#3 Field Hockey beats #1 North Carolina 2-1 to reach the national championship game

ANN ARBOR, Mich. Manu Ghigliotti scored in the second and third quarters and the Hawk defense delivered the most remarkable performance in program history as the third-ranked Saint Joseph's hockey team defeated top-ranked, top-seeded and previously undefeated North Carolina 2-1 in the semifinals of the 2024 Division I Field Hockey Championship at Phyllis Ocker Field on Friday afternoon.

Support the Hawks| Press conference after the match

With the win, the Hawks will play for the national championship on Sunday afternoon against #2 Northwestern, which topped #14 UMass 1-0 in Friday's second semifinal.

HOW IT HAPPENED

North Carolina (20-1) controlled the first quarter and outscored the Hawks 6-0, but Marith Bijkerk stood tall in the cage and stopped all three attempts on target.

Saint Joseph's (20-3) entered the game in the second quarter with Alison Buffington UNC's Abigail Taylor was forced into a tough save early in the frame.

The Hawks maintained more offensive pressure midway through the quarter and it paid off. Sol Borenstein sent a ball that was intercepted by the Tar Heel defense, but Ghigliotti immediately insisted; she cleared the ball off the defender's stick, created space and fired a reverse shot low into the far corner for the first goal of the match with 7:09 left in the first half.

Julia Duffhuis had the chance to double the lead late on after a corner saved by Taylor to make it a one-goal game at half-time.

The Hawks had the lead in the third quarter except for the final seconds. Early in the stanza, Saint Joseph's were awarded a penalty corner; on the ensuing play, the Tar Heels were whistled for a foul to create a second corner that led to the second goal of the day.

On the corner, Celeste Smith inserted Kate Cristwho stopped in front of Duffhuis. Just found her Lily Santiwho sent a ball towards the cage that Borensztein tipped towards the cage. Taylor made the first stop, but the rebound fell to Ghigliotti, who knocked the ball home for a 2-0 lead with 9:21 to go in the third.

The Tar Heels wouldn't go quietly, however, as Charly Bruder fired a rocket on a corner kick with one second left in the third, cutting the Hawk lead to 2-1.

North Carolina turned up the pressure in the fourth, firing six more shots, but Jordan Carr made a defensive save on Bruder before Bijkerk twice denied UNC's Ryleigh Heck in the closing minutes.

The Hawks regained possession with a minute to play and ran the clock down to the final seconds; the Tar Heels had one last chance to advance, but couldn't get past midfield before time ran out and the Hawk bench poured onto the field in celebration.

BEHIND THE BOX SCORE

Ghigliotti's two goals were the third and fourth NCAA Tournament goals of her career, making her Saint Joseph's all-time scoring leader.

Bijkerk finished the day with nine saves, a season and career high and the most by a Hawk goalie since Robin Bleekemolen made nine against Duke on August 27, 2022.

Friday's game marked the first time North Carolina trailed in a game all season and ended UNC's 27-game winning streak.

In an ironic twist, Ghigliotti's first goal gave UNC its first NCAA Tournament deficit since the first round in 2022, when the Tar Heels fell behind 1-0 to Delaware; that goal was scored by Duffhuis just 12 seconds into the match.

The Hawks will be the first Atlantic 10 team to play for a national championship since Charlotte's men's soccer team did so in 2011.

Sunday's match will be the first time a Sint-Jozef team has played for a national title in a team sport. Donna Crumety, the 1991 NCAA triple jump champion, is Saint Joseph's only national champion.

NEXT

The Hawks will play Northwestern for the title on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. The Wildcats are playing in their fourth straight title game; they won the title at Ocker Field in 2021 with Carr on the roster.