No. 1 WLAX Welcomes Hokies Saturday

• The University of North Carolina women's lacrosse team (10-0, 3-0 ACC), the nation's top-ranked team in the IWLCA/Inside Lacrosse poll, will look to improve to 4-0 in Atlantic Coast Conference play when it hosts No. 25 Virginia Tech (8-4, 2-2) on Saturday March 26 at 11 a.m. at Dorrance Field.
• ACC Network Extra will stream the game live.
• 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.
• The game is part of a doubleheader at Dorrance Field, with the Carolina men's team set to host Bellarmine at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
• The Tar Heels are coming off a dominant, 23-9 win on the road at High Point on Wednesday. Last weekend, UNC won at top-ranked and defending NCAA champion Boston College, 16-15.
• UNC has won 36 consecutive regular season games, 27 consecutive home games, 16 consecutive road games and 37 of its last 38 games overall.

Series History vs. the Hokies
• Carolina leads the all-time series with Virginia Tech, 30-0.
• Last year, the Tar Heels won, 22-1, in Blacksburg. The two teams were also scheduled to play a second regular season matchup in 2021, but the game was canceled due to Covid-19 protocols in the Hokie program.
• Carolina is 22-0 against the Hokies in regular season games, 7-0 in the ACC Tournament and 1-0 in the NCAA Tournament.

Tar Heel Tidbits
Team
• Scoring Run: Carolina has scored 10 or more goals in 46 of the last 47 games (a run that began on April 6, 2019). The exception was the 2021 ACC Tournament final vs. Syracuse (9).
• UNC has won 37 of its last 38 games. Carolina won 27 in a row, the longest winning streak in school history and the seventh-longest in NCAA history, prior to the season-ending loss in the 2021 national semifinal to Boston College.
• Carolina has won 45 of its last 47 games overall (a run that began on April 6, 2019). The only two Tar Heel losses during the last 47 games came to Boston College in the 2019 and 2021 NCAA Tournament semifinals.
• The Tar Heels have won 36 consecutive regular season games.
• Carolina has won 27 home games in a row, the longest home winning streak in school history.
• UNC has won 16 consecutive road games, the longest road winning streak in school history.
• Carolina leads the nation in assists (10.44 per game).
• Carolina is averaging 18.20 goals per game this season, ranking fourth in the nation and on pace to be the highest mark in program history. The UNC school record is 15.90 in 2017.
• Carolina has scored at least 15 goals in every game this season and has scored 20 or more five times in 10 outings.
• The Tar Heels are allowing 8.90 goals per game in 2022, the ACC's second-best and the nation's eighth-best scoring defense. UNC led the nation in scoring defense in 2021, posting the second-best goals per game allowed average (6.58) in school history and the best in 25 years. The school record is 5.52, set in 1997 (UNC's second year as a varsity program).
• Carolina has held its opponents to single-digit goals in 28 of its last 37 games (since the start of the 2020 season).
• In the 2022 preseason, Inside Lacrosse ranked the Carolina defensive and midfield units as best in the nation and its attack group as the nation's second-best (behind Boston College).

Individual Tidbits
• Andie Aldave, a graduate transfer from Notre Dame, leads the ACC and is second in the nation in shooting percentage at a blistering .682.
• Aldave scored a career-high six goals against Louisville on March 13 and scored four goals in the win at No. 1-ranked Boston College on March 20.
• Sam Geiersbach has 14 goals and 15 assists in the last six games.
• Scottie Rose Growney is second on the team in shooting percentage at .571 (24 of 42) and is third on the team with 24 goals.
• Growney has scored at least two goals in nine of 10 games this season.
• Caitlyn Wurzburger is second on the team with 21 assists and 40 points.
• Junior defender Emily Nalls was one of 13 players nationally added to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List on March 10. She tied the school record with 10 ground balls at High Point. She leads UNC with 12 caused turnovers and 22 ground balls and is second with 34 draw controls.

#1 In The National Polls
• Carolina moved into the No. 1 spot in the ILWomen/IWLCA rankings on March 21 after its win at previously-top-ranked Boston College.
• UNC had been ranked No. 2 nationally in every 2022 poll prior to winning at BC.

Ortega Rewriting Record Books
• Attacker Jamie Ortega is rewriting the UNC, ACC and NCAA record books.
• Ortega became just the fifth player in NCAA history to record 400 or more points with a nine-point effort at High Point on March 23. She is currently fourth in NCAA history with 408 points, five behind third-place Taryn Ohlmiller of Stony Brook (2017-21), who has 413.
• She is Carolina's career points leader, setting the record on February 24 at Pitt. She he also is UNC's career goals leader, having set that record in 2021.
• Despite being a fifth-year senior, Ortega still hasn't played four full seasons since the 2020 campaign was cut short after seven games due to the Covid-19 pandemic and Ortega missed nearly two full contests in 2021 due to injury.
• Ortega broke the UNC career points record in her 72nd career game, 17 games (almost a full season) fewer than it took Hoeg to set the record.
• Ortega has 408 points in 79 career games for a UNC-record 5.16 points per game. Katie Hoeg had 370 points in 89 games (4.16 ppg).
• Ortega is second in ACC history in career points. Jen Adams of Maryland is first with 445.

