Women's Lax To Close Regular Season At Duke Friday

Matchup: North Carolina (14-0, 8-0 ACC) vs. Duke (9-5, 4-5 ACC)
UNC Ranks: No. 1/1/1 (IWLCA/Inside Lacrosse/USLacrosse)
Duke Ranks: No. 8/7/7 (IWLCA/Inside Lacrosse/USLacrosse)
Date: Friday April 23, 2021
Site: Durham, N.C. (Koskinen Stadium)
Time: 5 p.m.
Watch: ACC Network Extra

• North Carolina's women's lacrosse team will play its final game of the 2021 regular season when it visits Duke at Koskinen Stadium on Friday afternoon.
• The Tar Heels and Blue Devils will take the opening draw just after 5 p.m. The game will be streamed live by ACC Network Extra.
• 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
Team
• Rankings: The Tar Heels are ranked No. 1 in the nation by the IWLCA, Inside Lacrosse and USLacrosse and have topped all the polls every week in 2021.
• Scoring Streak: Carolina has scored 10 or more goals in 30 consecutive games (dating to 2019 vs. Notre Dame).
• Winning Streak: UNC has won 21 consecutive games, the longest winning streak in school history. The previous record was 20 games (17 in a row to end the 2016 season & 3-0 to start 2017).
• Top Start: Carolina is 14-0 in 2021, the best start to a season in program history (the previous record was 11-0 in 2014).
• Tough Schedule: Carolina is 12-0 this season against IWLCA-ranked opponents, including 6-0 against top-10 foes.
• Among the NCAA Leaders: The Tar Heels are among the national leaders in several statistical categories: scoring margin (1st, 10.71), scoring defense (2nd, 5.86), scoring offense (7th, 16.57), save percentage (2nd, .582), fewest turnovers committed (1st, 10.57) and shooting percentage (7th, .517).
• Stellar D: UNC has held opponents to single-digit goals in 13 of 14 games this season. UNC's defense has limited opponents to a shooting percentage of .273, best in school history.
• Scoring Margin: The Tar Heels have outscored their 2021 opponents by 150 goals in 14 games, 232-82 (a scoring margin of +10.71 goals per game that leads the nation in 2021 and is the best in school history).
• Two of the Nation's Top Five Scorers: Jamie Ortega (80 points, second in the nation) and Katie Hoeg (70, fifth) are both among the nation's top five scorers in 2021.
• Two of the Top Five in ACC History: Katie Hoeg (331 career points, fourth in the nation) and Jamie Ortega (323, fifth) are the top-scoring set of teammates in ACC history.

Jamie Ortega
• Attacker Jamie Ortega is Carolina's career leader in goals and has scored two or more goals in 58 of 63 career games.
• Ortega's 323 career points are fifth in ACC history (teammate Katie Hoeg is just ahead of her with 331).
• Her 244 career goals are fourth in ACC history (Amy Appelt of Virginia is third with 258).
• Ortega has scored five or more goals 25 times as a Tar Heel, including seven times in the last nine games.
• Ortega has scored four or more goals in 11 of 14 games this season,
• Ortega has scored at least one goal in 28 consecutive games. She ranks second in the nation in goals with 61.
• Ortega has tallied at least one point in 57 consecutive games and 62 of 63 in her career.
• Ortega also is sixth in Carolina history in career assists with 80.
• Over the last eight games, Ortega has scored goals on 39 of 51 shots, a blistering shooting percentage of .765.
• Ortega ranks second nationally with a shooting percentage of .709.

Katie Hoeg
• Attacker Katie Hoeg is first in ACC and UNC history in career assists with 204 and has 54 career multi-assist games.
• Hoeg ranks fourth in ACC history in career points with 331 (Amy Appelt of Virginia is third with 373).
• Hoeg leads the ACC and is fourth in the nation with 3.00 assists per game. She is second in the nation with 42 assists.
• Hoeg's 42 assists in 2021 are already the fourth-highest single-season total in school history.

Taylor Moreno
• Goalie Taylor Moreno has a career record of 43-5. The UNC career record for goalie wins is 49 (Caylee Waters, 2014-17).
• Moreno has started 47 consecutive games in the cage for the Tar Heels, beginning with the final five games of the 2018 season.
• Moreno has 16 career games with 10 or more saves, including four in 2021 (and a season-high 11 on April 3 versus Syracuse).
• Moreno leads the ACC and second nationally in goals against average (a career-best 5.84) and save percentage (a career-high .584). Her goals-against average is more than three goals per game better than her career average entering the 2021 season (9.12).

