Wolverines Drop Season Opener to No. 1 North Carolina

Friday, August 30

Ann Arbor, Mich.

6:00 PM

Michigan

(0-1)

North Carolina

(1-0)

North Carolina

Michigan

Fay Keijer

Wolverines Drop Season Opener to No. 1 North Carolina

8/30/2019 9:18:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Leah Howard

» No. 5 Michigan dropped a 4-2 decision to No. 1 North Carolina, the defending NCAA champion, in its season opener at the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
» Five of the teams' six goals came on penalty corners, including Meg Dowthwaite and Kayla Reed's first-half markers for Michigan.
» UNC took control with three goals in the second quarter -- all from Erin Matson.

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Phyllis Ocker Field)
Event: ACC/Big Ten Challenge (Day 1 of 2)
Score: #1 North Carolina 4, #7 Michigan 2
Records: U-M (0-1), UNC (1-0)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, Sept. 1 -- vs. #10 Wake Forest - ACC/Big Ten Challenge (Phyllis Ocker Field), 11:30 a.m.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 7-ranked University of Michigan field hockey team went toe-to-toe with No. 1 North Carolina, struck first and played even for much of the contest, but ultimately fell to the defending NCAA champion, 4-2, in its season-opening contest at the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Friday evening (Aug. 30) at Phyllis Ocker Field.

Both Michigan and UNC took advantage of their penalty-corner opportunities with five corner goals between the teams. The Wolverines struck first just 1:48 into the first quarter when senior Meg Dowthwaite -- U-M's leading scorer in 2017 -- converted on the first corner of the contest, burying the direct shot to the left side. Senior Guadalupe Fernandez Lacort and Kathryn Peterson earned assists on the stop and the insert, respectively.

After a largely calm and quiet first quarter, the teams put up four goals in the second. Erin Matson scored all three for North Carolina, including two off penalty corners, as the Tar Heels took -- then retook -- the lead midway through the frame. Junior Kayla Reed evened the score with a corner deflection, diving in from the right post, at the 22:06 mark, but Carolina responded just a minute later, at 23:19, when Matson recovered a turnover inside the Michigan 25 and sent a reverse high. UNC did not trail again.

The Tar Heels added a late insurance tally with a corner-tip goal in the closing minutes at 58:16.

UNC outshot the Wolverines, 9-3 -- although shots on goals were a narrower 6-3 margin -- and outcornered them, 5-3. Sophomore goalkeeper Anna Spieker earned two saves in the Michigan cage, while Carolina's Amanda Hendry stopped one of U-M's three shots on goal.

Michigan will return to action on Sunday (Sept. 1) when it takes on No. 10-ranked Wake Forest at 11:30 a.m. on the second and final day of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge at Ocker Field. UNC will face Iowa, which defeated Wake Forest in today's first contest, at 2 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free.