University of North Carolina Athletics
2000 Women's Lacrosse Outlook
January 10, 2000 | Women's Lacrosse
Jan. 10, 2000
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - With eight of the team's top nine scorers returning from last season, Carolina aims for its third NCAA Final Four in the last four seasons.
Buoyed by the return of seven starters and 19 lettermen and inspired by a first-round loss in the 1999 NCAA Tournament, the 2000 University of North Carolina women's lacrosse team hopes to return to the nation's elite this season in the nation's toughest conference.
After making back-to-back NCAA Final Four appearances in 1997 and 1998 in just the second and third years of the program's existence, the Tar Heels lost to Georgetown in the 1999 NCAA Tournament first round. Not that the season was entirely a disappointment, however. In fact, Carolina spent most of the '99 season ranked among the nation's top teams, defeated six nationally-ranked opponents and finished the season 8-7, 1-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, with both of those conference losses coming to squads ranked among the nation's top two teams.
But the 1999 campaign still left an unpleasant taste in Tar Heel mouths. This season, a year wiser and with plenty of inspiration, Carolina looks to return to familiar territory.
"We're very excited about this season," head coach Jenny Slingluff Levy says. "Last year was disappointing for us not to make it past the first round. We feel like we have a lot of different weapons all over the field. We have a good mix of experienced players with some young talent that's been developing. Our senior class has come in this year and been great leaders from the start ' they're positive and hard working and they've been really good about getting the underclassmen to follow suit. That makes a really big difference in training every day."
Carolina will be led in 2000 by senior captains Gray MacNair, Meghann Mohler and Kristin Off, all of whom are among the best players in the ACC. Three other senior veterans also return with strong leadership credentials. In all, the 2000 Tar Heels feature eight of the team's top nine scorers from last season and can boast of an impressive talent base of underclassmen eager to step into starting roles.
"There won't be too much pressure on any one of the seniors because of the depth and talents of our younger players," says Slingluff Levy. "The junior class didn't play much as freshmen, got on the field last year and now we're looking for them to be more assertive as leaders on the field. The sophomore class is very talented and contributed tremendously on the field last year. And the freshmen are a great group. They have high expectations and will have to work hard to get on the field this year, but some of them will see playing time and contribute to our success."
The Tar Heels will have to replace a gifted class of seniors that were not only fine players, but also the first-ever recruiting class in UNC's short women's lacrosse history. Erin McGinnis departed as Carolina's all-time leading scorer with 149 goals and 211 points overall. A quartet of departed senior defenders, including All-ACC and All-America Brooke Crawford, starters Aubrey Falk and Katie Loovis and four-year starting goalkeeper Debbie Castine, also have graduated.
"The senior class last year was our first group of recruits and it definitely helped put this program on the map," Slingluff Levy says. "Not just in wins and losses, but they came in and worked hard and passed that work ethic on to the players that are still on the team. They've left their imprints on the program and have helped us start a winning tradition here."
A strong attack unit should be the strength of this year's Tar Heel squad. Mohler was the team's leading scorer last year with 25 goals and 15 assists for 40 points. Off was third with 33 points and MacNair was fifth with 21 points. Also returning are sophomore attacker Kellie Thompson, fourth on the team with 26 points and third with 20 goals, sophomore midfielder Christine McPike, sixth on the team in scoring, senior Julie Kickham, junior Amy Havrilla and sophomore Erin McInnes.
"We really have a lot of different weapons offensively this year," Slingluff Levy says. "We have players who can go one-on-one, good feeders, players who are strong on the inside, power players and finesse players. It's really critical that the coaching staff get all the parts to work together well as a unit."
Slingluff Levy has high hopes for the 2000 Tar Heels.
"First and foremost, we want to have a good journey," she says. "We want to have a fun experience this year. We've never won an ACC championship, so that would be first on our list of goals. We've got a very challenging schedule, and we want to improve each game, get tougher as we approach the NCAA Tournament. Another goal is to make our third appearance in the Final Four. We haven't reached the championship game, so our ultimate goal would be to reach the finals and win the national title. That's our goal every year, and I think it's a realistic one for our program."
ATTACK
"We have a lot of depth on the attacking end and look forward to using a lot of players interchangeably," says Slingluff Levy.
MacNair, Mohler and Off all finished among Carolina's top five scorers last year and should be the cornerstones of the Tar Heel attacking unit. All three are adept at controlling the pace of the game in both the offensive and defensive sides of the field. Sophomores Kellie Thompson and Erin McInnes were both part-time starters last season who hope to move into the starting lineup full-time.
Other significant contributors on offense will include junior Amy Havrilla, senior Julie Kickham, redshirt sophomore Lindsay Stone and true freshmen Betsy Gaines and Kate Boyle. Gaines starred for the United States Under-19 National Team last summer in Australia.
"We're hoping offense will be a strength for us and that we'll be a hard team to mark up because our opponents won't be able to concentrate on just one player," says Slingluff Levy. "We have very good leadership on the attacking end this year, and that completely impacts the production of that unit. A lot of our sophomore class saw significant playing time on the attacking end last year and have a lot more confidence now with a year under their belts."
DEFENSE
"We are not as experienced defensively as we are on offense, but I really like our defensive unit," says Slingluff Levy. "We'll have a spirited battle between sophomore Melissa Coyne and true freshman Margaret Garofalo in the goal, and we have returning starters on defense like Christine McPike, Jennie Voishan, Meghan Stringer and Porter Wilkinson to lead us. We have some other part-time starters who are also back. I think the defense will get better and better as the year progresses."
Coyne was the backup to four-year starter Debbie Castine in 1999 but took over as the starter when Castine was injured early in the ACC Tournament loss to Maryland. Coyne started the final two games of the season, including the NCAA Tournament game at Georgetown.
McPike's strengths are her quickness and speed, which allow her to matchup with most opposing attackers. Foran, Voishan, Stringer and Wilkinson all also return and hope to reclaim their starting jobs from a year ago. Vying to move into the lineup are juniors Kate McDaniel and Eden Rellihan, sophomore walk-on Jessica Wilson and freshman Andy Fortino.
