Virginia women’s lacrosse faced off against North Carolina Wednesday in Charlotte, N.C. in a loaded ACC Quarterfinal matchup. The No. 6 Cavaliers (14-3, 6-3 ACC) — entering the match on a four-game winning streak — lost an overtime thriller to the No. 14 Tar Heels (10-6, 6-3 ACC) earlier in the year, which they avenged impressively with a thrilling 13-12 win Wednesday to book their spot in the ACC Semifinal.
The first quarter began with the Cavaliers drawing first blood, with junior attacker Kate Miller finding the back of the net just two minutes in and senior midfielder Mackenzie Hoeg scoring off a feed from Miller seconds later. However, North Carolina responded two minutes later and eventually tied the game when fifth-year midfielder Olivia Dirks drove down the middle of the lane and put in a goal right between sophomore goalkeeper Mel Josephson’s legs. Dirks’ goal made it two goals in a minute and 13 seconds for the Tar Heels.
Virginia did not remain complacent, responding soon afterwards when freshman midfielder Kate Galica made a cut to the middle and finished a feed from freshman attacker Jenna DiNardo to give the Cavaliers a one-goal advantage. Graduate attacker Ashley Humphrey drew North Carolina even yet again moments later, as each keeper had yet to make a save up until that point. The Tar Heels looked to lock down the X against Virginia, taking away their best playmaker in senior attacker Morgan Schwab and forcing the Cavaliers to attack from the front of the net.
That approach worked to near perfection for the latter half of the opening period, as Virginia was held without a goal for nearly eight minutes of play after Galica’s strike with nine minutes remaining. North Carolina used that time to score another goal — courtesy of senior attacker Caitlyn Wurzburger — and take a 4-3 lead with a touch under four minutes remaining. With 40 seconds left, a brilliant individual effort from Galica tied the game for the Cavaliers. The first quarter was a demonstration of the gritty, hard-fought game that would unfold over the next three quarters.
Two minutes into the second period, the Tar Heels would regain the lead off of a free position shot from sophomore midfielder Darcy Felter. DiNardo responded within 90 seconds with her first goal of the day and found her second soon afterwards with a strong take and finish that put Virgina up 6-5. Then, a shifty move from Miller that left her defender on the ground allowed her a wide open finish on net to make the lead two goals with 7:11 to play in the half. Despite North Carolina’s success in not allowing distribution from Schwab, the Cavaliers were still finding ways to score.
On the opposite side, Virginia also continued to play strong defense, keeping the Tar Heels scoreless for 7 minutes. That drought ended when Dirks scored again coming out of a timeout to halve the deficit. North Carolina later tied the game when graduate midfielder Kiki Shaw was called for a check to the head and awarded a yellow card, giving senior midfielder Alyssa Long an easy conversion off of a free-position shot to tie the game. Another free-position shot with 23 seconds left in the half put the Tar Heels up 8-7 headed into the half, having scored three unanswered goals.
The second half opened with Josephson able to stonewall two early attempts from Carolina, her second save leading to a Cavalier clearance and then a game-tying goal from Galica. The freshman’s conversion was the first goal of the second half, coming nearly six minutes in. The resulting draw control went in favor of the Tar Heels, which led to another goal to put them back ahead.
Graduate attacker Katia Carnevale, who had been unusually quiet for most of the game, made some noise with six minutes left, tying the game at nine points each with a strong individual effort. A minute later, Hoeg would follow off an assist from DiNardo to give Virginia the lead for the first time since the first half. With 1:27 remaining, Hoeg struck again, this time connecting with Miller to make the score 11-9. A last-second goal from Shaw ended the period with the Cavaliers up 12-9 and on a 4-0 scoring run.
The fourth quarter saw North Carolina desperately trying to regain their lead, but to no avail for the first five minutes, as the Virginia defense held strong. Eventually, with 10 minutes remaining, the Tar Heels were able to find the back of the net courtesy of Mottice. North Carolina struck again two minutes later — this one from senior midfielder Alyssa Long — to make it a one-goal game. The Cavaliers desperately clung to their lead in the ensuing minutes, playing tough defense and holding the ball for long possessions to drain the clock.
With 2:35 remaining, DiNardo hit a half-turnaround jump shot after a feed from Schwab to put the Cavalier lead back to two goals. Despite Galica winning the resulting draw control, a turnover from Alaimo would allow the Tar Heels to get the ball back and score via Humphrey with 48 seconds remaining. Graduate defender Bailey Horne won the ensuing draw control for North Carolina, giving sophomore attacker Kiley Mottice an opportunity to tie the game and send it to overtime in the game’s final seconds. However, Josephson stood strong in net and made one last huge save to send the Tar Heels packing and Virginia onto the next round.
This loss was the first time North Carolina has been eliminated from the quarterfinals in an ACC Tournament and acted as the perfect vengeance for the Cavaliers’ loss to the Tar Heels earlier in the season. Coach Sonia LaMonica emphasized the importance of the win, noting her team’s ability to stick together.
“Yeah, it was [a] truly exciting game with two great teams,” LaMonica said. “We had so many tremendous moments. The team really pulled together, particularly down the stretch defensively I thought we locked in, and offensively [we] had some really strong plays down the stretch to hold on for [a] great win. So, again, just the resiliency in the fight. And this group really had a breakthrough here today against what historically has been … a tough opponent.”
The Cavaliers will face Syracuse Friday, also in Charlotte, for a chance to advance to the ACC Championship. The game will see first draw at 5 p.m. and is set to be broadcasted on ACC Network.
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