002: 🏑 Field Hockey's Gold Standard
Carolina is seeking its 10th NCAA Field Hockey Championship this weekend.
Carolina plays Penn State on Friday at noon in Storrs, Connecticut. The winner advances to the NCAA Championship game on Sunday.
Head coach Karen Shelton is in her 42nd season. Shelton owns the most wins of any coach in NCAA field hockey history with a career record of 743-172-9.
Carolina has won 25 of the ACC’s 40 Championships. The Heels have won six straight league titles and nine of the last 12.
Carolina’s dominance in the NCAA Tournament is unmatched.
39 appearances are the most by any school
26 times the Tar Heels have advanced to the semifinals or Final Four
20 times, Carolina has played for the National Championship
11 runner-up finishes is the most by any school
9 titles is tied for the most by any school (Old Dominion also has nine)
This waffle chart compares Carolina against other schools with the most NCAA Tournament appearances. Keep in mind 19 teams qualify for the NCAA Tournament currently, and only 12 teams made the tournament 1982-1998.
It doesn’t matter. Carolina is the most successful program to date.
Friday’s match will mark the 106th career game played for super senior Meredith Sholder. A member of the U.S. National Team, Sholder has been with the program for the last six ACC Championships. She’s played in five of those games. And won them all too.
Sholder anchors the defense. Her play often doesn’t end up in a box score, unlike her fellow National Team teammate Erin Matson.
Matson is magnificent. She is one of only four players in NCAA Division-I history to total 300 points over the course of her career. The five-time ACC Offensive Player of the Year, Matson is one of the most decorated athletes in Carolina history.
Friday’s semifinal match against Penn State will be Matson’s 100th career game. In 99 games thus far, Matson has tallied 330 points (134 goals and 62 assists).
If Carolina beats Penn State, it will play for its 10th NCAA title and fourth in the last five seasons. No school has ever won more than nine titles.
No school has ever had players like Matson and Sholder for this long. No school has ever had a coach that wins games like Shelton.
And no school has ever been as successful as North Carolina in field hockey.