University of North Carolina Athletics
Two-Game Road Trip For Tar Heels
March 11, 2015 | Women's Lacrosse
CHAPEL HILL—The University of North Carolina women's lacrosse team will play two games in the Baltimore area and wrap up non-conference play for the 2015 season this weekend. The road trip will cap off a week of spring break in Chapel Hill for the team as most of their classmates were on vacation.
On Friday at noon, Carolina will play 19th-ranked Albany in Lutherville, Md., on the campus of the St. Paul's School for Girls. Lutherville is the hometown of Tar Heel freshman midfielder Elizabeth Haus, who attended Notre Dame Prep.
On Sunday, the Tar Heels will play at Towson at noon at Johnny Unitas Stadium.
Carolina opened Atlantic Coast Conference play last weekend with a 10-7 win over Virginia at Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill. UNC is 5-1 in non-conference games this season with victories over James Madison, Florida, High Point, Northwestern and Elon. The Tar Heels lost, 13-11, at top-ranked Maryland on February 22 in College Park, Md.
Carolina has held down the No. 2 spot in the national polls behind the Terrapins for most of the 2015 season. But with the Terps gone to the Big Ten, the two former conference rivals no longer face the possibility of a rematch in the ACC Tournament. Louisville has replaced the Terps in the ACC this season, and conference play will resume for the Tar Heels after this weekend's trip to Maryland.
Albany entered the national polls this week and comes into Friday's matchup with a 4-0 record. The Great Danes have opened the season with wins over Quinnipiac, Manhattan, Cornell and Central Connecticut. Albany leads the nation in scoring margin (+13.25) and is second in scoring offense (19.75 goals per game).
Towson started the season 2-0 with wins over Monmouth and Georgetown and will host Maryland on Wednesday night in Towson before playing Carolina on Sunday.
After this weekend's action, the Tar Heels will return home to host third-ranked Boston College on Saturday night March 21 in a game that will be streamed live by ESPN3. Carolina will close the 2015 season by playing four of five games on the road in ACC play with road games at Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, Louisville and Duke and a home date with Syracuse on April 11.
Carolina continues to be led in scoring by sophomore transfer Alex Moore, who enters the weekend with 13 goals and a team-high 17 points. Sammy Jo Tracy has returned to the lineup after missing the 2014 season with a foot injury and has a team-high 14 goals and 16 points. Aly Messinger also has 16 points, with 10 goals and a team-high six assists.
Carolina's two All-ACC goalies have combined to limit opponents to 8.29 goals per game this spring despite a challenging schedule featuring four Top-10 opponents. Caylee Waters has started all seven games in goal for Carolina and has posted a 5-1 record with a .471 save percentage. Megan Ward often plays the second half of UNC games and is 1-0 with a .436 save percentage.
