BC Ends Women's Lacrosse Season, 11-10, In NCAA Semis

Friday, May 28

Towson, Md.

Noon

North Carolina

20-1

Boston College (Semifinal)

17-3

Boston College

North Carolina

Ally Mastroianni

May 28, 2021 | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score Final Stats (.pdf)

TOWSON, MD.—Fourth-seeded Boston College spotted North Carolina a 4-1 lead in the opening 12 minutes of the game, then seized control and beat the top-seeded Tar Heels, 11-9, in the 2021 NCAA Women's Lacrosse semifinals at Johnny Unitas Stadium on Friday afternoon.

Boston College built a five-goal, second-half lead and held off a furious UNC rally in the closing minutes.

BC got strong play in goal from Rachel Hall, who finished with 11 saves as her defense limited UNC to just 10 of 35 shooting. Carolina's 10 goals were its second-lowest scoring output of the season.

The Eagles (17-3) advanced to their fourth consecutive appearance in the NCAA championship game.

The Tar Heels (20-1) saw their program-record 27-game winning streak come to an end. It was their first loss since losing to Boston College in the 2019 NCAA semifinals in Baltimore.

Katie Hoeg led UNC with three goals and one assist in her final collegiate game. Freshman Caitlyn Wurzburger also tallied three goals and an assist. Jamie Ortega had a goal and two assists, all in the first half.

Jenn Medjid scored a game-high four goals for the Eagles, who also got two goals each from Charlotte North and Caitlynn Mossman.

"Congratulations to Boston College, they played great today," UNC head coach Jenny Levy said after the game. "Specifically, Rachel Hall had a big day and really played great in goal. I'm proud of my team to come back and make a game of it, but BC's defense did a great job.

"Unfortunately for us, we just didn't do what we normally do, which is executive offensively," Levy continued. "We held them to just three goals in the second half, but the offense wasn't able to step up. We're obviously very disappointed in the result, but it was a fun journey along the way getting here with this group, a time you can never replace."

Carolina stormed out of the locker room to start the game and grabbed a 4-1 lead in the first 12 minutes, oly to see BC grab the momentum and go on a 7-1 run to finish the first half. UNC made three of its first five shots, then made just 2 of its next 13 in the rest of the opening half.

The Tar Heels dominated the draw, 10-4, but connected on just 5 of 18 total shots in the first half as the Eagles led, 8-5, at the break and matched the largest deficit faced by UNC all season. Five different Tar Heels scored the five first-half goals. It was the second time in 2021 Carolina trailed at halftime.

In the second half, BC milked the shot clock on each of its first two possessions and made it a four-goal lead at 9-5 with 26:18 remaining in the game and pushed it to 11-6 with 15:27 to go at the media timeout.

Carolina held BC scoreless for more than the next 11 minutes, and Wurzburger scored her second goal of the second half to cut it to 11-7 with 12:16 remaining. UNC won the ensuing draw, then Wurzburger dished to Hoeg for a goal with just one second left on the shot clock that made it 11-8.

Hoeg scored her second in a row unassisted with 5:07 to play, taking it by herself from the left side of the cage to make the score 11-9 at the final media timeout. Hall saved a point-blank shot by Elizabeth Hillman shortly thereafter, and BC held on for the victory.

Wurzburger shot 3-for-4 in the game. The rest of the UNC team was 7-for-31.

Carolina won 16 of 23 draws in the game.