Tar Heels Aim For Another Deep Run In 2020

huddle
University of North Carolina Women's Lacrosse v Elon
UNC Lacrosse Soccer Stadium
Chapel Hill, NC
Saturday, February 1, 2020

February 6, 2020 | Women's Lacrosse

By: Pat James

Eight months removed from a heartbreaking 15-14 double-overtime loss to Boston College in the NCAA semifinals, North Carolina women's lacrosse coach Jenny Levy says the defeat still stings.

But after an offseason spent using that loss as motivation, the Tar Heels will take another step toward putting it behind them Saturday, when they open the 2020 season against James Madison in Harrisonburg, Va.

Ranked No. 2 in the IWLCA preseason poll, UNC returns eight starters and 24 letterwinners from last season. Among them are senior Katie Hoeg, redshirt junior Taylor Moreno, junior Jamie Ortega and junior Emma Trenchard, who are all preseason first-team All-America selections by Inside Lacrosse and on the Preseason All-ACC Team.

Ahead of Carolina's season opener, here's a look at how the team breaks down positionally.

ATTACK

Any conversation about the Tar Heels' offense revolves around Hoeg and Ortega – and rightfully so. The duo combined for 216 of Carolina's 490 points last season, with Ortega scoring a school-record 81 goals and Hoeg dishing out a school-record 73 assists.

Hoeg is already UNC's career assist leader with 132, while Ortega needs 48 goals to break Abbey Friend's school record of 198. Corey Donohoe holds the Tar Heel career record of 256 points. But with Hoeg and Ortega sitting at 209 and 198 points, respectively, Donohoe's mark is in danger, especially since both Hoeg and Ortega have continued improving, according to Levy.

"(Associate head coach) Katrina (Dowd) has done a great job with the offensive group and really looking at their strengths and then trying to challenge them to take their game to the next level," Levy said. "I think a lot of times when you reach a certain point, you think, 'I have arrived.' I think neither Jamie nor Katie are satisfied with where they are or where they finished last season. They want more, and they know they can impact more."

Flanking Hoeg and Ortega is sophomore Tayler Warehime and junior Scottie Rose Growney. The former posted 38 points (34 goals and four assists) last season, while the latter tallied 25 (21 goals and four assists) – 13 of which came in Carolina's last four games.

Another returnee is Taylor McDaniels, who recorded 21 points (20 goals and one assist) as a junior last season. Levy said senior Marisa DiVietro and graduate student Ida Farinholt will also provide some valuable offensive depth.

"I like my group," Levy said. "It has more depth than it did last year. It has more experience than it did last year. I think as we continue to go through the season, I think we'll need some other kids to step up. If Jamie is getting marked out or Katie is getting marked out, I think the responsibility is on all seven players on the offensive unit to step up and do their job."

MIDFIELD

UNC's biggest question mark is in the midfield, where it lost Kara Klages (34 points) and Gianna Bowe (31 points) to graduation. As much as they contributed offensively last season, they were best known for their hustle and selflessness. Klages led the team in caused turnovers (17) and ranked fourth in draw controls (33). Bowe posted a team-high 30 ground balls and the second-most draw controls (49).

Sophomore Brooklyn Neumen – who played in 20 games, starting 13, as a defensive-middie last season – is expected to help fill the void left by Bowe and Klages. So is sophomore Elizabeth Hillman, who appeared in 20 games last season and teamed with Neumen on the world champion U.S. U19 national team last summer.

Coming off an offseason in which she dealt with a hamstring injury, junior Ally Mastroianni registered a team-high 75 draw controls last season. As a team, the Tar Heels won 54 percent of their draws, a respectable number, but one that Levy hopes improves.

"The best draw units in the country (consist of) a kid who can self it to themselves," Levy said. "We're really working on that, seeing if we can get that to be more consistent. If you can't self it consistently, then can you put the ball in the 50-50 area and come up with that? Considering we weren't a selfing team last year, 54 percent is pretty good. That means we scrapped it out. But it's not elite. And really, we want to be elite in that area."

Julia Dorsey, Nicole Humphrey and Livi Lawton are three of the seven Carolina freshmen who were named to Inside Lacrosse's list of the nation's top 100 new players for 2020. Levy said she thinks all three will make an impact in the midfield this season.

"They each have different things that they bring that are special," Levy said. "They all three compete really hard, and I think the season will give them experience so they can learn how to be more consistent in execution. Their focus, their drive, their want and their will, their competitive fire, is really good."

DEFENSE

On defense, UNC will miss Charlotte Sofield, who garnered honorable mention All-America honors from Inside Lacrosse as a senior last season. But the Tar Heels still figure to boast one of the nation's top units, led by Trenchard and seniors Caroline Wakefield and Catie Woodruff.

This time last year, Levy said she and her staff knew Trenchard, a member of the U.S. Women's National Team, would likely mark every team's top offensive option. She did just that en route to being named the ACC Defender of the Year and a first-team All-America pick.

"Mentality-wise, toughness-wise, Emma is really good," Levy said. "She's really talented. I think her experience with the U.S. National Team, getting to play with some of those other defenders who are the best in the world, has really impacted her. So, continuing her leadership as a junior now is really important.

"I think her and Caroline Wakefield both have unbelievable sport IQ and gamesmanship. Those two elements defensively are so critical to the success of your D unit that they really can control the rest of it."

After playing in 30 games between her freshman and sophomore seasons, Woodruff started every game last season except for the regular-season game against Duke, which she missed due to injury. She's now looking to build off her first year as a full-time starter.

"Now, she's got another year of experience and confidence under her belt," Levy said. "Her game has really gown. And then we've got some options with who is going to fill the fourth spot defensively. … Who is going to be our d-middie? Are we staying with three middies or going to run d-middies?

"We've got some stuff we're going to work through, which is very typical of us in our early season. We come in with potential and we come in with some opportunity. Then as we play games, it starts to unravel with how we're actually going to look by the end of our season."

GOALIES

A breakout star for Carolina over the second half of the 2018 campaign, Moreno cemented herself as one of the country's top goalkeepers last season.

In earning second-team All-America honors from Inside Lacrosse, Moreno recorded the fourth-best save percentage (.532) and eighth-best goals-against average (8.91) in the country. Her season was highlighted by 11 games with double-digit saves, including UNC's three NCAA Tournament games.

"She's a special goalkeeper and she's been in big games and had big moments, especially her sophomore year …" Levy said. "I think last year, the expectations, she'd never been in that position before, and she has to work through that. We've talked a lot about handling expectations and just going out and playing. Because when she plays, she's great.

"She had two great seasons of learning about herself and what type of environments are good for her and how she needs to set that up in her mind. Goalie is a really difficult position if your mind is not right. I think this year is going to be a great year for her."

Levy also likes what she's seen from Kimber Hower, who graduated a year early from Brighton High School in Cottonwood Heights, Utah, and redshirted at Carolina last season.

"She's just come a long way," Levy said. "I'm really proud of her and really excited for her and really excited for our team that we have two really great goalies. It wound't surprise me to see some sort of combo like we did with (Megan) Ward and Caylee Waters (from 2014-16) because that really worked well for us."