Six in a row! Women’s lacrosse wins ACC title again
Playing in the ACC Championship game for the seventh straight year and 11th time in the last 12 years, North Carolina won its 18th consecutive ACC Tournament game, an ACC record.
Top-ranked North Carolina rallied from a three-goal deficit and used a dominating second-half performance to secure its sixth consecutive ACC championship, as the Tar Heels topped second-ranked Boston College, 16-9, in the 2022 ACC Championship game on a rainy Saturday evening at Dorrance Field.
Carolina outscored Boston College 12-3 in the second half, including an 11-0 run.
Playing in the ACC Championship game for the seventh straight year and 11th time in the last 12 years, North Carolina (18-0) won its 18th consecutive ACC Tournament game, an ACC record. The Tar Heels’ total of six straight crowns matches an ACC women’s lacrosse record, set by Maryland from 2009-14.
Carolina is 67-6 in its last 73 games against ACC opponents (regular season and postseason).
Head coach Jenny Levy has led the Tar Heels to seven ACC titles in the program’s history, passing Maryland’s Cathy Reese for most in conference history. Carolina’s seven championships are second-most in the event’s history behind Maryland’s 11.
Carolina attacker Jamie Ortega was named the tournament MVP after scoring nine points (four goals, five assists) Saturday while breaking the ACC’s career points record. Named tournament MVP for the second time (2019), Ortega set a championship game record with five assists and matched the title game record with nine points.
Scottie Rose Growney had four goals, while Ally Mastroianni and Andie Aldave recorded hat tricks.
Boston College’s Charlotte North tied the NCAA career goals record with a hat trick Saturday. She matched Courtney Murphy of Stony Brook (341) for the NCAA all-time record.
It was a game of two halves. Boston College (16-3) controlled much of the first half and took a 6-3 lead with 25 seconds left in the half on North’s second goal of the game. The Eagles had all of the momentum, but Carolina won the ensuing draw control and went right down the field, getting a key goal from Growney with just four seconds left to go into the halftime break down only two, 6-4. Carolina’s four first-half goals were a season low.
That goal sparked a string of 11 straight scores for the Tar Heels. Carolina came out sizzling in the second half, scoring four goals in the first 4:17 to take an 8-6 advantage and prompt Boston College to take a timeout. The first goal came from Ortega with 13:54 remaining, breaking the ACC’s career points record of 445, held by Maryland’s Jen Adams.
Carolina’s defense held the potent Boston College offense without a goal for 19 minutes, 23 seconds, spanning the last 23 seconds of the second quarter into the fourth quarter. In that span, the Carolina lead ballooned to eight, 14-6, capped by Ortega’s fourth goal of the game.
Carolina’s Taylor Moreno went the distance in goal, improving to 66-6 in her career while making nine saves. Tar Heel three-time All-America Emma Trenchard was stellar on defense, marking North throughout the game and helping limit the 2021 Tewaaraton Award winner to 3 of 12 shooting.
Mastroianni helped turn the tide of the game early in the second half by repeatedly winning draws, finishing with a game-high 11 while also adding three goals and an assist.
The selection show for the 2022 NCAA Championship is slated for 9 p.m. Sunday on ESPNU.
Read more at GoHeels.com
