University of North Carolina Athletics
Saturday, March 27
Chapel Hill
1 PM
North Carolina
vs
Mercer
Emily Nalls
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
Women's Lacrosse Welcomes Mercer Saturday
March 25, 2021 | Women's Lacrosse
Matchup: North Carolina (9-0, 4-0 ACC) vs. Mercer (2-3)
UNC Ranks: No. 1/1/1 (IWLCA/Inside Lacrosse/USLacrosse)
Mercer Ranks: No. -/-/- (IWLCA/Inside Lacrosse/USLacrosse)
Date: Saturday March 27, 2021
Site: Chapel Hill (Dorrance Field)
Time: 1 p.m.
Watch: ACC Network Extra
• Off to a 9-0 start in 2021 that's included wins over eight ranked opponents, North Carolina's women's lacrosse team is ranked No 1 in all the national polls and will host Mercer on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Dorrance Field.
• The game is slated to be Carolina's final non-conference contest this spring. The Tar Heels will sprint to the finish of the 2021 regular season five consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference games in April, beginning with No. 2-ranked Syracuse on Saturday April 3 in Chapel Hill.
• Mercer is 2-3 this season, including 1-0 in the Southern Conference.
• ACC Network Extra will stream Saturday's game.
• ACCNX is a streaming-only viewing option available via the ESPN app that broadcasts sporting events not available on ESPN's linear television networks. ACCNX access is included if your cable, satellite or streaming service provider carries ACC Network. Fans will need to use their account with their cable, satellite or streaming provider to log in at the WatchESPN website or download the ESPN app for their mobile or streaming device.
Tar Heel Tidbits
• Ranks: The Tar Heels are ranked No. 1 in the nation by the IWLCA, Inside Lacrosse and USLacrosse.
• Scoring Streak: Carolina has scored 10 or more goals in 25 consecutive games (dating to 2019).
• Winning Streak: UNC has won 16 consecutive games. The longest winning streak in school history is 20 games (17 in a row to end the 2016 season & 3-0 to start 2017).
• Hot Start: Carolina is 9-0 in 2021. The best start in school history is 11-0 in 2014.
• Stellar D: UNC has held opponents to single-digit goals in all nine games this season. UNC's defense has limited opponents to a shooting percentage of .260.
• Scoring Margin: The Tar Heels have outscored their 2021 opponents by 100 goals in nine games, 151-51 (a scoring margin of +11.1 goals per game that is the best in school history). Carolina's closest game in 2021 has been a five-goal win (11-6) over No. 8 Florida on Feb. 19.
• Attacker Jamie Ortega is Carolina's career leader in goals and has scored two or more goals in 53 of 58 career games. She has scored five or more goals 21 times as a Tar Heel.
• Ortega has scored at least one goal in 23 consecutive games.
• Ortega has tallied at least one point in 52 consecutive games and 57 of 58 in her career.
• Attacker Katie Hoeg holds the UNC career record for assists and has 50 career multi-assist games.
• Goalie Taylor Moreno has a career record of 38-5. She has started 42 consecutive games in the cage for the Tar Heels, beginning with the final five games of the 2018 season.
• Moreno has 15 career games with 10 or more saves, including three in 2021.
• Moreno's 2021 goals-against average is 5.74, more than three goals per game better than her career average entering the 2021 season of 9.12.
Mastroianni Wins Postgraduate Scholarship
• Senior midfielder Ally Mastroianni is among three Tar Heels and 52 Atlantic Coast Conference student-athletes selected as 2021 Weaver-James-Corrigan Postgraduate Scholarship Award recipients. Chris Gray (men's lacrosse), Rachel Jones (women's soccer) and Mastroianni (women's lacrosse) were part of the list of conference honorees announced on March 24.
• Mastroianni, from Martinsville, N.J., is pursuing a double major in media & journalism and communication studies and plans to pursue a master's degree in the field after graduation.
• The Weaver-James-Corrigan postgraduate scholarships are awarded to selected student-athletes who intend to pursue a graduate degree following completion of their undergraduate requirements. Each recipient will receive $6,000 toward his or her graduate education. Those honored have performed with distinction in both the classroom and their respective sport, while demonstrating exemplary conduct in the community.
• This year's class of postgraduate scholarship recipients will be highlighted in a one-hour show on ACC Network that will debut in May.
Five On Tewaaraton Watch List
• Five UNC seniors led the watch list for the sport's most prestigious award, the Tewaaraton Award given to the nation's top player.
• Tar Heels on the watch list include attacker Scottie Rose Growney, attacker Katie Hoeg, goalie Taylor Moreno, attacker Jamie Ortega and defender Emma Trenchard.
