University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Virginia Tech
Tar Heels Top Hokies In ACC Tournament First Round
April 27, 2006 | Women's Lacrosse
April 27, 2006
BALTIMORE - A late scoring binge lifted North Carolina into the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference women's lacrosse championship, as the Tar Heels topped Virginia Tech in the first round at M&T Bank Stadium on Thursday, 12-7.
Third-seeded North Carolina got three goals and an assist from Brooke Dieringer and two goals each from Stephanie Scurachio and Erica LaGrow to down the sixth-seeded Hokies. After Virginia Tech cut the score to 9-7 with just under nine minutes to play, the Tar Heels scored three goals in the last eight minutes to pull away.
North Carolina opened the game with a 3-0 run, as Dieringer sandwiched a pair of early goals around one from LaGrow.
Lindsay Pieper got the Hokies on the board at the 18:25 mark, and Katie Boyle scored off a Kady McBrearty pass just 2:36 later to draw Virginia Tech to within one goal at 3-2.
Julia Ryan scored next for North Carolina to stretch the Tar Heels' lead back to two goals, and Scurachio scored on a free position shot to push the lead to 5-2.
Virginia Tech's Stephanie Jones scored unassisted with 8:52 left in the first half, but North Carolina's Chrissy Rude converted a Christina Juras pass with just 41 seconds remaining to give the Tar Heels a 6-3 lead going into the break.
Dieringer, Katie Brooks and Scurachio all scored within the first 10 minutes of the second stanza as the Tar Heels opened up some breathing room. But Virginia Tech wouldn't go away, as Boyle notched her second goal of the day off a Natasha Fuchs pass and Katie Russo scored a pair of goals within 48 seconds of each other to bring the Hokies back to within three at 9-6.
Pieper picked up her second score of the day on a free position shot with 8:57 left in the contest to bring Virginia Tech to within two, but UNC's Jess Allen countered with a free position goal of her own exactly one minute later to restore the three-goal edge.
LaGrow converted an Allen pass with just over five minutes left in the contest, and Dieringer found Juras open on a fast break with just over three minutes remaining to cap the scoring.
Virginia Tech goalkeeper Carrie Hill notched five saves for the Hokies (8-9), while Kristen Hordy stopped six shots for North Carolina (12-4).
The Tar Heels will face No. 2 seed Virginia on Friday at 3 p.m.
Summary:
Goals: VT Lindsay Pieper 2, Katie Boyle 2, Katie Russo 2, Stephanie Jones 1, NC Brooke Dieringer 3, Stephanie Scurachio 2, Erica LaGrow 2, Christine Juras 1, Jess Allen 1, Julia Ryan 1, Chrissy Rude 1, Katie Brooks 1
Assists: VT Natasha Fuchs 1, Stephanie Jones 1, Kady McBrearty 1, NC Jess Allen 1, Brooke Dieringer 1, Christina Juras 1, Melissa McCarthy 1
Shots: VT 20, NC 27
Ground Balls: VT 20, NC 19
Turnovers: VT 18, NC 15
Clears: VT 12-15, NC 9-13
Free-position Shots: VT 1-4, NC 3-5
Saves: VT 5, NC 6
Draw Controls: VT 11, NC 10
