Carolina is headed back to the final four for the eighth time in 11 years.
Photo by: Rebecca Lawson
GoHeels Exclusive: Consistency
May 20, 2019 | Women's Lacrosse, Featured Writers
By Pat James, GoHeels.com
The ball secure in the pocket of her goalie stick, Taylor Moreno turned toward the UNC Lacrosse & Soccer Stadium scoreboard on Saturday afternoon and watched the final seconds tick down.
Fifteen remained when she took her first glance. That, however, was still too much time for her to proceed with her plan. So she trotted from side to side behind her goal, waiting for a few more seconds to pass. And once she knew the time was right, she dropped her right shoulder and heaved the ball downfield.Â
When it landed just past midfield, the final buzzer sounded almost simultaneously. Moreno's North Carolina women's lacrosse teammates then charged toward her, thus commencing the beginning of a celebration that's become all-too-familiar for the Tar Heels this time of year.
Thanks to Saturday's 14-7 win over Virginia, UNC is heading to the NCAA semifinals for the 11th time in program history. The final four appearance will be Carolina's eighth in the last 11 years, its fourth in the last five and its third in the last four. No matter how you frame it, the accomplishment's impressive. And it begs the question: What's the key to this consistency?
"I think just belief," Jamie Ortega said. "Just believing in one another that we can accomplish it and believing in one another to do their role and their job on the field. To me, I knew we were going to win (against Virginia). That's not just being cocky, but being so confident and believing every person playing or off the field will do their role."
Yet, as strong as the Tar Heels' belief might be, it was tested by the Cavaliers.
Virginia entered Saturday with a 7-1 record when scoring first. Its only loss came in the regular-season meeting between the Cavaliers and UNC in Chapel Hill. Carolina won that game 13-12, despite trailing 12-11 with seven minutes left.
Once again, Virginia struck first Saturday and ultimately stretched its lead to 3-1. On the other end of the field, goalkeeper Charlie Campbell was standing strong, as she did all day in tallying 12 saves on 42 shots. But the Tar Heels never worried. Neither did Jenny Levy.
"I always look at what type of shots are going in," the UNC head coach said. "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 canning our shots we were getting, which turned out to be the theme for the whole day. …
"I wasn't real happy with how sharp we were playing. But I knew we could get it together."
After the Cavaliers scored their third goal with 19:16 left in the first half, Levy called a timeout. As it turned out, that brief break proved to be all UNC needed.
Carolina scored the final five goals of the first half, giving it a 6-3 halftime lead. The Tar Heels then scored the first six goals of the second half to push their lead to 12-3. With 14:01 left in the second half, the Cavaliers finally scored their fourth goal, snapping a 35-minute scoring drought. But by then, UNC had already ended any chances of a Virginia upset.
"I think it was one of those things where we knew what we needed," said Moreno of Carolina's slow start. "We were just communicating too late. And I think once we were all on the same page and we understood that we were doing what we needed to do, I think everything pretty much fell into place and everyone started doing their job."
Moreno excelled at hers, making 12 saves. After finishing with 11 against Florida last week, she's totaled 23 in two NCAA Tournament games. Entering the tournament, she'd posted 18 saves across her previous four games.
Offensively, Carolina was led by Katie Hoeg and Ortega. Hoeg tallied four assists, helping her reach the 100-point plateau. Ortega registered three goals and two assists, giving her 76 goals and 105 points. The two stars are the only players in school history to register 100 points.
As good as they've been, the Tar Heels have still received offensive contributions elsewhere. That continued against the Cavaliers, with Olivia Ferrucci finishing with a goal and four assists, Gianna Bowe and Scottie Rose Growney each tallying a hat trick, Elizabeth Hillman scoring two goals, and Kara Klages and Ida Farinholt each scoring one.Â
"We have seven threats on the team," Ortega said. "You can't double all of us. If you pay more attention to some person, another person is going to step up. Everyone has just been stepping up. Scottie and Olivia have been doing amazing. They have such an impact on the field.Â
"They can feed, they can dodge, they can ride, they can do everything. For them to step up shows other people to have more confidence in themselves."
It gives them more belief.
UNC will carry that into next Friday evening's first NCAA semifinal game against Boston College, which defeated Princeton on Saturday. Carolina lost 14-8 to the Eagles during the regular season. It then handed them their only loss in the ACC championship game.
A year ago, the Tar Heels' season ended with a 15-12 loss against eventual national champion James Madison in the final four. This year's group is determined to finish the season differently.
"The vibes with our team are definitely different than they were last year," Moreno said. "I think we are all really, really happy to be going back because we felt like we left a lot on the field last final four, last year. And I think that going up for this one, it's definitely a different team that's going to be showing up and hopefully, we are going to be able to pull it out."
