Virginia women's lacrosse faced North Carolina in a loaded ACC quarterfinal match Wednesday in Charlotte, North Carolina. The 6th place Cavaliers (14-3, 6-3 ACC), who entered the game on a four-game winning streak, were defeated by the 14th place Tar Heels (10-6, 6-3 ACC) in a thriller overtime game early on. Defeated. That year, they earned their revenge with a thrilling 13-12 win on Wednesday, clinching a spot in the ACC semifinals.
The first quarter started with the Cavaliers taking the lead, with junior attacker Kate Miller finding the back of the net just two minutes into the game, followed by senior midfielder Mackenzie Hogue seconds later on a feed from Miller. But North Carolina counterattacked two minutes later, eventually tying the game when fifth-year midfielder Olivia Dirks ran down the middle of the lane and put a goal between the legs of sophomore goalie Mel Josephson. I caught up. Dirks' goal gave the Tar Heels two points in 1:13.
Virginia wasn't satisfied, and soon after, freshman midfielder Kate Garica cut in up the middle and finished off a feed from freshman attacker Jenna DiNardo to give the Cavaliers a one-point advantage. Graduate attacker Ashley Humphrey tied North Carolina again shortly after, as each keeper had yet to make a save to that point. The Tar Heels tried to contain the X against Virginia, taking away their best playmaker in senior attacker Morgan Schwab and forcing the Cavaliers to attack from in front of the net.
That approach worked almost perfectly in the early half, and after Garica's goal with nine minutes left, Virginia went scoreless for nearly eight minutes of play. North Carolina took advantage of that time and scored another goal courtesy of senior attacker Caitlin Wurtzberger, taking a 4-3 lead with less than four minutes left. With 40 seconds left, the Cavaliers tied the game thanks to a great individual skill from Garica. The first quarter was a demonstration of the gritty, hard-fought game that would unfold over his next three quarters.
Two minutes into the second period, the Tarheels regained the lead on a free-position shot by sophomore midfielder Darcy Felter. DiNardo responded with his first goal of the day within 90 seconds, then scored his second shortly after with a strong shot and finish to put Virginia up 6-5. Then, a subtle move by Miller left a defender on the ground and allowed a wide-open finish to the net for a two-point lead with 7:11 left in the first half. Despite North Carolina's success in not allowing pitches from Schwab, the Cavaliers were still looking for ways to score.
On the other side, Virginia continued to play solid defense, holding the Tarheels scoreless for seven minutes. The drought ended when the Dirks scored again out of a timeout to cut the deficit in half. North Carolina later tied the game with graduate midfielder Kiki Shaw receiving a yellow card for a check to the head and senior midfielder Alyssa Long converting an easy shot from free position. Another free-position shot with 23 seconds left in the first half gave the Tar Heels a header, 8-7, and three scoreless goals.
The second half began with Josephson being able to block two of Carolina's early attempts, the second save leading to a Cavalier clearance, and then Garica's tying goal. The freshman's conversion was his first goal nearly six minutes into the second half. The resulting draw control favored the Tar Heels, allowing them to score more goals and regain the lead.
Graduate attacker Katia Carnevale, who was uncharacteristically quiet for much of the game, made some noise with six minutes remaining, with a strong individual performance to tie the game at nine points. A minute later, Hogue scored a goal off an assist from DiNardo, giving Virginia the lead for the first time since the first half. With 1:27 left, Hogue scored again, this time connecting with Miller to make the score 11-9. Shaw's last two goals gave the Cavaliers a 12-9 lead and they ended the period on a 4-0 scoring run.
North Carolina desperately tried to regain the lead in the fourth quarter, but the first five minutes were wasted as Virginia's defense held tight. Finally, with 10 minutes remaining, the Heels were able to find the back of the net courtesy of Motis. North Carolina scored again two minutes later, this time by senior midfielder Alyssa Long, to bring the game to one point. The Cavaliers desperately held on to their lead over the next few minutes, playing tough defense and holding onto the ball for long periods of time, draining the clock.
With 2:35 remaining, DiNardo took a feed from Schwab and hit a half-turn jump shot to push the Cavaliers' lead back to two points. Despite Garica winning the draw control, an Alaimo turnover gave the Tarheels the ball back and they scored through Humphrey with 48 seconds left. North Carolina graduate defenseman Bailey Horn won control of the ensuing draw, giving sophomore attacker Kylie Motis a chance to tie the game and send the game into overtime in the final minutes. But Josephson stood strong at the net and made a big save at the end to keep the Tar Heels together and advance Virginia to the next round.
The loss marked the first time North Carolina State was eliminated from the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament and was the perfect revenge for the Cavaliers' loss to the Tar Heels earlier in the season. Coach Sonia Lamonica noted the team's ability to come together and stressed the importance of the win.
“Yes, it was. [a] It's a really exciting game between two great teams,” Lamonica said. “We had a lot of great moments. I thought the team really came together, especially defensively, and offensively we got really good. [we] We had some really strong plays towards the end and were able to hold on. [a] Great victory. Again, just resilience in battle. And this group really broke through here today against a historically tough opponent. ”
The Cavaliers will play Syracuse on Friday, also in Charlotte, for a chance to advance to the ACC Championship. The game is scheduled to be broadcast on the ACC Network with the first tie taking place at 5 p.m.