• UNC and Syracuse led the way with five players each on the watch list. Notre Dame and Northwestern each had four.
Ortega Breaks UNC Career Goals Record
• Jamie Ortega broke the UNC program record for career goals in the Feb. 28 win over Vanderbilt.
• Entering the game vs. Mercer, Ortega has scored 221 goals, topping the previous record of 198 set by Abbey Friend from 2011-14.
Stout Defense Leads The Way
• Led by senior All-Americas Emma Trenchard and Taylor Moreno, the UNC defense has held each of its nine 2021 opponents to single-digit goals.
• No Tar Heel opponent has scored more than the nine goals 11th-ranked Boston College scored on March 6.
• On March 13, UNC tied the school record for fewest goals allowed in a 22-1 win at No. 14 Virginia Tech.
• In the Feb. 28 win over Vanderbilt, Carolina forced a season-high 17 turnovers, including a career-high four by graduate student defender Catie Woodruff.
• Caroline Wakefield leads the Tar Heels with 12 caused turnovers in 2021, while Emily Nalls and Trenchard lead in ground balls, often using their speed to turn those loose balls into quick offensive fast-break opportunities.
Series History vs. the Bears
• Saturday will mark the first meeting between the Tar Heels and Mercer in women's lacrosse.
Hoeg & Ortega Are The Top-Scoring Duo In Tar Heel History
• Senior attackers Katie Hoeg and Jamie Ortega are the top two scorers in Carolina women's lacrosse history.
• Hoeg has 306 career points, most in UNC history.
• Ortega has 295 points, second in school history behind Hoeg.
• Hoeg's 189 assists and 2.45 career assists per game are the best in UNC history by a wide margin. Her 73 assists in 2019 are the UNC single-season record.
• Ortega's 221 career goals and 3.81 career goals per game are the best in school history by a comfortable margin. She recorded a UNC-record 81 goals and 112 points as a sophomore in 2019.
• Hoeg and Ortega shared 2020 National Player of the Year honors from Inside Lacrosse. In just seven games last year, they combined for 97 points. Hoeg had 52 points on 22 goals and 30 assists, while Ortega had 45 points on 32 goals and 13 assists (prior to the cancellation of the season due to Covid-19).
• Ortega and Hoeg combined for 216 of Carolina's 490 points in 2019, becoming the first pair of 100-point scorers in program history.
UNC Ranks: No. 1/1/1 (IWLCA/Inside Lacrosse/USLacrosse)
Mercer Ranks: No. -/-/- (IWLCA/Inside Lacrosse/USLacrosse)
Date: Saturday March 27, 2021
Site: Chapel Hill (Dorrance Field)
Time: 1 p.m.
Watch: ACC Network Extra
• Off to a 9-0 start in 2021 that's included wins over eight ranked opponents, North Carolina's women's lacrosse team is ranked No 1 in all the national polls and will host Mercer on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Dorrance Field.
• The game is slated to be Carolina's final non-conference contest this spring. The Tar Heels will sprint to the finish of the 2021 regular season five consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference games in April, beginning with No. 2-ranked Syracuse on Saturday April 3 in Chapel Hill.
• Mercer is 2-3 this season, including 1-0 in the Southern Conference.
• ACC Network Extra will stream Saturday's game.
• ACCNX is a streaming-only viewing option available via the ESPN app that broadcasts sporting events not available on ESPN's linear television networks. ACCNX access is included if your cable, satellite or streaming service provider carries ACC Network. Fans will need to use their account with their cable, satellite or streaming provider to log in at the WatchESPN website or download the ESPN app for their mobile or streaming device.
Tar Heel Tidbits
• Ranks: The Tar Heels are ranked No. 1 in the nation by the IWLCA, Inside Lacrosse and USLacrosse.
• Scoring Streak: Carolina has scored 10 or more goals in 25 consecutive games (dating to 2019).
• Winning Streak: UNC has won 16 consecutive games. The longest winning streak in school history is 20 games (17 in a row to end the 2016 season & 3-0 to start 2017).
• Hot Start: Carolina is 9-0 in 2021. The best start in school history is 11-0 in 2014.
• Stellar D: UNC has held opponents to single-digit goals in all nine games this season. UNC's defense has limited opponents to a shooting percentage of .260.
• Scoring Margin: The Tar Heels have outscored their 2021 opponents by 100 goals in nine games, 151-51 (a scoring margin of +11.1 goals per game that is the best in school history). Carolina's closest game in 2021 has been a five-goal win (11-6) over No. 8 Florida on Feb. 19.
• Attacker Jamie Ortega is Carolina's career leader in goals and has scored two or more goals in 53 of 58 career games. She has scored five or more goals 21 times as a Tar Heel.
