Michigan
(1-0)
North Carolina
(0-1)
Wolverines Topple No. 1 Tar Heels in 2021 Season Opener
8/27/2021 5:41:00 PM | Field Hockey
» No. 2 Michigan scored early and held on late to down No. 1 North Carolina 3-2 in its season opener at the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
» Alana Richardson netted the game-winner with U-M's first goal -- and the first of her collegiate career -- on a reverse chip at 13:59 mark; Tina D'Anjolell and Sarah Pyrtek also scored for Michigan.
» Anna Spieker posted two saves in the Wolverine cage.
Site: Iowa City, Iowa (Grant Field)
Event: ACC/Big Ten Challenge
Score: #2 Michigan 3, #1 North Carolina 2
Records: U-M (1-0), UNC (0-1)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, Aug. 29 -- vs. Wake Forest - ACC/Big Ten Challenge (Iowa City, Iowa), 1 p.m. CDT
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The No. 2-ranked University of Michigan field hockey team built its lead with a pair of goals over the first half and held on in the second to edge No. 1 North Carolina 3-2 in its season opener at the annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Friday afternoon (Aug. 27) at Iowa's Grant Field.
The game pitted the nation's top-ranked programs in a rematch of the 2020 NCAA championship game, which UNC claimed 4-3 in overtime. The Wolverines' win today was their third over top-ranked North Carolina in a season opener since 2016.
It was freshman Alana Richardson who tallied the first official Maize and Blue goal of the 2021 campaign -- and her collegiate career -- at the 13:59 mark late in the first quarter. Senior Tina D'Anjolell carried the ball into the circle from the right, banked a shot off the UNC goalkeeper and it kicked out into open space on the left side of the circle. Richardson laid out to roof a reverse shot to the top of the cage and give U-M the first lead.
D'Anjolell tacked on one of her own in the second quarter, at 24:15, when she picked a rebound off the Carolina goalkeeper's pads, muscled her way through a defender on her way to the right post and knocked it into the near-side corner to give Michigan a 2-0 advantage.
UNC scored twice in the fourth quarter, including one from the top of the circle just 39 seconds in, but the Wolverines added an open-cage goal -- after Carolina pulled its goalkeeper with 11:50 remaining -- to stay out front. Junior Sarah Pyrtek tallied the third Michigan goal at 49:36, taking a pass up and into the circle from junior Nina Apoola and finding space between two converging Tar Heels to rip a reverse chip into goal.
North Carolina outshot the Wolverines 11-7 and outcornered them 4-1. Senior goalkeeper Anna Spieker posted two saves in the Michigan cage, while UNC's Abigail Taylor tallied one.
Michigan will wrap up the ACC/Big Ten Challenge against No. 11 Wake Forest at 1 p.m. CDT on Sunday (Aug. 29) at Iowa's Grant Field.
Team Stats
Richardson, Alana (1)
rebound, reverse chip
13:59
D'Anjolell, Tina (1)
nearside right post
24:15
Eva Smolenaars (1)
Assisted By: Meredith Sholder
pass to top of the circle
45:39
Pyrtek, Sarah (1)
Assisted By: Apoola, Nina
open cage, reverse chip
49:36
Hannah Griggs (1)
penalty corner, scrum in front
55:05
