No. 1 Women's Lacrosse Runs Past No. 2 Syracuse, 17-6

Saturday, April 3

Chapel Hill

11 AM

North Carolina

11-0, 5-0ACC

Syracuse

6-1, 4-1ACC

Syracuse

North Carolina

Jamie Ortega posted a season-high eight points.

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

April 3, 2021 | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score Photo Gallery

CHAPEL HILL—Top-ranked North Carolina closed the game on a 16-2 run and beat No. 2 Syracuse, 17-6, in a matchup of the nation's top two women's lacrosse teams on Saturday at Dorrance Field.

The Tar Heels spotted the Orange a 4-1 lead less than 10 minutes into the game, then scored 16 of the next 18 goals to finish the game. Taylor Moreno (11-0) and the UNC defense held Syracuse scoreless for nearly 29 consecutive minutes, turning a 4-1, first-half deficit into an 11-4 lead with 21:21 left in the game.

The Orange cut the lead to 12-6 with 18:36 to play, only to see the Tar Heels hold Syracuse scoreless the rest of the way to end the game on a 5-0 run.

Carolina scored its 17 goals on just 24 shots, posting a shooting percentage of .708 as a team.

Jamie Ortega led the way offensively with a season-high eight points on five goals and three assists, adding two ground balls and a caused turnover. Katie Hoeg posted three goals and four assists, while Scottie Rose Growney scored four times.

Ally Mastroianni played one of her best games of the season in the midfield, tallying two goals, two assists and seven draw controls. Fellow midfielder Elizabeth Hillman added a goal, an assist, three draw controls, two caused turnovers and two ground balls. Tayler Warehime added a goal and an assist, and Julia Dorsey dished out an assist.

Moreno tied her season high with 11 saves (her 16th career game with 10 or more), improving her career record in the cage to 40-5.

"I think we got out of the gates a little slow," head coach Jenny Levy said afterward. "I think we did a really good job of recovering from the first few minutes, and then the offense figured out what they needed to do to have success.

"I want to highlight the play of Ally Mastroianni," Levy continued. "She did a great job on the draw today, contributing two goals and two assists. She's the number one midfielder on the number one team in the country, and she's not on the Tewaaraton Award watch list. I'm a little confused by that, but I'm hoping she'll show up on the list after this week."

With the victory, UNC improves to 11-0 this season and matches the best start in school history. Carolina has won the last five meetings in the series with the Orange.

Carolina will return to action with a road game next Saturday April 10 at Notre Dame.

Notes:
• Carolina won its 18th consecutive game. The longest winning streak in school history is 20 games.
• UNC is off to a 11-0 start in 2021, matching the best start in school history (2014).
• UNC scored double-figure goals for the 27th game in a row and held its opponent to single digits for the 11th game in a row (every game in 2021).
• Jamie Ortega extended her goals streak to 25 consecutive games and posted her 55th career multi-goal game (55 multi-goal games in 60 career games). It was Ortega's 23rd career game with five or more goals.
• Ortega has tallied at least one point in 54 consecutive games and 59 of 60 in her career.
• Katie Hoeg posted her 52nd career multi-assist game and her 17th with four or more assists.
• Taylor Moreno improved her career record in the cage to 40-5. She has started 44 consecutive games in goal.

Gallery: (4-3-2021) North Carolina Downs Syracuse 17-6