No. 1 Tar Heels Visit No. 15 Virginia Thursday Night On ACCN

• The University of North Carolina women's lacrosse team (13-0, 6-0 ACC), the nation's top-ranked team in the IWLCA/Inside Lacrosse poll for the fourth week in a row, will visit No. 15 Virginia (7-7, 2-4) on Thursday night in a key Atlantic Coast Conference matchup.
• The ACC Network will broadcast the game with Leah Secondo (play-by-play), Sheehan Stanwick Burch (analyst) and Dana Boyle (analyst/reporter) on the call from Charlottesville, Va.
• Thursday's game will be the second of three consecutive nationally-televised games for the Tar Heels to close the regular season. ESPNU and the ACC Network are nationally televising six UNC regular season games in 2022, most of any school in the nation. The ACCN also will televise every game of the ACC Tournament later this month.
• In their last outing, the Tar Heels won a tough road game at fourth-ranked Syracuse, 14-12, last Saturday in the Carrier Dome. Jamie Ortega led all scorers with five goals and six points in the win, earning co-ACC Offensive Player of the Week honors.

Tar Heel Hot Streaks
Carolina has:
• Won 39 consecutive regular season games (last loss: 7-9, 3/31/19 at Notre Dame)
• Won 29 consecutive home games (last loss: 8-14, 3/23/19 vs. Boston College)
• Won 17 consecutive road games (last loss: 7-9, 3/31/19 at Notre Dame)
• Won 40 of its last 41 games
• Won 48 of its last 50 games
• Won five consecutive ACC Tournament titles—the second-longest streak in the event's history (behind Maryland's six straight from 2009-14)
• Won 15 consecutive ACC Tournament games—the longest streak in the history of the tournament
• Won nine ACC regular season championships, including four of the last six (beginning in 2015)

Series History vs. the Cavaliers
• Carolina leads the all-time series with Virginia, 30-13. The Tar Heels have won 19 of the last 20 games in the series, including 10 in a row.
• Last year, the Tar Heels beat the Cavaliers twice in Chapel Hill—20-8 on April 16 and 15-4 on April 18,
• In 2020, top-ranked North Carolina scored eight of the game's final nine goals to rally for an 18-12 win over seventh-ranked Virginia in Charlottesville. Katie Hoeg paced the Tar Heels in the back-and-forth affair, scoring four goals and dishing out two assists. Jamie Ortega had a game-high five goals.
• On March 10, 2018. Ortega, then a freshman, finished with zero points, marking the only time in 82 career games she's been held without a point.
• Carolina head coach Jenny Levy played at Virginia from 1988-92, where she was a teammate of UVA head coach Julie Myers. Levy, then known as Jenny Slingluff, was a two-time first-team All-America attacker. She was also the Most Outstanding Attacker of the 1991 NCAA Tournament, leading the Cavaliers to their first-ever NCAA championship by scoring three goals in the title game.

Tar Heel Tidbits
Team
• Scoring Run: Carolina has scored 10 or more goals in 49 of the last 50 games (a run that began on April 6, 2019). The exception was the 2021 ACC Tournament final vs. Syracuse (nine).
• UNC has won 40 of its last 41 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 48 of its last 50 games overall (a run that began on April 6, 2019). The only two Tar Heel losses during the last 50 games came to Boston College in the 2019 and 2021 NCAA Tournament semifinals.
• The Tar Heels have won 39 consecutive regular season games.
• Carolina has won 29 home games in a row, the longest home winning streak in school history.
• UNC has won 17 consecutive road games, the longest road winning streak in school history.
• Among the NCAA's Best: Carolina leads the nation in assists per game and points per game, is second nationally in scoring margin and is third in scoring offense and shooting percentage.
• The 2022 Tar Heels are on pace to be the highest-scoring team in team history. Carolina is averaging 17.77 goals per game this season, ranking third 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 12 of 13 games this season and has scored 20 or more six times.
• The Tar Heels are allowing 8.92 goals per game in 2022, the ACC's best and the nation's ninth-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.
• With a long list of recent All-America defenders in Chapel Hill under the tutelege of defensive coordinator Phil Barnes, Carolina's defense has held its opponents to single-digit goals in 30 of its last 40 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, is third in the ACC and is 14th in the nation in shooting percentage at .611.
• 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.
• Graduate transfer Sam Geiersbach (Richmond) has 16 goals and 17 assists in the last nine games, providing instant offense off the bench.
• Scottie Rose Growney is third on the team with 31 goals and 45 points.
• Growney has scored at least two goals in 12 of 13 games this season.
• Caitlyn Wurzburger leads the team with 28 assists and is second with 53 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 and earned ACC Defensive Player of the Week honors. Nalls leads UNC with 16 caused turnovers and 31 ground balls and is second with 41 draw controls.
• Head coach Jenny Levy has more wins (record of 386-118) and more ACC regular season wins (94-33) than any coach in Atlantic Coast Conference history.

