No. 13 BC heads to Chapel Hill to Face No. 1 North Carolina

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – In a clash between the current top-two teams atop the ACC standings, the No. 13 Boston College field hockey team heads to Chapel Hill, North Carolina to face off against undefeated and defending national champion No. 1 North Carolina for its final road game on Friday, Oct. 25 at 5 p.m.

BC entered the game with a 10-5 record and a 3-1 ACC record, while North Carolina is 14-0 and 5-0 in the ACC.

The Matchup
Boston College heads to Karen Shelton Stadium to face the best team in the country. UNC leads the all-time series against BC, 16-2, and has won the last two matchups. The Eagles last win against UNC came in 2016, with a 2-1 win in Newton. Scoring a goal in that game was then-freshman and now senior-captain Brigid Wood.

Last Weekend
BC extended its win streak to six games, defeating No. 15 Syracuse, 2-1, and New Hampshire, 2-0. Margo Carlin scored both goals in the win over Syracuse, while Nell Webber and Sky Caron scored in the game against UNH. Sarah Dwyer continued to be stellar in net, giving up only one goal on the weekend, while making seven saves and picking up both wins.

Scouting North Carolina
North Carolina is well... North Carolina. The enter the contest on a 37-game win steak and an 18-game win streak at home.

UNC has the second-highest scoring offense in the country, averaging 4.36 goals per game and are led by sophomore Erin Matson, who leads the country with a stat line of 22-13-57 and is averaging over four points per game. The Tar Heels have three players with double-digit goals as both Marissa Creatore and Catherine Hayden have scored 12. Mainly as a facilitator, Yentl Leemans is second on the team and in the ACC with 12 assists.

In goal, Amanda Hendry has a perfect 14-0 record while giving up 1.02 GAA with a .733 save percentage. UNC has the fourth-best GAA in the country at 0.93 and the nation's top scoring margin at 3.43.

Record Breaking
Margo Carlin has taken the country by storm as a freshman, leading the class in goals (17) and goals per game (1.13). She also leads newcomers with 37 points and 2.47 points per game. Nationally, she is fourth in goals, goals per game and points.

With her 17 goals, Carlin has already broken the BC freshman record for goals and points in a season and is climbing up the leaderboards. She is currently eighth in single-season goals and 10th in points.

Dwyer on fire
BC has been on a six-game winning streak and in large part to netminder Sarah Dwyer. She's recorded six-straight wins and has been nearly unbeatable in those outings. Dwyer currently leads the country with a 0.66 goals against average, second in save percentage .848 and sits fifth with a .857 win percentage.

Her last six game have been absolutely absurd on the stat sheet as well. She has three wins over top-15 teams and is boasting a .958 save percentage and .166 GAA. If the season ended today, Dwyer would have the record for goals against average in a season.

Battle Tested
Boston College sits second in the ACC in both goals per game (2.73) and assists per game (2.00).

BC's schedule is one of the toughest in the nation based off opponent win percentage. The Eagles have faced the second-hardest schedule in the country so far this season with an opponent win percentage of .678. The Eagles also boast the nation's toughest rest-of-season schedule, facing off against UNC and Duke for a .862 combined win percentage.

Other than North Carolina, BC is the only team with a .500 or better record against RPI top-5 teams.

Road Eagles
BC enters its final road contest with a 5-1 record in away games. The Eagles' only loss came early in the season to Northwestern, 3-2.

Included in wins on the road for BC are ranked ACC opponents in Wake Forest and Virginia by a combined score of 3-0.

BC is one of four teams with at least five road wins and one or fewer losses on the season.

Lucky Number 13… And 7
BC is holding steady at No. 13 in the NFHCA Coaches' Poll for the second-consecutive week. Although they rank No. 13 in the coaches' poll, the Eagles moved up from 11 to 7 in the NCAA RPI Rankings. Six of the top-eight teams in the RPI are ACC schools, while BC still has to play the No. 1 and No. 3 teams in the rankings.

BC's RPI rank of seven is its highest since Oct. 15, 2017 when they ranked fifth and have only been ranked higher than seven eight times since 2001.

Boston College Athletics

No. 13 BC heads to Chapel Hill to Face No. 1 North Carolina

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Players Mentioned

Margo Carlin

Sky Caron

Sarah Dwyer

Nell Webber

Brigid Wood

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