University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
High Point
Tar Heels Dominate High Point, 17-5
February 13, 2016 | Women's Lacrosse
HIGH POINT, N.C. – Freshman Olivia Ferrucci and junior Molly Hendrick led the way as second-ranked North Carolina (2-0) led High Point (0-1) from start to finish on the way to a 17-5 Tar Heel win on Friday night. Ferrucci had three goals and an assist and Hendrick scored four goals for the second game in a row after returning from a torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered in April 2015.
Marie McCool had two goals and two assists for the Tar Heels, Gianna Bowe and Sammy Jo Tracy each scored twice and Aly Messinger had a goal and an assist. Sydney Holman, Carly Reed and Alex Moore all scored single goals. Ela Hazar had an assist. Tracy added a school-record 14 draw controls, easily surpassing the previous record of nine.
“I am really happy with the total team effort tonight,” said Tar Heel head coach Jenny Levy after the game. “Sammy Jo Tracy was dominant on the draw, helping us win 14 out of 15 in the first half. From there, we had eight different players contribute on the 13 first-half goals.
“I liked our energy and team play,” Levy continued. “Even after having bus issues that caused us to arrive late to the game, our team was able to focus on the job at hand and have a dominant performance. There are not that many games in a season, so we want to thoroughly enjoy playing each one and continue to improve as a team.”
Carolina dominated the draw early and jumped to a 5-0 lead in the first 4:47 of the game. The Tar Heels eventually led, 9-0, with 12:52 left in the first half after a goal by Bowe. High Point scored with 8:14 left in the half to make it 9-1 before UNC closed the half on a 4-0 run for a 13-1 advantage at the break.
It was more of the same early in the second half as Carolina built a 15-1 lead with 25:24 to play. High Point scored four of the game's last five goals in the final 22 minutes.
The Tar Heels dominated the draw, 20-4, and outshot the Panthers, 44-14. Ten different Carolina players scored goals in the victory.
Reigning National Goalie of the Year Caylee Waters (2-0) started her 32nd game in a row in the cage for the Tar Heels and picked up the win, playing the first half and allowing two goals while making four saves. Megan Ward came in to relieve Waters in the second half and made two saves while allowing three goals. Molly Andrews went the distance in goal for HPU and made 15 saves while allowing 17 goals.
Maggie Bill has not played in the first two games this spring and will redshirt the 2016 lacrosse season after also redshirting the 2015 soccer season last fall for the Tar Heels. Bill will continue to practice in both soccer and lacrosse and return to competition in both sports in 2016-17.
"When we recruited Maggie we expressed that redshirting was a likelihood at some point during her career, " Levy says "Competing at a high level at a quality school like North Carolina is challenging enough for many single-sport athletes who utilize a redshirt year, let alone a two-sport athlete who is a member of two championship-caliber teams, so we fully support a decision for her to redshirt this spring. Maggie remains a big part of this team and we look forward to two more years with her on the field starting in 2017."
Carolina will return to action on Sunday at 1 p.m. for its home opener versus San Diego State at Fetzer Field.
