The North Carolina women’s lacrosse team mounted two furious comebacks, survived a miracle last-second goal from Syracuse that sent the game to overtime, killed a two-man down penalty at the start of the overtime period and ended up coming out on top 15-14 to win the ACC title inside Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Va. on Sunday.
It was at times thrilling and at others shocking. North Carolina went from the emotional high of scoring what they thought was the championship winning 14th goal with 36.3 seconds left in the game to the heartbreak of allowing Syracuse to tie the game up as time expired in regulation.
But the Tar Heels overcame it all, winning their first ACC Tournament Championship since 2002. For the team, for Coach Jenny Levy and especially for the seniors, all the highs and lows were worth the opportunity to hoist that coveted championship trophy.
The Orange came out firing, jumping out to a 5-2 lead midway through the first half. The Tar Heels dug themselves in a hole but climbed out of it thanks to a few goals from Carly Reed. Reed’s fourth goal gave the Tar Heels the lead back with 8:21 until the break.
UNC wanted to get to the half with a lead, as they were 13-0 on the season when leading at the intermission coming into Sunday’s contest, but the score was tied heading into the half at 7-7.
Syracuse again came out hotter than the Heels to start the second half. The Orange stretched their lead to 11-8 on a goal from Erica Bodt. The Tar Heels had put themselves in another hole, and again, they would climb out of it, led this time by the seniors who were desperate to capture an ACC title.
First it was senior Sammy Jo Tracy, who scored to make it 11-9. Then senior Aly Messinger nabbed the 10th goal. Then senior Kelly Devlin tallied the 11th and 12th, both on free-position tries.
Even after that flurry of scoring, UNC was still down 13-12. But one more from Tracy tied the game up at 13-13 a short time later.
Now here is where the fun starts.
