Sam Forrest

Position:
Defender
Height:
5-5
Class:
Redshirt Junior
Hometown:
Glastonbury, Conn.
High School:
Glastonbury

CAREER HONORS

2025 Pan-American Women's Lacrosse Gold Medalist
2025 IWLCA Defender of the Year
2025 Tewaaraton Top 25 Nominee
2025 First-Team All-American (Nike Lacrosse Media)
2025 Second-Team All-American (IWLCA, USA Lacrosse)
2025 IWLCA First-Team All-South Region
2025 NCAA All-Tournament Team
2025 First-Team All-ACC
John Lotz Award, 2024 RAMMYs
2024 All-ACC Academic Team

CAREER HIGHS

Caused Turnovers: 4 at Florida, 2/15/25
Ground Balls: 5 vs. Florida, 5/23/25
Draw Controls: 2 vs. Furman, 2/16/22

SUMMER (2025) – Won a gold medal with Team USA at the Pan-American Women's Lacrosse Championships in Auburndale, Fla. ... Tied for third on the team with five groundballs.

R-JUNIOR (2025) – Started all 22 games on defense ... Tabbed IWLCA Defender of the Year ... Named first-team All-America by Nike Lacrosse Media .. Earned second-team All-America honors from the IWLCA and USA Lacrosse ... Was a Tewaaraton Top 25 Nominee ... Tabbed IWLCA first-team All-South Region ... Named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team ... A first-team All-ACC performer ... Tallied 26 groundballs, 18 caused turnovers and four draw controls, while scoring two goals ... One ground ball, one draw control vs. #18 James Madison in season opener ... First career goal at Liberty, also with one ground ball and one caused turnover ... ACC Defensive Player of the Week on Feb. 11 ... Four ground balls and four caused turnovers at #5 Florida ... Two ground balls vs. #4 Syracuse ... Two caused turnovers, one ground ball, one draw control at Louisville ... Added to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List ... One ground ball, one caused turnover vs. #14 Virginia ... One ground ball, one caused turnover vs. #9 Clemson ... One ground ball and one draw control at Virginia Tech ... A ground ball and two caused turnovers at #3 Northwestern ... One caused turnover at #20 Notre Dame ... A caused turnover and a draw control at ECU ... One caused turnover vs. Cal ... One groundball at #10 Duke ... One groundball vs. Virginia Tech in the ACC Quarters ... One goal, one groundball and one caused turnover vs. #2 Boston College in the ACC Final ... A groundball and two caused turnovers against #14 Clemson in the NCAA Second Round ... Five groundballs against #4 Florida in the NCAA Semis ... A caused turnover vs. #3 Northwestern in the NCAA Championship game.

R-SOPHOMORE (2024) – Saw action in 14 games with 12 spots in the starting lineup … First appearance back from injury on Feb. 17 vs. #12 Florida … First career start at #15 Virginia on Feb. 23 … Finished the year with seven ground balls and 11 caused turnovers … Had two ground balls and two caused turnovers vs. Louisville on March 23 ... Career-high three caused turnovers vs. Virginia Tech on April 6 ... Matched her career-high two ground balls at Pitt on April 13, also with two caused turnovers … Forced a pair of turnovers vs. #25 Duke on April 18 … Won the John Lotz Award at the RAMMY Awards ... Named to the All-ACC Academic Team.

SOPHOMORE (2023) – Came off the bench in the first two games of the year before an injury cut her season short.

FRESHMAN (2022) – Saw action in eight games during her first season in Chapel Hill … UNC debut came against Furman on Feb. 16 where she had two draw controls and one ground ball … Recorded a ground ball vs. Duke on April 21 … Had one draw control each against Virginia Tech (March 26), Pitt (March 28) and Virginia (May 15).

HIGH SCHOOL – Ranked No. 24 for incoming freshmen in the nation for the 2022 season by Inside Lacrosse ... Two-time All-American … Played in the Under Armour All-America Senior Game … Was on the U.S. U15 Development Team … Tallied 181 career goals in three seasons for coach Kris Cofiell at Glastonbury High School … Had a 71% scoring average as a senior with 75 goals, also recording 26 assists, 36 ground balls, 62 caused turnovers and 80 draw controls in 2021 … Named All-State as a freshman … Tabbed Max Preps 2020-21 Connecticut Female Athlete of the Year … Also played soccer and ran indoor track in high school … Team captain in soccer, indoor track and lacrosse as a senior … Earned All-America honors in soccer as a senior ... All-time leading scorer for soccer at Glastonbury … Named soccer’s MVP after leading her team to the state championship in 2019 … Three-time All-New England and two-time New England champion for indoor track … Three-time state champion in track and three-time school record holder … Also played club lacrosse for CT Dodgers … Member of National Honor Society, Spanish National Honor Society and Science National Honor Society … Earned Seal of Biliteracy in Spanish … High honor roll student.

PERSONAL – Samantha Lynne Forrest is the daughter of Pamela and Jon Forrest … Goes by Sam … Birthday is December 17 … Was adopted from Kalispell, Montana … Bilingual in English and Spanish … Majoring in communications with a minor in Spanish ... Chose UNC because it was always her dream school for both academics and athletics.