University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Syracuse
Tar Heels Down Syracuse, 15-8
April 11, 2015 | Women's Lacrosse
CHAPEL HILL – Second-ranked North Carolina went on a 5-0 run early in the second half and beat sixth-ranked Syracuse, 15-8, on Saturday afternoon before a record crowd at Fetzer Field. Sammy Jo Tracy's three goals and six draw controls and Sydney Holman's two goals and three assists led the way for Carolina.
With their fourth consecutive win, the Tar Heels improve to 12-2 this season, 5-1 in Atlantic Coast Conference play. Syracuse falls to 9-6, 2-4 and loses its fourth game in five outings. The contest marked the final regular season home game for 10 UNC seniors: Brittney Coppa, Margaret Corzel, Eileen Giles, Sam McGee, Morgan Rubin, Paula Schmidt, Lindsay Scott, Sarah Scott, Caileigh Sindall and Courtney Waite.
UNC rallied early in the second half with its 5-0 run after the Orange scored first coming out of the break to cut the UNC lead to 7-4. Five different Tar Heels scored in the run, leading a balanced UNC offensive attack. In addition to the output of Tracy and Holman in the game, Carolina got two goals and an assist from Maggie Bill, a goal and two assists from Aly Messinger and two goals apiece from Devlin and Carly Reed. McGee had a goal and an assist, while Lindsay Scott and Marie McCool both scored once.
Kayla Treanor, Halle Majorana and Loren Ziegler led Syracuse with two goals each. Gabby Jaquith and Caroline Webster both scored once, and Riley Donahue had an assist.
The Orange scored two of the game's first three goals, leading 1-0 and 2-1 before a 4-0 UNC run gave the Tar Heels a 5-2 lead with 10:38 left before halftime. Five minutes later, Syracuse scored to make it 5-3. Reed and McGee scored goals in the final 4:32 of the half and make the score 7-3 Carolina at halftime.
After Carolina went on its 5-0 run to take a commanding, 12-4, lead, Syracuse responded with a 4-1 run of its own to make it 13-8. The Orange could get no closer than five goals, however, as Tracy and Lindsay Scott scored the final two goals in the closing 3:37 of the game to make it 15-8.
Coppa started the game for UNC, went out early in the first half with a right knee injury and did not return to the contest. Last Saturday against Louisville, leading scorer Molly Hendrick went down with a torn left anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee. Hendrick will miss the rest of the season.
Caylee Waters started the game in goal for Carolina and played the first half, improving to 12-2 this season by making five saves and allowing three goals. Megan Ward played the second half and made four saves while allowing five scores. Kelsey Richardson (9-6) went the distance in the cage for Syracuse, making 10 saves and allowing 15 goals.
Saturday's attendance was 2,098, a UNC record for a women's lacrosse game at Fetzer Field. The previous record was 2,013, set on April 5, 2014, in a 17-15 win over Maryland. Carolina honored the jerseys of former stars Christine McPike and Kellie Thompson Shiley in a halftime ceremony. McPike and Thompson Shiley both were seniors on the 2002 ACC champion Tar Heel team.
McPike was joined by her husband, Thomas Collins, at the cerermony. Thompson Shiley passed away unexpectedly in 2012. She was represented Saturday by her husband, Ryan Shiley, and their children, Landon, Blake and Paige, as well as her parents, Rosanne and Robin, and their extended family.
Carolina will play at Duke next Friday night in its regular season finale. Both squads will enter the game at 5-1 in conference play, and the winner will claim the 2015 regular season ACC title and top seed in the ACC Tournament.
