UNC women's lacrosse finishes 3-0 while men's team goes 1-2 over Spring Break

Both the North Carolina men’s and women’s lacrosse teams played three games over Spring Break. Neither took much of a road trip, as all six games over the last two weeks were in Chapel Hill. However, the men’s and women’s teams had varying levels of success against their opponents.

Tough stretch

The men’s team began spring break with a matchup against Hofstra on March 11. UNC came into the game with just one loss, which came on Feb. 25 against Johns Hopkins. But the Pride scored four straight goals in the second half and defeated the Tar Heels at Fetzer Field by a final score of 11-9.

The Tar Heels didn’t have to wait long until getting back out onto the field. Richmond came into town two days later, but again, UNC was left disappointed. This time the loss was even closer — a 6-5 defeat. North Carolina was up 5-3 heading into the fourth quarter, but the Spiders scored three unanswered goals in the final period to win.

The Tar Heels rebounded with a 17-6 destruction of Dartmouth on Saturday. The win was head coach Joe Breschi’s 99th win at UNC.

This season, Chris Cloutier and Luke Goldstock are leading in goals for the Tar Heels, just as they did last season. Cloutier has 17 goals to lead the team, while Goldstock has 20 points including 16 goals and four assists. Andy Matthews has stepped into the role of main distributor on the team — his 15 assists are far and away the most for the Tar Heels.

North Carolina has one non-conference game left, an NCAA title game rematch against Maryland on Saturday, before a four-game conference slate to wrap up the regular season.

Spring break sweep

The UNC women’s lacrosse team opened up ACC play with a 21-11 explosion over Virginia on March 11. The 21 goals — a season-high — were a team effort. Molly Hendrick had six goals and Marie McCool and Sammy Jo Tracy each had four. Seven different Tar Heels scored as well.

Three days later, on March 14, Elon also offered limited resistance against a high-powered North Carolina offensive attack. UNC won 15-5, with 10 assists on the 15 goals scored.

The Tar Heels extended their winning streak to five games, and won their third game of the break, with a 17-12 victory over Northwestern on Sunday.

Ela Hazar leads the team in points with 36. She also leads in assists with 21 — no other player has more than 12.

UNC has its second conference game on March 25 when Boston College comes to Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels then finish out their season with four of its final five games coming on the road.

@bauman_john

sports@dailytarheel.com