Tar Heels Edge Cavaliers, 13-12, To Open ACC Play

Saturday, March 9

Chapel Hill

Noon

North Carolina

5-1, 1-0ACC

Virginia

6-2, 0-2ACC

Virginia

North Carolina

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

March 9, 2019 | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score Final Stats (.pdf)

CHAPEL HILL –Third-ranked North Carolina scored two goals in the final seven minutes to overcome a one-goal deficit and beat sixth-ranked Virginia, 13-12, on Saturday afternoon at UNC Lacrosse & Soccer Stadium.

After Carolina (5-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) led by two, 11-9, Virginia scored three consecutive goals in five minutes to take a 12-11 lead (its first since scoring the first goal of the game and leading, 1-0) with 10:14 left in the second half.

The Tar Heels responded with a free position goal by Jamie Ortega,then an assist from Katie Hoeg that led to a Tayler Warehime goal with 5:35 remaining that proved to be the game-winner.

Carolina's Taylor Moreno (5-1) made two big saves in the closing minutes, rejecting a free position try with 2:32 to go by Maggie Jackson and a last-second shot from Avery Shoemaker as the closing horn sounded. Caroline Wakefield also caused an important turnover for UNC that led to a ground ball by Gianna Bowe in the final two minutes.

"Virginia is a good team, and they're loaded with seniors and juniors who've had a lot of playing time, so I thought it was a great game," Carolina head coach Jenny Levy said afterward. "It was a really highly contested game, and I thought we did a nice job. I thought we could play better in moments. I thought we were disorganized in moments on the field in the second half, which is something that needs to get cleaned up. Obviously, the draw was an issue for us in the second half.

"I thought we got saves when we needed to get saves, we got stops when we needed to get stops and obviously scored two key goals in the final seven minutes to come from behind," Levy continued. "You take a game like this...first ACC game of the season, against a really veteran team...I thought we handled the challenge pretty well. We need to get better, but winning ugly you still get the 'W' so we'll take it. There's a lot to look at and get better with."

Taylor McDaniels led UNC with four goals, a week after scoring a career-high five in a win over Northwestern. Ortega had three goals and an assist despite tight Cavalier defense. Warehime scored three goals and Hoeg had a goal and two assists. Gianna Bowe and Scottie Rose Growney both had a goal and an assist, and Marisa DiVietro added an assist.

Shoemaker led Virginia with four goals and an assist, and Jackson had three goals and an assist. Sammy Mueller scored three goals.

The first half was close throughout.  McDaniels gave Carolina a 5-2 lead when she scored three consecutive goals in just over two minutes in one stretch.  UNC led, 7-5, at the break.

Virginia outscored UNC, 7-6, in the second half, and won 16 draws to Carolina's 11 in the game. Moreno made eight saves for the Tar Heels, who forced 14 Cavalier turnovers.

Notables
• The game was the second women's lacrosse game in UNC's Lacrosse & Soccer Stadium. The Tar Heels beat Northwestern, 21-11, in the stadium last Saturday.
• UNC sophomore Taylor McDaniels, who scored a career-high five goals in last Saturday's win vs. Northwestern, had four first-half goals vs. Virginia and finished with four in the game.
• Carolina has won 15 of the last 16 meetings in the series, including six in a row.
• UNC is 5-1 overall this season and 3-1 against opponents ranked in the top 10 of the IWLCA poll. Carolina has beaten No. 4 James Madison, No. 5 Northwestern and No. 6 Virginia while losing at No. 2 Maryland.

UP NEXT
The Tar Heels will play the first of back-to-back road games on Tuesday afternoon at Elon before visiting Florida next Saturday.  UNC's next home game is on Tuesday March 19 vs. Campbell.

Social Media
For all the latest on Carolina Women's Lacrosse, be sure to follow the team at @uncwlax on Twitter or Instagram.