UNC women’s lacrosse holds off Boston College, wins Division I national championship
.JPG "Boston College attack Caitlynn Mossman, second from right, scores the first goal against North Carolina during the NCAA college Division 1 women’s lacrosse championship in Baltimore, Sunday, May 29, 2022. (Vincent Alban/The Baltimore Sun via AP)")
With the best player in women’s college lacrosse bearing down on her, UNC goalie Taylor Moreno made her most critical save of the season Sunday when it mattered most.
The Tar Heels were clinging to a one-goal lead over Boston College with under four minutes to play in the Division I national title game when Charlotte North — widely regarded as the best player in the country and the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer — caught the ball on the left side of the cage, turned and fired. Moreno tracked the ball well and instinctively deflected the shot aside.
A minute later, after collecting the ground ball, UNC worked back into the BC zone. Scottie Rose Growney capped the sequence with a goal from the top of the goal crease to push UNC’s lead to a pair of goals, enough to lift the Tar Heels to a 12-11 win over the Eagles, capping a perfect season at 22-0.
As it turned out, the insurance goal was necessary. BC’s Cassidy Weeks picked a corner on Moreno with 14.9 seconds to play in regulation.
The championship is North Carolina’s first since 2016.
Sam Geiersbach led the way for the Tar Heels with three goals. Ally Mastroianni and Jamie Ortega added two goals each.
North led all players with four goals for the Eagles, bringing her season total to 92. Cassidy Weeks added three more for the Eagles, who won last year’s national title after topping UNC in the semifinals.
Third quarter tight
The Eagles took their first lead of the game in the third quarter, stifling the Heels’ offense with suffocating defense while scoring three times to erase their two-goal halftime deficit.
Jenn Medjid started things off quickly for BC with her 74th of the season with 11:40 to play in the frame. The teams played evenly and both keepers came up with solid saves though the next seven minutes of play, until North took matters into her own hands for the Eagles. The team’s top scorer found the net twice, including one on a woman-up situation that she’d drawn with a hard drive to the net. Her pair gave BC an 8-7 lead with 2:13 to play in the third, the team’s first lead of the day.
UNC recovered and scored its lone goal of the third quarter with 48 seconds on the clock when Mastroianni potted her 48th of the year after a series of dodges through traffic after a ground ball pickup on a rebound.
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Heels control first half
UNC took a 5-2 lead on Boston College through the first quarter, electing to play from ahead in the final after trailing and then completing a miraculous comeback in the semifinal round.
Geiersbach had a pair of goals to give the Heels a 2-0 lead, and North replied in kind for the Eagles to even things at two. UNC closed the first on a 3-0 run, with a goal each from Andie Aldave, Mastroianni and Olivia Dirks.
BC clawed back in the second to pull within a pair at the half. Weeks struck twice for the Eagles and Medjid added another, while Ortega and Caitlyn Wurzburger talled for the Tar Heels.
The teams traded chances throughout the opening half, with both goalies getting in on the action. BC’s Rachel Hall stopped two shots in the opening half, while Moreno turned back six BC shots.
This story was originally published May 29, 2022 at 2:29 PM.