from Clara Roth, Sophia Tornetta stopped it for Margaret Lynch, who riffled a shot, but North Carolina's goalie Amanda Hendry made the save. The Tar Heels' Eva Smolenaars was given a green card in the 31st and 47th minutes of the game, but the Tigers couldn't capitalize.

In the 52nd minute, Ryan McCarthy came up with the ball after a battle in the circle, and whipped around a shot that Hendry stopped.

A few minutes later, Princeton was awarded a corner. As Tornetta inserted the ball, North Carolina was called for an intentional foul outside the circle, giving the home squad a penalty shot. McCarthy was subbed into take the opportunity, but Hendry, again, kept the Tigers off the board.

Baylis made perhaps her best save in the 62th minute. Gab Major got through two defenders and then blasted a shot that made the sophomore goalie sprawl out. Two minutes later, she made another great stoppage as North Carolina's Ashley Hoffman tried to give the road team breathing room off a corner attempt.

In the 66th minute, the Tar Heels got their second tally of the game. Sholder picked up a loose ball in the circle and lined an attempt towards the cage that Major deflected past Baylis. A short time later, North Carolina's Marissa Creatore slipped a shot by Baylis, but Neff dove and knocked the ball away from the line.

Princeton had one more scoring chance with a corner with 2:30 remaining, but could not get a shot through Hendry.

Sholder finished with three points for the Tar Heels while Hendry had four saves. McCarthy led the Tigers with three shots.

Head coach Carla Tagilente's unit will travel south to take on No. 3 Delaware on Sunday. The match is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. and will be streamed for free on Blue Hens Access. It's a rematch of the 2016 national semifinals, a meeting that Delaware took 3-2 on the way to the NCAA Championship.