The ball secure in the pocket of her goalie stick, Taylor Moreno turned toward the UNC Lacrosse & Soccer Stadium scoreboard on Saturday afternoon and watched the final seconds tick down.
Fifteen remained when she took her first glance. That, however, was still too much time for her to proceed with her plan. So she trotted from side to side behind her goal, waiting for a few more seconds to pass. And once she knew the time was right, she dropped her right shoulder and heaved the ball downfield.Â
When it landed just past midfield, the final buzzer sounded almost simultaneously. Moreno's North Carolina women's lacrosse teammates then charged toward her, thus commencing the beginning of a celebration that's become all-too-familiar for the Tar Heels this time of year.
Thanks to Saturday's 14-7 win over Virginia, UNC is heading to the NCAA semifinals for the 11th time in program history. The final four appearance will be Carolina's eighth in the last 11 years, its fourth in the last five and its third in the last four. No matter how you frame it, the accomplishment's impressive. And it begs the question: What's the key to this consistency?
"I think just belief," Jamie Ortega said. "Just believing in one another that we can accomplish it and believing in one another to do their role and their job on the field. To me, I knew we were going to win (against Virginia). That's not just being cocky, but being so confident and believing every person playing or off the field will do their role."
Yet, as strong as the Tar Heels' belief might be, it was tested by the Cavaliers.
Virginia entered Saturday with a 7-1 record when scoring first. Its only loss came in the regular-season meeting between the Cavaliers and UNC in Chapel Hill. Carolina won that game 13-12, despite trailing 12-11 with seven minutes left.
Once again, Virginia struck first Saturday and ultimately stretched its lead to 3-1. On the other end of the field, goalkeeper Charlie Campbell was standing strong, as she did all day in tallying 12 saves on 42 shots. But the Tar Heels never worried. Neither did Jenny Levy.
"I always look at what type of shots are going in," the UNC head coach said. "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 canning our shots we were getting, which turned out to be the theme for the whole day. …
"I wasn't real happy with how sharp we were playing. But I knew we could get it together."
After the Cavaliers scored their third goal with 19:16 left in the first half, Levy called a timeout. As it turned out, that brief break proved to be all UNC needed.
Carolina scored the final five goals of the first half, giving it a 6-3 halftime lead. The Tar Heels then scored the first six goals of the second half to push their lead to 12-3. With 14:01 left in the second half, the Cavaliers finally scored their fourth goal, snapping a 35-minute scoring drought. But by then, UNC had already ended any chances of a Virginia upset.
"I think it was one of those things where we knew what we needed," said Moreno of Carolina's slow start. "We were just communicating too late. And I think once we were all on the same page and we understood that we were doing what we needed to do, I think everything pretty much fell into place and everyone started doing their job."
Moreno excelled at hers, making 12 saves. After finishing with 11 against Florida last week, she's totaled 23 in two NCAA Tournament games. Entering the tournament, she'd posted 18 saves across her previous four games.
Offensively, Carolina was led by Katie Hoeg and Ortega. Hoeg tallied four assists, helping her reach the 100-point plateau. Ortega registered three goals and two assists, giving her 76 goals and 105 points. The two stars are the only players in school history to register 100 points.
As good as they've been, the Tar Heels have still received offensive contributions elsewhere. That continued against the Cavaliers, with Olivia Ferrucci finishing with a goal and four assists, Gianna Bowe and Scottie Rose Growney each tallying a hat trick, Elizabeth Hillman scoring two goals, and Kara Klages and Ida Farinholt each scoring one.Â
"We have seven threats on the team," Ortega said. "You can't double all of us. If you pay more attention to some person, another person is going to step up. Everyone has just been stepping up. Scottie and Olivia have been doing amazing. They have such an impact on the field.Â
"They can feed, they can dodge, they can ride, they can do everything. For them to step up shows other people to have more confidence in themselves."
It gives them more belief.
UNC will carry that into next Friday evening's first NCAA semifinal game against Boston College, which defeated Princeton on Saturday. Carolina lost 14-8 to the Eagles during the regular season. It then handed them their only loss in the ACC championship game.
A year ago, the Tar Heels' season ended with a 15-12 loss against eventual national champion James Madison in the final four. This year's group is determined to finish the season differently.
"The vibes with our team are definitely different than they were last year," Moreno said. "I think we are all really, really happy to be going back because we felt like we left a lot on the field last final four, last year. And I think that going up for this one, it's definitely a different team that's going to be showing up and hopefully, we are going to be able to pull it out."
Players Mentioned
Midfielder
/ Women's Lacrosse
Midfielder
/ Women's Lacrosse
Attack/Midfield
/ Women's Lacrosse
Midfielder
/ Women's Lacrosse
Midfielder
/ Women's Lacrosse
Attacker
/ Women's Lacrosse
Midfielder
/ Women's Lacrosse
Goalkeeper
/ Women's Lacrosse
Attacker
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