• Ortega needs:
- 38 points to be ACC's career points leader (she has 408; record is 445 by Jen Adams of Maryland)
- 3 goals to become the third player in NCAA history to score 300 goals

• Ortega has scored at least one goal in 44 consecutive games.
• Ortega has scored two or more goals in 70 of 79 career games.
• Her 297 career goals are fourth in NCAA history and second in ACC annals. Current BC player Charlotte North is first in ACC history with 315 goals.
• Ortega has scored five or more goals 29 times as a Tar Heel.
• Ortega has tallied at least one point in 73 consecutive games and 78 of 79 in her career.
• Ortega became the third player in Carolina history top compile at least 100 assists with three on March 6 vs. Northwestern. She is third among Tar Heels in career assists with 111.
• 2022 Preseason Honors: Preseason First-Team All-America (USA Lacrosse, Inside Lacrosse), No. 2 overall player in the nation (men's and women's; Inside Lacrosse), Preseason All-ACC, Tewaaraton Award Watch List

Mastroianni Excelling in Midfield
• Graduate student midfielder Ally Mastroianni won the 2021 ACC Midfielder of the Year award but might be having an even better season as a graduate student in 2022. She has been at her best in big games.
• In the March 20 win at top-ranked Boston College, she had two goals (including the game-winner) and five draw controls.
• She tied her career high with four goals and set a new career high with five points in UNC's 20-9 win over No. 6 Northwestern on March 6.
• Mastroianni has 45 draw controls in the last seven games.
• She leads Carolina with 62 draw controls this season. She also led UNC with a career-high 112 DCs in 2021, earning unanimous first-team All-America honors.
• She was 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.
• Mastroianni, from Martinsville, N.J., earned a degree in 2021 with a double major in media & journalism and communication studies. She is now pursuing a master's degree in media and communication while also spearheading UNC's community service efforts off the field.
• 2022 Preseason Honors: Preseason First-Team All-America (USA Lacrosse, Inside Lacrosse), No. 11 overall player in the nation (men's and women's; Inside Lacrosse), Preseason All-ACC, Tewaaraton Award Watch List

Last Game: Tar Heels Dominate at High Point, 23-9
• Jamie Ortega a huge day as the No. 1-ranked North Carolina women's lacrosse team beat High Point, 23-9, on Wednesday. Ortega tied her season high with six goals and set a season high with nine points.
• She became the fifth player in NCAA history and the second in Atlantic Coast Conference history to record 400 career points when she scored in the opening minutes to give Carolina a 1-0 lead.
• Nine Tar Heels scored goals as UNC out-shot the Panthers, 48-23. Carolina had 23 goals and 16 assists for a school-record 39 points in the game. The 16 assists tied the program record.
• Emily Nalls tied a school record with 10 ground balls and had nine draw controls and two caused turnovers.

Tar Heels Win Thriller at No. 1 BC, 16-15
• Carolina went on a 6-0 run in the second and third quarters and held off a furious Boston College rally, beating the defending NCAA champion Eagles, 16-15, in a matchup of the nation's top two teams on March 20 at Alumni Stadium.
• Graduate transfer Andie Aldave had four goals on five shots to lead the way for the Tar Heels, who won their 35th consecutive regular season game. Fellow transfer Olivia Dirks also came up big for Carolina, tallying two goals, two assists and a team-high five draw controls.
• Grad transfer attacker Sam Geiersbach finished with two goals and two assists. Jamie Ortega had a goal and two assists. Ally Mastroianni and Elizabeth Hillman both scored twice, with Mastroianni adding five draw controls and scoring a key goal with 11:37 remaining in the fourth quarter, the only UNC goal in BC's 6-1 run to close the game.
• The Tar Heel defense held BC scoreless for a span of 21:05, including the entirety of the second quarter, as UNC seized control of the game.

Tar Heels Streaking at Dorrance
• Carolina has won 27 consecutive home games at Dorrance Field, the longest home winning streak in program history.
• UNC's last loss at home came on March 23, 2019, to Boston College.

ACC Dominance
• Carolina is 59-6 in its last 65 games against Atlantic Coast Conference opponents (regular season and postseason) and has won five consecutive ACC Tournaments.
• UNC's five straight ACC titles are the second-longest streak in the event's history (behind Maryland's six straight from 2009-14).
• UNC's 15 consecutive ACC Tournament wins are the longest streak in the history of the tournament.
• Since a loss in the 2015 ACC Tournament final, UNC's' only losses to conference foes have come to Boston College (four times), Syracuse (once, in 2017) and Notre Dame (once, in 2019).

