Carolina field hockey is heading into the last stretch of a three-week road trip with a pair of ranked matchups, and the trip ends with a pretty notable boundary in place: these will be the final games the Tar Heels play outside North Carolina until after the 2026 ACC Tournament, which is set for Chapel Hill at Karen Shelton Stadium for the first time since 2020.
The No. 9 Tar Heels visit Saint Joseph’s on Friday before turning around to face No.
17 Liberty on Sunday in Lynchburg. Carolina enters the weekend at 6-4 overall and 3-1 in the ACC, while the Hawks are 5-6 and unbeaten in A10 play at 3-0.
Liberty sits at 7-4 with a 1-1 mark in the BIG EAST.
This is the ninth meeting between UNC and Saint Joseph’s since the programs first played in 2017, and Carolina has controlled the series 6-2. The teams have split the two games played in Philadelphia. Sunday’s trip to Liberty brings another familiar opponent into the picture: the Heels and Flames have met 12 times before, and the last four have been divided evenly at 2-2.
Carolina’s last outing came in convincing fashion. The Heels rolled to a 3-0 shutout of No.
16 Louisville at Trager Stadium last Friday, a game that once again showed how tight this team has been defensively. UNC outshot the Cardinals 20-3 and allowed just one shot on goal, earning its fourth shutout of the season.
The scoring came from the full front line. Ryleigh Heck, Reese Anetsberger and Charly Bruder all found the cage, giving the Tar Heels a clean sweep across their starting attack. Bruder’s day was especially active: her shot created the rebound that turned into Anetsberger’s goal, and later she forced a steal deep in the Louisville circle that led to her own finish.
Bruder also reaches the weekend with a milestone within sight, and then some. She now has 68 career goals, which ties her for sixth all-time in program history.
A few other numbers jump out around Carolina’s current run. Since 2015, 55% of the team’s goals have come from players from Pennsylvania, and that figure climbs to 61% in Erin Matson’s time on campus. Matson’s road record has been elite as well: UNC is 26-2 in true road games during her tenure.
Another quiet but important trend has been Carolina’s defensive suppression. The Heels have allowed just three shots on goal over their last three games, and that has translated into only one goal against.
There’s also recent history to lean on in both matchups this weekend. In the 2025 NCAA Tournament, Saint Joseph’s was sent to the Chapel Hill Regional and met Carolina in the first round.
UNC came away with a 2-1 win, with goals from Heck and Bruder on either side of halftime. The Hawks, though, got the better of the Heels in the 2024 Final Four, winning 2-1 in Ann Arbor to reach the national championship game.
Against Liberty, Carolina’s last meeting also went the Heels’ way. Reese Anetsberger scored inside the first minute to set the tone in a 3-1 win over the then-ninth-ranked Flames, and Heck and Bruder also scored. The year before that, UNC handled the annual matchup in emphatic fashion, beating Liberty 7-0 behind eight points from Heck, who posted three goals and two assists in the most points scored in a game from open play by a Heel since at least 2015.
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