WLAX Stays Perfect With Big Win Over Notre Dame

Saturday, April 2

Chapel Hill

11 AM

North Carolina

Notre Dame

Jamie Ortega scored six goals to lead UNC to a 15-7 win over Notre Dame.

Photo by: ANTHONY SORBELLINI

April 2, 2022 | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

CHAPEL HILL – The top-ranked North Carolina women's lacrosse team ran its season record to 12-0 on Saturday with a 15-7 win over No. 15 Notre Dame at Dorrance Field. The Tar Heels, 5-0 in Atlantic Coast Conference play, got goals from seven different players in the victory.

Jamie Ortega led the way with six goals, five of them after halftime. Carolina led 5-2 at the break then outscored the Fighting Irish 7-0 in the third quarter to pull away. Ortega scored the first two and finished with a hat trick in the period, as UNC led 12-2 heading into the fourth quarter.

UNC's Taylor Moreno played all 60 minutes in goal and made 16 saves, including two on one acrobatic possession in which she made the second while sitting on the ground.

Jackie Wolak paced Notre Dame (4-7, 1-4 ACC) with three goals from and Bridget Deehan made 16 saves for the Irish.

Carolina led 2-0 after a low scoring first quarter that saw Deehan make seven saves and Moreno five. After Notre Dame scored midway through the second quarter to make it a one-goal game, UNC scored three in a row in a span of just over two minutes to again create some breathing room for the hosts. Wolak's first goal of the game came with 25 seconds to play before halftime to make it 5-2 Carolina.

After the Tar Heels' third-quarter run – fueled by an 8-0 advantage on draw controls – made it a 10-goal margin, Notre Dame scored five times in the final period, balanced by three goals from UNC.

"They're always very emotional and they have a great goalie in Bridget Deehan," UNC coach Jenny Levy said. "I thought we had to work through that early in the game, handling the emotion and matching intensity. Some looks we normally get, she's making great saves on, so I thought it challenged us in a really good way.

"I thought our defense was amazing today – Taylor Moreno anchored it, she was incredible. I thought the unit as a whole was really effective.

"Just a total team effort. Ally (Mastroianni) was amazing on the draw in the third quarter – I thought that was a difference-maker, too. Obviously, possessions are key. They put a lot of pressure on our defense and we handled it."

Next up for the Tar Heels is a trip to Syracuse. Carolina travels to take on the Orange next Saturday. UNC's next home game is on April 21, a Thursday night matchup with Duke to cap the regular season.