Tar Heels dominate Boston College, 16-5, in rematch of 2022 national championship game

The No. 1 North Carolina women’s lacrosse team (5-0, 2-0 ACC) beat No. 4 Boston College (3-2, 1-1 ACC), 16-5, at Dorrance Field on Friday afternoon.

What happened?

Freshman attacker Marissa White wasted no time on the offensive end - attacking from the left side to score the first goal of the game within the first 58 seconds of play. Not far behind, junior midfielder Sophie Student attacked down the middle for an unassisted goal of her own. Defensively, sophomore defender Brooklyn Waker-Webb hounded Boston College attackers, preventing only two attempts on goal in the first quarter. 

Student scored her second goal of the game on a free position opportunity, with fellow teammate senior Nicole Humphrey scoring again with under two minutes remaining in the first quarter. Before the quarter ended, senior midfielder Olivia Dirks cut in hard from the right side and found the lower left side of the net, giving the Tar Heels a comfortable 5-1 lead. 

Boston College got the first offensive opportunity of the second quarter. However a strong UNC defense held the Eagles to one shot on goal, which was saved by UNC goalkeeper Alecia Nicholas. On the other end, the Tar Heels were quick to find the back of the net with Humphrey and White scoring on back to back plays, putting the Tar Heels up 7-1 with 11 minutes remaining in the quarter. 

Despite Boston College taking only two shots on goal in the second quarter, sophomore Mckenna Davis found junior Kayla Martello to score early on. UNC responded swiftly with four back-to-back goals from junior midfielder Alyssaa Long, freshman Caroline Godine, Humphrey and sophomore midfielder Liv Pikiell. All of UNC’s first half goals were unassisted. 

The Eagles started off the third quarter with a goalkeeper switch after the Tar Heels dominated offensively. Although junior Belle Smith scored early on for the Eagles, they failed to get any momentum going beyond that and couldn’t get anything past Nicholas in goal. Unforced errors and a hot UNC offense put the Tar Heels up by 10 goals at 13-3 leading into the final 15 minutes of the game. 

Boston College scored two goals in the fourth quarter off six shots. UNC put three more in the back of the net to assert a 16-5 victory. 

Who stood out? 

Humphrey was the main threat on offense, getting a hat-trick in the first half and also finishing with an assist. Humphrey was a threat from all angles and consistently blew past defenders. Godine and Student also had hat-tricks of their own and Nicholas tallied nine saves in the win. 

When was it decided?

UNC asserted its dominance early on, scoring five goals in the first quarter. However, the Tar Heels continued to build their momentum, scoring six goals in the second quarter and causing visible frustration from both the Boston College goalkeeper and defense. 

Why does it matter?

After beating Boston College in last year's national championship match, the win establishes Carolina dominance once again. UNC holds on to their No.1 ranking with the victory and gains momentum as they are slated to face top opponents in the coming weeks. 

The victory also became head coach Jenny Levy’s 400 career victory, the third most in NCAA Division I history and second most among current DI head coaches. 

When do they play next?

North Carolina will take on Virginia next Saturday in Chapel Hill at Dorrance Field. The matchup will be at 3 p.m. and can be streamed on ACCNX.

@mayawaid

@dthsports | sports@dailytarheel.com