The No. 2 North Carolina women’s lacrosse team defeated No. 15 Notre Dame, 15-7, in a Saturday morning bout at Dorrance Stadium.
What happened?
The first quarter saw lots of good shots, but even better saves from both goalkeepers. Over 10 minutes into the game, UNC’s Taylor Moreno and Notre Dame’s Bridget Deehan both had four saves with no goals allowed.
UNC’s fifth-year attacker Scottie Rose Growney was the one to break the standoff with a back-handed goal from point blank range. As time ran out in the first period, junior midfielder Olivia Dirks found sophomore Caitlyn Wurzburger for a fall-away shot that found the back of the net, giving UNC a 2-0 lead.
The defensive grudge match continued until Notre Dame’s Alexandra McHugh netted an unassisted goal late into the second quarter. UNC graduate captain Ally Mastroianni was right there with the answer though, winning the draw and immediately taking it to the goal, scoring unassisted.
From there, UNC’s offense, which had been relatively quiet for most of the game, caught fire. Quick goals from junior Nicole Humphrey and fifth-year Jamie Ortega followed Mastroianni’s score, and suddenly UNC was up 5-1 and solidly in control of the game. Notre Dame’s Jackie Wolak found the back of the net with 25 seconds to go in the half, and the Tar Heels went into the half leading, 5-2.
The second half opened with back-to-back goals from Ortega as the Tar Heels began to pull away. Successive goals from Sam Geiersbach, Growney, Aldave, Ortega again, then Geiersbach again piled onto the lead with no response from the Fighting Irish. The third quarter ended with UNC leading, 12-2.
Who stood out?
Taylor Moreno put on a goalkeeping exhibition, notching 16 saves while holding a Notre Dame team that averages nearly 15 goals per game to just seven.
