Wolverines Score Early, Late but Fall to No. 1 UNC in Season Opener

Friday, August 25

Chapel Hill, N.C.

8:30 PM

Michigan

(0-1)

North Carolina

(1-0)

Michigan

North Carolina

Lora Clarke (Jeffrey Camarati/North Carolina Athletics)

Wolverines Score Early, Late but Fall to No. 1 UNC in Season Opener

8/25/2023 11:34:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score

By: Leah Howard

» No. 4 Michigan scored first and last but fell its season opener to No. 1 North Carolina 3-2 at the annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
» Juliette Manzur and Anouk Veen scored for Michigan in the first and fourth quarters, respectively. It was Manzur's first collegiate goal in her debut.
» UNC scored all three of its goals in the second quarter; Caylie McMahon tallied eight saves in the Wolverine cage.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- The No. 4-ranked University of Michigan field hockey team scored early and late but was doomed by a three-goal second quarter in a 3-2 loss to No. 1 North Carolina in its season opener at the annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Friday night (Aug. 25) at Karen Shelton Stadium.

Michigan struck first, scoring at 12:46 in the opening quarter, with a pair of newcomers connecting in their collegiate debuts. Freshman Natalie Millman corralled a loose ball in the midfield, fed it up to fellow freshman Juliette Manzur breaking past the UNC 25. Manzur went one-on-one into the circle with a defender, pulled to her reverse stick to get free and buried a shot past the Tar Heel keeper for her first goal in maize and blue.

UNC, the defending NCAA champion, evened the score with a fast break of its own early in the second quarter, at 16:14, after Lisa Slinkert got past the Wolverine defense in the circle, then Carolina pulled away with a pair of late penalty-corner goals in the final five minutes of the frame. Slinkert led the Tar Heels with two goals in the game.

The Wolverines converted on a penalty corner of their own at 56:09 to pull within one late. Senior Anouk Veen nailed the direct shot, ramping a hard shot off the UNC goalkeeper's stick and up high into the cage. Senior Lora Clarke and junior/sophomore Claire Taylor earned assists on the insert and stop, respectively.

UNC outshot the Wolverines 12-6 and outcornered them 9-3. Junior/sophomore goalkeeper Caylie McMahon earned eight saves, including seven in the second half, while UNC's Abigail Taylor stopped two of U-M's four shots on goal.

Michigan will wrap up the ACC/Big Ten Challenge against No. 12 Wake Forest at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday (Aug. 27) at Shelton Stadium. The game will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra.