The top-seeded Carolina women’s lacrosse team overcame a strong effort from second-seeded Stanford to repeat as ACC Tournament champions with a 12-8 win on Sunday.
The Cardinal (15-4) scored the first two goals of the game before the Tar Heels (16-1) rattled off four straight to take a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. UNC led 4-3 after the first quarter, 8-5 at halftime, and 11-6 after the third quarter en route to its ninth ACC Tournament title.
Stanford outshot Carolina 27-23, but the Tar Heels finished
with a 20-13 edge in shots on goal. The Cardinal’s eight goals matched its fewest of the season. Additionally, UNC won the draw control battle 13-7 and won the ground ball battle 12-11. Both teams committed 12 turnovers.
Sophomore Chloe Humphrey led all scorers with four goals and two assists, while her classmates Kate Levy and Addison Pattillo netted three goals apiece. Humphrey, who repeated as tournament MVP, broke her own program record for goals in a season, reaching 92 with her final tally in the third quarter. Humphrey scored 90 goals last year, well over the previous mark of 82. This year, she also set an ACC Tournament record with 21 points (13 goals, eight assists) in Carolina’s three games.
Sophomore Betty Nelson got the start in goal for the Tar Heels and stopped three of eight shots. Classmate Lexi Zenk relieved her at halftime–as she has for UNC’s last seven games–and stopped two of five shots.
The Tar Heels will learn their path to back-to-back national championships when the NCAA Tournament bracket is revealed on May 3. The selection show will start at 9:00 PM ET on ESPNU.