Scottie Rose Growney
• Attacker Scottie Rose Growney is Carolina's third-leading scorer with 52 points, ranking 31st in the nation.
• Growney is second on the team behind Ortega in goals with 35.
• This season, Growney already has set career highs in goals (35), assists (17) and points (52).

Nine Midseason All-Americas
• An impressive nine of 12 regular Carolina starters earned 2021 Midseason All-America honors from Inside Lacrosse.
• Five Tar Heels grabbed first-team honors at each position on the field: attackers Katie Hoeg and Jamie Ortega, midfielder Ally Mastroianni, defender Emma Trenchard and goalie Taylor Moreno.
• Attacker Scottie Rose Growney was on the second team, and defender Catie Woodruff was on the third team. Midfielder Kerrigan Miller and defender Caroline Wakefield earned honorable mention.

Moreno Is A 3x-ACC Defensive POW
• For a third time this season, Carolina goalie Taylor Moreno was the Atlantic Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Week on April 20.
• Moreno stymied Virginia in a pair of North Carolina wins on April 16 and 18. She was dominant in the cage on both Friday and Sunday, as UNC limited the Cavaliers to single-digit goals in both games. On Friday, the native of Huntington, New York, made four saves in a 20-8 win, while also gathering two ground balls in 44:24 of action. On Sunday, she and the UNC defense limited Virginia to just four first-half shots in a 15-4 victory. She made four saves in the contest.
• Moreno also won the award on February 16 (after making 10 saves in the season opener against Stony Brook) and April 6 (after the 17-6 win over Syracuse, when she stymied the Orange on the way to a 16-2 Tar Heel scoring run after falling behind, 4-1).

Mastroianni Wins Postgraduate Scholarship
• Senior midfielder Ally Mastroianni is among three Tar Heels and 52 ACC 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.
• Teammate Katie Hoeg won the same honor in 2020.
• 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.

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 Is UNC Career Goals Leader
• Jamie Ortega broke the UNC program record for career goals in the Feb. 28 win over Vanderbilt.
• Entering the game at Duke, Ortega has scored 244 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 13 of 14 opponents in 2021 to single-digit goals.
• UNC is second in the nation in both scoring defense (5.86) and save percentage (.582).
• On March 13, UNC tied the school record for fewest goals allowed in a 22-1 win at No. 14 Virginia Tech.
• In the March 27 win over Mercer, UNC forced a season-high 21 turnovers.
• Caroline Wakefield leads the Tar Heels with 16 caused turnovers in 2021, followed by Trenchard with 13. Emily Nalls (27), Trenchard (21) and Wakefield (21) lead in ground balls, often using their speed to turn those loose balls into quick-strike fast-break opportunities on offense.

Series vs. the Blue Devils
• Carolina leads the all-time series with Duke, 26-14. Earlier this season, UNC beat Duke, 13-6, in Chapel Hill on Feb. 26.
• UNC has won 11 consecutive games against the Blue Devils.
• Head coaches Jenny Levy and Kerstin Kimel are longtime close friends, as UNC and Duke each launched their women's lacrosse programs in 1996. They represent two of the seven winningest head coaches in NCAA Division I women's lacrosse history (Levy 3rd, Kimel 7th).

Moreno is ACC Defensive POW For A Third Time In 2021
• For a third time this season, North Carolina goalie Taylor Moreno is the ACC Defensive Player of the Week.
• Moreno stymied Virginia in a pair of UNC wins on April 16 and 18, as UNC limited the Cavaliers to single-digit goals with four saves in each game.
• Moreno also won the award on February 16 (after making 10 saves in the season opener against Stony Brook) and April 6 (after the 17-6 win over Syracuse, when she stymied the Orange on the way to a 16-2 Tar Heel scoring run after falling behind, 4-1).

Hoeg & Ortega Are The Top-Scoring Duo In ACC History
• Senior attackers Katie Hoeg and Jamie Ortega are the highest-scoring set of teammates in Atlantic Coast Conference history.
• Hoeg has 331 career points, most in UNC history and fourth in ACC history. Her 204 assists are the most in ACC history.
• Ortega has 323 points, second in school history behind Hoeg and fifth in ACC history. Her 244 goals rank fourth in ACC history.
• Hoeg's 204 assists and 2.49 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 244 career goals and 3.87 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.
• Head coach Jenny Levy told US Lacrosse in April, "Jamie and Katie are just a tandem that will go down in lacrosse history as great. They can score and feed in so many different ways, it's not something that is a script for them. They're reading what defenses are giving them, and when you play against that defensively, it's very difficult to defend."

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Scottie Rose Growney

Katie Hoeg

Ally Mastroianni

Kerrigan Miller

Taylor Moreno

Emily Nalls

Jamie Ortega

Emma Trenchard

Caroline Wakefield

Catie Woodruff