LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Pennsylvania field hockey team dropped their season opener to No. 2 North Carolina, 5-0, Friday afternoon at Louisville's Trager Stadium.
The Quakers start their season 0-1 while the Tar Heels continue their winning streak, improving to 3-0 on the year.
Quaker Notemeal
*
Riley Thomson and
Ruby de Frees made the first starts of their collegiate careers.
*Freshmen
Beau Lilly Barrington-Hibbert,
Megan Frank, and
Darcey Chapman also played in their first collegiate game, logging a combined 83 minutes.
*
Meghan McGinley,
Julia Ryan, and
Philine Klas played all 60 minutes in today's contest.
*Junior
Livia Loozen registered a shot on goal and logged 24 minutes.
*In her first collegiate game in net, de Frees recorded nine saves.
*UNC's Sietske Bruning and Ryleigh Heck each scored two goals.
How It Happened
North Carolina got on the board halfway through the first quarter when Heck ripped one from the right post. One minute later, the Tar Heels were given a penalty corner, as de Frees saved the first shot but a rebound from Bruning found the net to put UNC up 2-0 to end the first.
Loozen had a great opportunity to cut the deficit to one to start the second quarter, but UNC made the save. Both teams went back and forth without a goal until the Tar Heels scored off a penalty corner with 30 seconds left to end the first half with a 3-0 cushion.
Less than a minute into the third quarter, Bruning scored from the left side of the cage to give her two goals in as many minutes.
After Heck scored again to give the Tar Heels a 5-0 lead, McGinley had the best chance to put the Quakers on the board, but the Tar Heels made a defensive save to keep the shutout intact.
Up Next
Penn closes out the ACC/Ivy League Conference Crossover on Sunday against tournament host No. 7 Louisville at 1:30 p.m. The game will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra.
For the latest on Penn field hockey, follow @PennFieldHockey on X (formerly Twitter) and on Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.
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