No. 2 UNC women's lacrosse defeats No. 6 Northwestern on Sunday, 20-9

Huge second and fourth quarters propel the No. 2 UNC women's lacrosse team (6-0) to a dominant 20-9 win over No. 6 Northwestern (4-2) as eight Tar Heels score goals.

What happened?

UNC kicked off the scoring early as senior Jamie Ortega found a cutting Andie Aldave who ripped the ball into the net for the 1-0 lead. Graduate attacker Sam Geiersbach added on another goal midway through the first period for the Tar Heels, but fouls on defense set up all three goals for Northwestern that put UNC down 3-2.

North Carolina came out firing on all cylinders in the second quarter with a six goal surge while graduate goalkeeper Taylor Moreno made a couple key saves to hold Northwestern to just one goal in the period.

Geiersbach led the charge by scoring two more goals to complete her first half hat trick along with goals from Ortega, junior Olivia Dirks and junior Nicole Humphrey to take a 8-4 lead heading into the break.

After Northwestern struck first in the third, graduate midfielder Ally Mastroianni scored a beautiful unassisted goal to keep the Tar Heels ahead. Redshirt-junior midfielder Elizabeth Hillman responded to another Wildcat goal, and Dirks scored again to get her hat trick to increase UNC’s lead to five goals.

UNC put the game away for good in the fourth with an astounding nine goals from five different Tar Heels, including three from Mastroianni to blow out Northwestern 20-9.

Who stood out? 

Geiersbach was phenomenal for North Carolina, scoring a hat trick in the first half to headline her five goal, one assist performance. She is now up to 11 goals on the season.

Mastroianni scored four goals in the second half and dished out one assist, playing a large part in putting the game out of reach for the Wildcats.

Dirks also scored a hat trick for the Tar Heels and played a huge role in UNC’s surge in the second quarter.

On defense, Moreno was a force to be reckoned with in net saving 11 shots, shutting down Northwestern for large stretches of the game to keep North Carolina on the attack. 

When was it decided?

UNC’s dominant second quarter put them in front for good, outscoring the Wildcats 6-1 after being down a goal heading into the period.

Ortega kicked off the run with an unassisted goal where she showed off her elite stick skills to get to the goal.

Dirks and Geiersbach capitalized on several forced Northwestern turnovers from UNC’s defense to extend their lead. Then to cap off the streak, Moreno made a great save off a free position shot which turned into another goal on the other end from Humphrey to complete the 6-0 run.

UNC never looked back as the lead never got closer than a three-goal margin, and they comfortably ran away with the game with a flurry of goals in the fourth quarter to sink Northwestern.

Why does it matter?

For a team that has its eyes set on a national championship, another big win against a top-ten ranked opponent further proves that UNC has the pieces to win it all in May.

UNC’s balanced attack was shown once again on Sunday, with eight different players scoring a goal and five Tar Heels being credited for an assist, including Ortega who had three.

The defense was arguably more impressive, holding a Northwestern team that averaged over 16 goals heading into the game to just nine on the afternoon. 

If UNC can continue dominating top teams in the country in this fashion, it will be more than prepared to face top ACC competition later in the season, most notably No. 1 Boston College who the Tar Heels have marked on their calendar.

When do they play next?

UNC is back at Dorrance Field on Friday to host Mercer at 5 p.m.

@jdolgoff3

@DTHSports | sports@dailytarheel.com