Trailing 11-9 against No. 8 seed Stony Brook with just under nine minutes left on the clock Saturday afternoon at Dorrance Field, the top-ranked UNC women’s lacrosse team shifted into overdrive and reeled off five straight goals to win the NCAA Quarterfinal game 14-11 and clinch a spot in the Final Four.

Scottie Rose Growney and Jamie Ortega scored the first two goals of the run to tie the game, while Tayler Warehim netted the eventual game-winner with 4:19 remaining.

UNC (20-0) then received insurance goals from Ally Mastroianni and Katie Hoeg to seal the deal on a wild comeback victory for a team that has largely steamrolled through the season to this point.

Ortega led the team with four goals and three assists in the game, with Hoeg right behind with a goal and five assists. Warehime added three goals and Caitlyn Wurzburger chipped in two of her own.

UNC led 6-4 at halftime on Sunday, but Stony Brook (16-3) came out of the break and scored seven of the next 10 goals to go ahead by two heading into the final minutes preceding the Tar Heel rally.

Stony Brook ends the season with three total losses, two of which came to UNC–first in the season opener back on Feb. 14 and now in the season finale as part of the NCAA Tournament.

The Tar Heels extended their program-record winning streak to 27 games with the win.

“It didn’t surprise me that it was close, because I anticipated that based on how their defense plays and what their offense does,” UNC head coach Jenny Levy said afterwards. “I’m really proud of the way my upperclassmen stepped up for us. At eight minutes, down by two [goals], I was curious to see how we’d handle it. We work on situations all the time in practice, so I knew we had it in us. We just had to buckle down and get it done.”

Up Next:

The Tar Heels will head to Towson, Maryland next, where they will take on No. 4 seed Boston College in the semifinals on Friday, May 28 at noon. UNC defeated the Eagles 21-9 in their previous meeting back on March 6.

 

Photo via UNC Athletics

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