Tar Heels Run Past Virginia, 14-7, To NCAA Final Four

Saturday, May 18

Chapel Hill

Noon

North Carolina

17-3

Virginia

13-7

Virginia

North Carolina

Carolina will make its eighth NCAA semifinal appearance in 11 years next weekend in Baltimore.

Photo by: Rebecca Lawson

May 18, 2019 | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score Final Stats (.pdf)Photos Interactive Bracket Final Four Tickets Final Four Info

CHAPEL HILL –Third-seeded North Carolina went on an 11-0 run after trailing in the early going and beat No. 6 seed Virginia, 14-7, in an NCAA Tournament quarterfinal game on a hot Saturday at UNC Lacrosse Soccer Stadium.

The Tar Heels held Virginia scoreless for a span of over 35 minutes to build a 12-3 lead, then held off the Cavaliers as they scored four late goals.

With its eighth consecutive win, UNC (17-3) advances to next Friday evening's first NCAA semifinal game against Boston College, which beat Princeton on Saturday. Carolina will be making its eighth appearance in the NCAA final four in the last 11 years.

Jamie Ortega and Katie Hoeg led the way for the Tar Heels, with Ortega collecting three goals and two assists and Hoeg reaching the 100-point plateau this season with four assists.  Olivia Ferrucci also had a goal and four assists, while Gianna Bowe added three goals and five draw controls.

Scottie Rose Growney tallied a hat trick for UNC, which also got two goals from Elizabeth Hillman and one apiece from Kara Klages and Ida Farinholt.

Avery Shoemaker and Nora Bowen led UVA with two goals each.

Tar Heel Taylor Moreno (15-3) picked up the victory in the cage for Carolina, making 12 saves. Virginia's Charlie Campbell (13-7) also played well and made 12 saves of her own in taking the loss.

KEY MOMENTS
• Virginia took a 2-0 lead in the first five minutes and led, 3-1, after 11 minutes.  The Tar Heels scored the final five goals of the first half and the first six of the second half to build what proved to be an insurmountable lead.
• Six different Tar Heels scored goals in the first half, and Bowe and Ortega scored twice apiece after the break.
• After Virginia' goal with 19:16 remaining in the first half, the Cavaliers didn't score again until there was just 14:01 left in the second half.

NOTABLES
• The Tar Heels have earned their 11^thtrip to the NCAA final four, including their eighth in the last 11 years.
• The Tar Heels have won eight consecutive games.
• UNC out-shot the Cavaliers, 42-24.
• Carolina is 34-18 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, including 25-3 at home.
• UNC is 11-9 in the NCAA quarterfinals and has won eight of its last 11 quarterfinals.
• Jenny Levy's 34 NCAA Tournament wins rank fifth in NCAA history.
• The Tar Heels have won 16 of the last 17 meetings in the series with Virginia, including seven in a row.  UNC is 8-2 vs. UVA in the NCAA Tournament.

QUOTABLE
UNC Head Coach Jenny Levy after the game:
On overcoming a 3 to 1 deficit 10 minutes within the game
"I always look at what type of shots are going in. Is it in the flow of the offense, is it something we need to make a small tweak to? I thought at one end we were getting scored on, and the other end we were playing a little slow and not converting our shots we were getting which turned out to be the theme for the whole day. It is a long game. It is a 60 minute game. So it is more when you are down 3 with 3 minutes left in the game that we get a little concerned. I have a lot of confidence in my team and know we can make adjustments on the field as we need to. We were winning the drawl which was great. I was not uncomfortable, but I was not real happy with how sharp we were playing. However, I knew we could get it together"

On Gianna [Bowe]  finishing her career off strong
"She was a senior leader for us today. The bigger stat for us was the five drawl controls that she had. Obviously, looking at the last game against Virginia, we really struggled in the middle of the field against them. They have a lot of great players with Senior [Maggie] Jackson and Junior [Sammy] Mueller. We really struggled last game and that was something we really thought we really needed to play well in today. Gianna [Bowe] takes responsibility for her play and wanted to make an impact there. She does what she needs to do, she does not need to be the star, but is a key role for us. We want her on the field as much as we can."

On the key to consistency the last 4 years (4 ACC Championships, 3 Final Four appearances)
"Well first and foremost, I have a great staff. Phil [Barnes] has been with me for 15 years and Katrina [Dowd] is back for her 5^thyear. I have a lot of trust in what they do with both of their units. We have a great culture and very high standards, and when you come in you work with that and everyone is going to have to do their part. It is a very inclusive culture and very hard work type things. It is not just today's game, but how you layer upon your skill set, your mentality and your physical part. We take a lot of pride in that and it takes a while for us to get going, but once we do things go well for us.

UP NEXT
The Tar Heels will be back in action on Friday May 24 at 5 p.m. in an NCAA Tournament semifinal against second-seeded Boston College in Baltimore. Top-seeded Maryland will meet fourth-seeded Northwestern in Friday's second semifinal at 7:30 pm.

Social Media
For all the latest on Carolina women's lacrosse, be sure to follow the team at @uncwlax on Twitter and @uncwlax  on Instagram.