• Ortega has scored at least one goal in 23 consecutive games.
• Ortega has tallied at least one point in 52 consecutive games and 57 of 58 in her career.
• Attacker Katie Hoeg holds the UNC career record for assists and has 50 career multi-assist games.
• Goalie Taylor Moreno has a career record of 38-5. She has started 42 consecutive games in the cage for the Tar Heels, beginning with the final five games of the 2018 season.
• Moreno has 15 career games with 10 or more saves, including three in 2021.
• Moreno's 2021 goals-against average is 5.74, more than three goals per game better than her career average entering the 2021 season of 9.12.
Mastroianni Wins Postgraduate Scholarship
• Senior midfielder Ally Mastroianni is among three Tar Heels and 52 Atlantic Coast Conference student-athletes selected as 2021 Weaver-James-Corrigan Postgraduate Scholarship Award recipients. Chris Gray (men's lacrosse), Rachel Jones (women's soccer) and Mastroianni (women's lacrosse) were part of the list of conference honorees announced on March 24.
• Mastroianni, from Martinsville, N.J., is pursuing a double major in media & journalism and communication studies and plans to pursue a master's degree in the field after graduation.
• The Weaver-James-Corrigan postgraduate scholarships are awarded to selected student-athletes who intend to pursue a graduate degree following completion of their undergraduate requirements. Each recipient will receive $6,000 toward his or her graduate education. Those honored have performed with distinction in both the classroom and their respective sport, while demonstrating exemplary conduct in the community.
• This year's class of postgraduate scholarship recipients will be highlighted in a one-hour show on ACC Network that will debut in May.
Five On Tewaaraton Watch List
• Five UNC seniors led the watch list for the sport's most prestigious award, the Tewaaraton Award given to the nation's top player.
• Tar Heels on the watch list include attacker Scottie Rose Growney, attacker Katie Hoeg, goalie Taylor Moreno, attacker Jamie Ortega and defender Emma Trenchard.
• UNC and Syracuse led the way with five players each on the watch list. Notre Dame and Northwestern each had four.
Ortega Breaks UNC Career Goals Record
• Jamie Ortega broke the UNC program record for career goals in the Feb. 28 win over Vanderbilt.
• Entering the game vs. Mercer, Ortega has scored 221 goals, topping the previous record of 198 set by Abbey Friend from 2011-14.
Stout Defense Leads The Way
• Led by senior All-Americas Emma Trenchard and Taylor Moreno, the UNC defense has held each of its nine 2021 opponents to single-digit goals.
• No Tar Heel opponent has scored more than the nine goals 11th-ranked Boston College scored on March 6.
• On March 13, UNC tied the school record for fewest goals allowed in a 22-1 win at No. 14 Virginia Tech.
• In the Feb. 28 win over Vanderbilt, Carolina forced a season-high 17 turnovers, including a career-high four by graduate student defender Catie Woodruff.
• Caroline Wakefield leads the Tar Heels with 12 caused turnovers in 2021, while Emily Nalls and Trenchard lead in ground balls, often using their speed to turn those loose balls into quick offensive fast-break opportunities.
Series History vs. the Bears
• Saturday will mark the first meeting between the Tar Heels and Mercer in women's lacrosse.
Hoeg & Ortega Are The Top-Scoring Duo In Tar Heel History
• Senior attackers Katie Hoeg and Jamie Ortega are the top two scorers in Carolina women's lacrosse history.
• Hoeg has 306 career points, most in UNC history.
• Ortega has 295 points, second in school history behind Hoeg.
• Hoeg's 189 assists and 2.45 career assists per game are the best in UNC history by a wide margin. Her 73 assists in 2019 are the UNC single-season record.
• Ortega's 221 career goals and 3.81 career goals per game are the best in school history by a comfortable margin. She recorded a UNC-record 81 goals and 112 points as a sophomore in 2019.
• Hoeg and Ortega shared 2020 National Player of the Year honors from Inside Lacrosse. In just seven games last year, they combined for 97 points. Hoeg had 52 points on 22 goals and 30 assists, while Ortega had 45 points on 32 goals and 13 assists (prior to the cancellation of the season due to Covid-19).
• Ortega and Hoeg combined for 216 of Carolina's 490 points in 2019, becoming the first pair of 100-point scorers in program history.
Players Mentioned
Attacker
/ Women's Lacrosse
Attacker
/ Women's Lacrosse
Midfielder
/ Women's Lacrosse
Goalkeeper
/ Women's Lacrosse
Midfielder/Defender
/ Women's Lacrosse
Attacker
/ Women's Lacrosse
Defender
/ Women's Lacrosse
Defender
/ Women's Lacrosse
Defender
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