University of North Carolina Athletics
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Florida
Florida Nips Tar Heels, 16-15
February 20, 2016 | Women's Lacrosse
CHAPEL HILL – Eighth-ranked Florida (3-0) scored four consecutive goals in a 10-minute span of the second half and beat second-ranked North Carolina (3-1), 16-15, at sunny Fetzer Field on Saturday afternoon. The Gators turned an 11-10 deficit with 22:43 to play into a 14-11 lead with 12:43 to go.
Sydney Pirreca scored five goals for Florida, Mollie Stevens scored three goals and Nicole Graziano had two goals and two assists to lead the Gators.
Marie McCool led the Tar Heel attack with a career-high in goals for the second game in row. After scoring five times in the win over San Diego State last weekend, McCool scored six times against Florida.
Molly Hendrick had three goals and an assist, Olivia Ferrucci scored twice and Sydney Holman had a goal and an assist. Carly Reed, Sammy Jo Tracy and Ela Hazar added single goals for UNC. Tracy collected 10 draw controls.
“We got 35 shots, which is plenty,” said Tar Heel head coach Jenny Levy afterward. “We need to finish our opportunities. We also had 14 turnovers, which means we need to take care of the ball a little bit better. I know we'll use this opportunity to learn and get better. There were some really good things out there, but credit Florida [for a good game].”
Carolina took control early in a two-minute sequence midway through the first half and led at one point by a 5-1 score. Hendrick scored with 19:18 left in the half, then Tracy got the ensuing draw and passed it ahead to McCool for a 3-1 lead with 19:07 left. Just over a minute later, Hazar scored on a free position goal that made it 4-1 and forced a Gator timeout. McCool completed the 4-0 run with a goal at the 17:38 mark.
Florida ended the first half on a 4-0 run, then scored two of the first three goals coming out of halftime.
In the opening half, shots were 24-15 in favor of Carolina while Florida had 25 fouls to UNC's 11. The Gators scored on eight of their first 10 shots, however, and forced UNC to go to relief goalie Megan Ward with 5:22 left before the break. Florida out-shot Carolina, 13-11, in the second half.
Caylee Waters started in goal for Carolina and played the first 25 minutes, allowing eight goals. Ward came in to relieve Waters and played the final 35:22, taking the loss while allowing eight goals and making five saves. Florida's Mary-Sean Wilcox and Haley Hicklen split time in the cage for the Gators. Wilcox improved to 3-0 with the victory, playing 41:13 and making nine saves while allowing 10 goals.
Carolina will return to action next Saturday at 1 p.m. against top-ranked Maryland.