#1 In The National Polls
• Carolina is ranked No.1 in the ILWomen/IWLCA rankings for the fourth week in a row. UNC took over the top spot on March 21 after its win at previously-top-ranked Boston College.
• UNC had been ranked No. 2 nationally in every poll this season prior to winning at BC.

Tar Heels Streaking at Dorrance
• Carolina has won 29 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 62-6 in its last 68 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).

Weekly ACC Honor For Ortega After Win Over Syracuse
• Jamie Ortega and Pitt graduate attacker Paige Petty were named ACC Co-Offensive Players of the Week, the Atlantic Coast Conference announced on April 12. Pitt graduate goalie Paulina DiFatta was selected the Defensive Player of the Week.
• Ortega scored a game-high five goals, including three in the decisive second half, as the top-ranked Tar Heels won 14-12 at No. 4 Syracuse on Saturday in a meeting of ACC unbeaten teams.
• The Orange led, 8-7, early in the third quarter before Ortega led a 4-0 UNC run with a pair of goals, turning a one-goal deficit into a three-goal lead in just over three minutes of game action. Ortega also scored the game's final goal with 1:36 remaining in the fourth quarter, icing the win and ending a brief SU rally that had cut the UNC lead from 13-10 to 13-12.

ACC & National Weekly Honors For Moreno
• Goalie Taylor Moreno was selected the IWLCA and ACC Defensive Player of the Week as the conference announced weekly women's lacrosse honors on April 5.
• Named ACC Defensive Player of the Week for the third time this year, Moreno made a season-high 16 saves, including two on one spectacular sequence that earned her a SportsCenter Top 10 berth, in leading a 15-7 Tar Heel win over Notre Dame.

Ortega Rewriting Record Books
• Attacker Jamie Ortega is rewriting the UNC, ACC and NCAA record books in 2022 and seems almost certain to earn All-America honors for a fifth consecutive season.
• Ortega is third in NCAA history with 424 points, 21 behind second place and all-time ACC leader Jen Adams of Maryland (1998-2001), who had 445.
• Ortega is Carolina's career leader in goals and points and is third in school history in assists.
• Ortega broke the UNC career points record in her 72nd career game, 17 games (almost a full season) fewer than it took Katie Hoeg to set the record.
• Ortega has 424 points in 82 career games for a UNC-record 5.17 points per game. Katie Hoeg had 370 points in 89 games (4.16 ppg).

• Ortega needs:
- 22 points to become the ACC's career points leader (she has 424; record is 445 by Jen Adams of Maryland)
- 22 points to pass Adams for second place in NCAA history in career points.

• Ortega has scored at least one goal in 47 consecutive games.
• Ortega has scored multiple goals in 73 of 82 career games (89.0 percent).
• Her 311 career goals are third in NCAA history and second in ACC annals. Current BC attacker Charlotte North is first in ACC history with 328 goals.----prior to Harvard
• Ortega has scored five or more goals 31 times in 82 career games (a whopping 37.8 percent).
• Ortega has tallied at least one point in 76 consecutive games and 81 of 82 in her career.
• 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.
• She leads Carolina with 87 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

Moreno Snaps UNC Career Wins Record
• Graduate student goalie Taylor Moreno has a career record of 61-6 in the cage and became Carolina's all-time leader in goalie wins on Feb. 16 against Furman.
• Moreno eclipsed the wins record of Caylee Waters (2014-17), who had 49 career victories. Waters is a volunteer assistant coach for the 2022 Tar Heels.
• Moreno has started 67 consecutive games in the cage for the Tar Heels, beginning with the final five games of the 2018 season.
• Moreno leads the ACC in save percentage and goals against average.
• Moreno has four games with 10+ saves this season, including a season-high 16 (one off her career high of 17) in the April 2 win over Notre Dame.
• Moreno has 21 career games with 11 or more saves, including five in 2021 and four in 2022.
• Moreno is a three-time ACC Defensive Player of the Week and won IWLCA National Defensive Player of the Week honors on April 5.
• 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.

Tar Heels in the National Spotlight
• Carolina is among college lacrosse's showcase programs, having been among the nation's winningest programs on the field for years, and the Tar Heels annually are one of the nation's highest-profile programs in terms of media exposure and fan attendance.
• Two of the top three and four of the top 10 NCAA women's lacrosse games with the highest attendance this season have involved the Tar Heels.
• Carolina ranks second in the nation in total 2022 home attendance behind only Syracuse.
• Six UNC games will be televised nationally by ESPNU and the ACC Network in 2022.
• 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)

• 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.

ILWomen Midseason All-America Teams Include Eight Tar Heels
• Inside Lacrosse named its 2022 Midseason All-America Teams in the final days of March, and the teams included eight Tar Heels:
First team: Jamie Ortega, Ally Mastroianni, Emma Trenchard
Third team: Caitlyn Wurzburger, Emily Nalls, Taylor Moreno
Honorable Mention: Scottie Rose Growney, Andie Aldave

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.

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).

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

Katie Hoeg

Ally Mastroianni

Taylor Moreno

Emily Nalls

Jamie Ortega

Emma Trenchard

Caitlyn Wurzburger

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University of North Carolina Athletics