Carolina Visits Northwestern On Saturday

Saturday, March 17

Evanston, Ill.

1:00 PM ET (Noon CT)

North Carolina

Northwestern

Carolina will look for its third win in a row on Saturday at Northwestern.

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

March 15, 2018 | Women's Lacrosse

Game Notes Watch Live Stats

• The North Carolina women's lacrosse team will renew a familiar rivalry when it plays at Northwestern on Saturday at noon Central Time (1 p.m. Eastern).
• Carolina has won two games in a row, including a 13-9 win at sixth-ranked Virginia last Saturday afternoon in Charlottesville, Va.
• Carolina is ranked No. 4 this week in the IWLCA coaches poll and No. 5 in the Cascade media poll, up a spot in both after the win at Virginia last week.
• The Wildcats are ranked No. 9 and No. 11, respectively, in the same two polls.
• Saturday's game will be streamed live by BTN Plus on BTN2GO (the streaming arm of the Big Ten Network).
• The Tar Heels will play one more road game next weekend at Boston College before returning home for three consecutive home games starting on March 28 against Virginia Tech.

SERIES HISTORY VS. NORTHWESTERN
• Northwestern leads the all-time series with North Carolina, 11-7.
• The Tar Heels have won five of the last six meetings, including three in a row.
• Carolina is 2-5 against Northwestern in Evanston.
• Saturday will be the 14th meeting in the series in the last 10 seasons (since 2009).
• These two programs are meeting in the regular season for the 14th season in a row (every year since 2005) and have met in the NCAA Tournament four times (2009, 2010, 2011, 2013).

2017 REGULAR SEASON VS. NORTHWESTERN:
UNC 17, NORTHWESTERN 12 (March 19, 2017)
• Carolina persevered its way to a 17-12 victory over No. 13 Northwestern on March 19, 2017, at Fetzer Field, finally putting away the Wildcats late in the second half. The Tar Heels trailed or were tied much of the way and didn't lead by more than a goal until Ela Hazar scored with 12:41 to play put the Tar Heels ahead 12-10 en route to the win.
• UNC junior Maggie Bill tied career bests in goals (4) and assists (3) to establish a new career high with seven points. Junior Marie McCool also had four goals, and the Tar Heels got hat tricks from Hazar and senior Sydney Holman. Molly Hendrick, Carly Reed and Sammy Jo Tracy had a goal each in the win.

2016 MEETING AT NORTHWESTERN
• Aly Messinger scored 14 seconds into overtime to give fourth-ranked North Carolina a 9-8 win at No. 10 Northwestern on March 20, 2016.
• After Kelly Devlin won the draw to start overtime and was fouled, she passed to Molly Hendrick, who immediately hit Messinger for the point-blank game-winner with 2:46 left in the first three-minute overtime period.
• In the game, Messinger led the Tar Heels with two goals and two assists, while Hendrick had a goal and three assists. Marie McCool scored twice, and Olivia Ferrucci, Sydney Holman, Sammy Jo Tracy and Charlotte Sofield all scored once.

LAST GAME:
CAROLINA BEATS ELON, 12-1 (Tuesday, April 13, 2018)
• Ela Hazar had a career-high eight points to lead fourth-ranked North Carolina (5-2) to a 12-1 win over Elon (0-6) on Tuesday afternoon. The game was reschduled to be played in Chapel Hill due to poor field conditions after originally being scheduled to be played at Elon.
• Hazar had three goals and tied her career high with five assists to move into second place in UNC history in assists. Hazar has 90 career assists, passing Sydney Holman (86) for second place in school history behind Becky Lynch (92). Hazar also had five assists in a 2017 regular season win over Virginia.
• Marie McCool and Katie Hoeg each had three goals and one assist for the Tar Heels, with McCool adding five draw controls. Jamie Ortega had a goal and an assist, Kara Klages and Ally Mastroianni each scored once and Charlotte Sofield had an assist.

TAYLOR MORENO MAKES 17 SAVES
AT VIRGINIA
• Redshirt freshman Taylor Moreno made her first career start in goal on March 10 at Virginia and posted a season-high 17 saves. Moreno went the distance in the cage and held the Cavaliers to three second-half goals as UNC overcame a 6-4 halftime deficit to win, 13-9, in Charlottesville.
• Moreno was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Week on March 12 for her efforts.

McCOOL & TRENCHARD SWEEP ACC HONORS AFTER MARYLAND WIN
• Following an overtime win over top-ranked Maryland, North Carolina senior midfielder Marie McCool was named the ACC Women's Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Week, while teammate freshman defender Emma Trenchard was the ACC Defensive Player of the Week (February 27).
• McCool led UNC to a 16-15 overtime win over No. 1 Maryland with four goals, one assist, eight draw controls, two caused turnovers and a ground ball. McCool assisted on teammate Ela Hazar's game-tying goal with 22 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime. In the extra period, she scored the game-winner off an assist from Jamie Ortega.
• Trenchard led a strong Tar Heel defensive effort, controlling four draws, collecting three ground balls and causing three turnovers. Trenchard controlled the draw to start overtime, then brought the ball into the offensive end to start the possession that included the game-winning goal by McCool. The Windsor, Conn., native helped guide a UNC defense that held Maryland scoreless for the final 9:25 of the game.

MARIE McCOOL BACK FOR MORE AS A SENIOR
• Midfielder Marie McCool is among the most decorated players in the nation and is primed to earn more national honors as senior in 2018.
• She leads the Tar Heels with 28 goals, 31 points and 55 draw controls this season.
• The do-it-all McCool tied her career high with seven goals on Feb. 18 versus Liberty and controlled a career-high 13 draws on March 3 against Florida.
• McCool won ACC Offensive Player of the Week honors on Feb. 27 after tallying four goals, an assist and eight draw controls in UNC's win over Maryland.
• She was one of five 2017 finalists for the Tewaaraton Award, the highest individual honor in the sport, as well as one of four nominees for the 2017 Honda Award for Lacrosse. She is a two-time, first-team All-America and two-time, first-team All-ACC pick. She also was the 2017 ACC Midfielder of the Year and the 2017 ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
• McCool also was one of just two college players on the United States National Team that won a gold medal at the World Cup in England in July of 2017.

HAZAR NEEDS TWO ASSISTS TO TIE UNC CAREER RECORD
• Senior attacker Ela Hazar enters Saturday's game with 90 career assists, ranking second in school history in the category. She needs two assists to tie Becky Lynch (2009-12) for the UNC career record of 92.
• Hazar tied her career high wtih five assists in the 12-1 win over Elon on March 13 and had a school-record 40 assists last season.

BILL'S BACK
• Fifth-year senior midfielder Maggie Bill returned to the field for her first game action in nearly a year when she came off the bench to play against Florida on March 3.
• Bill, who suffered a lower leg injury on April 8 last year against Louisville, scored a goal against the Gators as she began to work her way back into the Tar Heel rotation.
• Bill has three goals and one assist in her three games back in the lineup this year.