Moreno Snaps UNC Career Wins Record
• Graduate student goalie Taylor Moreno has a career record of 58-6 in the cage and became Carolina's all-time leader in goalie wins on Feb. 16 against Furman.
• Moreno has started 64 consecutive games in the cage for the Tar Heels, beginning with the final five games of the 2018 season.
• Moreno has three games with 10+ saves this season.
• Moreno has 20 career games with 11 or more saves, including five in 2021 and three in 2022.
• She was named ACC Defensive Player of the Week on Feb. 22 after the wins over Furman and Florida.
• Moreno eclipsed the record of Caylee Waters (2014-17), who had 49 victories. Waters is a volunteer assistant coach for the 2022 Tar Heels.
• 2022 Preseason Honors: Preseason National Goalie of the Year (USA Lacrosse), Preseason ACC Defensive Player of the Year (Inside Lacrosse), Preseason First-Team All-America (USA Lacrosse, Inside Lacrosse), No. 7 overall player in the nation (men's and women's; Inside Lacrosse), Preseason All-ACC, Tewaaraton Award Watch List
• In 2021, Moreno finished second in the nation in goals against average (a career-best 6.65) and save percentage (a career-high .549). Her goals-against average was nearly three goals per game better than her career average entering the 2021 season (9.12).
• She is a two-time ACC Tournament MVP (2018, 2021).
• In the 2021 ACC Tournament, she earned MVP honors for the second time after leading the Tar Heels to three wins. Moreno allowed just 4.78 goals per game in three UNC victories, posting a save percentage of .611.

Tewaaraton Award Watch List Includes Seven Tar Heels
• Six UNC players made the intitial watch list for the 2022 Tewaaraton Award, most of any school in the nation.
• A seventh Tar Heel, Emily Nalls, was added on March 10.
• Tar Heels on the initiail list include Olivia Dirks, Ally Mastroianni, Taylor Moreno, Jamie Ortega, Emma Trenchard and Caitlyn Wurzburger.
• The list includes the top players in NCAA lacrosse and highlight the early contenders for the 2022 Tewaaraton Award, given to the national Player of the Year.
• Moreno and Ortega both were among the five finalists for the 2021 Tewaaraton Award.

Nine Preseason ILWomen All-Americas
• Carolina placed nine players on the 2022 Inside Lacrosse Preseason All-America Team, leading all schools nationally in total players on the list (nine), players on the first-, second- and third-team teams (seven) and first-team honorees (five).
• Tar Heels on the ILWomen preseason first team include players at all four positions on the field: attacker Jamie Ortega, midfielders Olivia Dirks and Ally Mastroianni, defender Emma Trenchard and goalie Taylor Moreno. Ortega, Mastroianni, Trenchard and Moreno all were consensus first-team All-Americas after the 2021 season.
• UNC attackers Andie Aldave and Caitlyn Wurzburger both grabbed spots on the third team, while attacker Scottie Rose Growney and defender Emily Nalls both made honorable mention.
• Carolina's five first-team honorees were the most in the nation, followed by Syracuse's three.

Six Tar Heels On US National Team
• Head coach Jenny Levy and her staff have named the final 18-player roster that will represent the United States in this summer's World Lacrosse Women's World Championship, and six of the players are current or former UNC players who played as Tar Heels for Levy.
• The six Carolina players, most of any school in the nation, include goalie Caylee Waters (UNC '17), fifth-year senior defender Emma Trenchard ('22), graduate student midfielder Ally Mastroianni ('21), midfielder Marie McCool ('18), midfielder Emily Parros ('13) and attacker Molly Hendrick ('17).

Tar Heels in the National Spotlight
• Six UNC games will be televised nationally by ESPNU and the ACC Network in 2022, the networks announced on Monday.
• UNC's six national broadcasts on the networks lead all schools in the nation. No other school has more than four. Tar Heel national broadcasts include:
• February 24 at Pitt, 4 p.m. (ACCN)
• March 6 vs. Northwestern, Noon (ESPNU)
• March 20 at Boston College, 2 p.m. (ESPNU)
• April 9 at Syracuse, 2 p.m.(ESPNU)
• April 14 at Virginia, 8 p.m. (ACCN)
• April 21 vs. Duke, 8 p.m. (ACCN)

• All Carolina home games not listed above will be streamed live by ACC Network Extra, available on smart TVs and via the ESPN app.
• The ACC Network will air the entire 2022 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, and ESPNU will televise all games of the 2022 NCAA Championship weekend on May 27-29.

Fedor Wins AD Scholar-Athlete Award
• Each school year, Carolina Athletics honors members of each varsity team as Athletic Director's Scholar-Athletes, recognizing one from each UNC team for outstanding academic achievement.
• Amanda Fedor, a senior exercise & sport science major from Vestal, N.Y., was the women's lacrosse winner.

Last Year
• Carolina went 20-1 overall in 2021, including 9-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, won its fifth consecutive ACC championship and made its 12th appearance in the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Tournament final four.
• The Tar Heels made their ninth final four appearance in the last 12 NCAA Tournaments (2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021).

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Andie Aldave

Olivia Dirks

Amanda Fedor

Sam Geiersbach

Scottie Rose Growney

Elizabeth Hillman

Katie Hoeg

Ally Mastroianni

Taylor Moreno

Emily Nalls

Jamie Ortega

Emma Trenchard

Caitlyn Wurzburger

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University of North Carolina Athletics