Tar Heels To Open NCAA Play On Sunday

Sunday, May 13

Raleigh, N.C.

1 PM

North Carolina

Virginia Tech

2018 Women’s Lacrosse Championship #ACCWLAX

Carolina will face Virginia Tech or Georgetown on Sunday.

Photo by: ACC

May 10, 2018 | Women's Lacrosse

Interactive Bracket Live Stats Game Notes Tickets

TAR HEELS OPEN NCAA PLAY ON SUNDAY
• The second-seeded North Carolina women's lacrosse team (15-3, 6-1 ACC) will open 2018 NCAA Tournament play when it hosts a second-round game in Raleigh on Sunday at 1 p.m. Carolina will play the winner of Friday's first-round game between unseeded Virginia Tech and unseeded Georgetown.
• Sunday's game will take place at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Raleigh since UNC's normal home venue, Feter Field, is under construction this season. Carolina had played its previous 2018 home games at Kenan Stadium, which is unavailable this weekend due to commencement ceremonies.
• The game will be streamed live by ACC Network Extra.
• UNC is making its 20th appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 23 years as a varsity program, including its 14th in a row.
• The Tar Heels have won nine consecutive games and are coming off its third straight ACC Tournament championship. Two weeks ago in Durham, N.C., UNC beat Syracuse, Virginia Tech and Boston College to win the ACC title for a fourth time.
• Carolina is seeking its third NCAA championship, having won the 2013 title and 2016 titles. UNC has made nine trips to the NCAA final four, including six in the last nine years (2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016).
• Carolina is ranked No. 3 this week in the IWLCA coaches poll and the Cascade media poll. The Tar Heels are ranked No. 1 in the NCAA RPI ratings.

SERIES HISTORY VS. VIRGINIA TECH
• Carolina leads the all-time series with Virginia Tech, 26-0.
• UNC is 12-0 in Chapel Hill against Virginia Tech.
• Carolina is 20-0 against the Hokies in regular season games and 6-0 in the ACC Tournament.

SERIES HISTORY VS. GEORGETOWN
• Carolina leads its all-time series with Georgetown, 11-10.
• The Tar Heels have won seven of the last eight meetings in the series since the start of the 2007 season.
• UNC is 1-2 against Georgetown in NCAA Tournament play, losing at Georgetown in 1999 and 2001 and beating the Hoyas in Chapel Hill in 2014.

MCCOOL & ORTEGA NAB ACC PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARDS
• Marie McCool has won the ACC Midfielder of the Year award for the second year in a row. McCool, a three-time first-team All-ACC selection, is the first player in ACC women's lacrosse history to repeat as the ACC Midfielder of the Year. The Moorestown, N.J., native owns 67 points on 53 goals and 14 assists and ranks in the top 10 among all ACC players in goals per game (2.94), points per game (3.72), game-winning goals (5) and draw controls per game (7.28). She leads Carolina in caused turnovers with 20 and has totaled 34 ground balls on the season. McCool was recently named one of 25 Tewaaraton Award nominees.
• Jamie Ortega is the 2018 ACC Rookie of the Year. She has started in all 18 games this season at attack for the Tar Heels. She leads all ACC freshmen and the Tar Heels with 58 goals, which also ranks second overall in the ACC. Her 71 points (58g, 13a) also lead all ACC rookies and ranks fourth overall. The Centereach, N.Y., native was at her best late in the season, tallying a career-high seven goals versus Duke in the Tar Heels' regular-season finale, and scoring six goals in two ACC Tournament games against Syracuse in the quarterfinals and against Boston College in the title game. She totaled an ACC Tournament-record 15 goals in three games and was named to the all-tournament team.

MCCOOL AMONG 25 CANDIDATES FOR TEWAARATON AWARD
• The Tewaaraton Foundation announced the 25 men's and 25 women's nominees for the 2018 Tewaaraton Award on April 26, and Carolina senior midfielder Marie McCool made the cut.
• McCool was one of five finalists in 2017 for the sport's top individual award. She is one of two returning finalists in 2018, joining Kylie Ohmiller of Stony Brook.

SIX TAR HEELS EARN ALL-ACC HONORS
• North Carolina placed six players on the 2018 All-ACC Women's Lacrosse Teams, as voted upon by the league's head coaches. Carolina and Boston College each had six players on the teams.
• Senior midfielder Marie McCool, sophomore attacker Katie Hoeg and junior defender Charlotte Sofield made the All-ACC first team.
• Senior attackers Ela Hazar and Maggie Bill and junior midfielder Kara Klages were second-team selections.
• McCool earns first-team honors for the third year in a row, becoming just the eighth Tar Heel to do so (joining Porter Wilkinson, Jenn Cook, Christina Juras, Amber Falcone, Corey Donohoe, Sloane Serpe and Abbey Friend.
• Bill and Hazar earn all-conference honors for the second time each, with Hazar having won first-team accolades in 2017 and Bill second-team in 2015.

ORTEGA HAVING A DOMINANT FRESHMAN SEASON
• Freshman attacker Jamie Ortega was rated the nation's top incoming attacker prior to the 2018 season, and the freshman from Centereach, N.Y., has lived up to her billing. She won the ACC Freshman of the Year for 2018 in a vote of the league's coaches.
• Ortega has 58 goals and 13 assists for 71 points this season, leading all ACC freshmen in both categories and leading UNC in goals.
• Ortega's 58 goals are a UNC freshman record, and her 71 points have tied the program record for a freshman (set by Erin McGinnis in 1996).
• She was the ACC's co-Offensive Player of the Week on April 24 after talling a career-high seven goals and an assist on April 21 against Duke for a career-high eight points. The seven goals were one shy of the UNC single-game record of eight set by Kellie Thompson against UMBC in 2002.
• Ortega also earned ACC Offensive Player of the Week honors on April 3 and IWLCA National Player of the Week honors on April 4 after she totaled nine points on eight goals and one assist in wins over Virginia Tech and Notre Dame.
• She was named the IWLCA Offensive Player of the Week on May 3 after her strong ACC Tournament performance.

HAZAR IS THE FIRST TAR HEEL EVER TO COMPILE 100 CAREER ASSISTS
• Hazar became the first UNC player ever to record 100 career assists on March 28 when she tallied her 100th against Virginia Tech.
• Hazar holds Carolina records for most assists in a game (eight), a season (41, in 2018) and a career (115).
• In the ACC semifinal win over Virginia Tech, she broke her own UNC single-season record, set last year.
• Hazar set the UNC career record on March 17 at Northwestern, snapping the previous record of 92 set by Becky Lynch (2009-12).
• Hazar also set a school single-game record with eight assists in the same, 18-13 win at Northwestern on March 17.
• She was a 2018 Midseason All-America by ILWomen.com. She is tied with Katie Hoeg for the ACC lead in assists and assists per game.

MARIE McCOOL ALL OVER THE FIELD AS A SENIOR
• Midfielder Marie McCool is among the most decorated players in the nation and is one of 25 candidates for the Tewaaraton Award.
• She has a team-high 131 draw controls (the UNC single-season record is 145) and 20 caused turnovers this season, as well as 53 goals (second on the team) and 67 points (fourth on the team).
• 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 and is one of 25 candidates for the award this season. She also was one of four nominees for the 2017 Honda Award for Lacrosse. She is a two-time, first-team All-America and a three-time, first-team All-ACC pick. She also was the 2017 and 2018 ACC Midfielder of the Year and the 2017 ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
• McCool 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.