North Carolina
Virginia Tech
Tar Heels Head to Semifinals of ACC Women's Lacrosse Championship
April 26, 2007 | Women's Lacrosse
April 26, 2007
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - After a slow start, offense dominated the opening game of the 2007 ACC Women's Lacrosse Championship, as No. 3 seed North Carolina notched an 18-7 victory over No. 6 seed Virginia Tech at Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill on Thursday afternoon. The Tar Heels advance to Friday's semifinal round to face No. 2 seed Duke.
The Taylor sisters, Kelly and Kristen, combined for 10 points, 10 shots and seven goals for the Tar Heels, while teammate Christina Juras contributed two goals and one assist for three points on the day.
"It is nice to get a win on Thursday in order to get the nerves out of our system and work on some things we had trouble with last weekend," North Carolina head coach Jenny Levy said. "I thought Virginia Tech played tough in a (difficult) situation given everything that has happened on their campus. Overall, today was a great opportunity to play a lot of kids and see how some of our younger players could do in an ACC Tournament environment."
Ten different players scored for UNC in the first half. Freshman Kristen put the Tar Heels on the board first on an assist by Juras, who then scored the second UNC goal less than a minute later.
Virginia Tech found the back of the net at the 15:39 mark as junior attack Jenna Reich beat All-American goalie Kristen Hordy on a free position shot and allowed the Hokies to close in on the lead at 2-1.
oth teams traded goals in the next two possessions before UNC tallied six unanswered goals, including two back-to-back by the younger Taylor sister. The Hokies added one more goal before halftime, but found themselves trailing UNC 10-4.
The Hokies returned from the break with an unassisted goal by Kady McBrearty, her second of the game. UNC answered back with Kristen Taylor leading the charge, as the Tar Heels rattled off five straight for a 15-5 advantage.
Virginia Tech got in two more goals, one each from Lindsay Pieper and Briana Warner, who scored her first career goal. However, UNC would net three additional goals to seal the victory for the Tar Heels, 18-7.
UNC tied the ACC tournament single-game assist record with nine, as eight different players played a key role in the first-round win.
In the cage for the Tar Heels, Hordy made nine stops in all 60 minutes of action and set a career record for saves (535) and minutes played.
Hokie goalkeeper Kari Morrison made 13 saves, including 11 from the first half, and also became the Virginia Tech's single-season groundball leader with 51.
"For being a new coaching staff and bringing new ideas and vision into a growing program, we are proud of the growth that we have seen this season, last week especially," Virginia Tech head coach Katrina Silva said. "It takes time to develop and we are extremely proud of the effort this entire season. We are in this to make a statement and we are going to keep moving forward. You can expect us to continue working hard to rise and become one of the nations' elite women's lacrosse programs."
The ACC Women's Lacrosse Championship continues Friday, April 27, as UNC takes on No. 2 seed Duke at 3 p.m. The Blue Devils hold a 3-2 edge over the Tar Heels in the league championship.
