No. 3 UNC women's lacrosse defeats No. 5 Florida, 14-9, on the road

No. 3 ranked UNC women’s lacrosse (3-0) defeated No. 5 ranked Florida (2-1), 14-9, Saturday afternoon at Donald R. Dizney Stadium. 

The Tar Heels claimed the first offensive possession and began aggressively with redshirt first-year attacker Chloe Humphrey attempting a shot in the first minute. 

Florida’s goalkeeper saved the first but could not defend Humphrey’s left-corner goal as UNC claimed the quick lead. 

Two minutes later, sophomore defender Paige Kelly had her first goal of the season from a free position shot, extending North Carolina’s lead to two. 

The Gators were quick to respond with a goal of their own by attacker Gianna Monaco to cut the lead back down to one. 

After strong defense by both teams, graduate attacker Ashley Humphrey connected with redshirt junior defender Brooklyn Walker-Wlech who nailed in a goal from inside the circle to give North Carolina back its two-point lead. 

A minute later, Humphrey connected with junior attacker Kiley Mottice, who was in the middle of the arch and smashed one in for UNC’s fourth goal. 

At the end of the first, North Carolina led 4-1. 

It was the Gators who started the second quarter aggressively as Frannie Hahn connected with her sister Josie Hahn for Florida’s second goal. 

A free position attempt for the Tar Heels prompted another sister-to-sister connection as Ashley Humphrey passed the ball from the right of the arch to Chloe Humphrey who was in the middle and quickly slammed the ball into the back of the net.

Florida quickly brought the deficit back to one with back-to-back goals by Kaitlyn Davies and Gabby Greene. 

With a defender closely on her, first-year midfielder Kate Levy faked a move, creating an open shot from the right corner and scoring her second goal of the season. 

UNC was quickly back on offense after winning the draw, with Chloe Humphrey delivering a powerful cross-body shot from the middle of the arc to add another goal, closing out the first half with North Carolina leading 7-4. 

The Tar Heels looked to extend the lead to four with a goal by Ashley Humphrey, but it was called back as she was issued a yellow card on the play. 

Florida took advantage of the player advantage as Davies scored to cut the lead to two. 

But it did not take long for the tables to turn. Florida’s Clark Hamilton was issued a yellow card, and with the player advantage now on UNC’s side, Ashley Humphrey connected with junior attacker Caroline Godine who had an easy goal from the middle.

The Gators struck again a minute later but the Tar Heels answered with three more by redshirt sophomore attacker Marissa White, another Ashley to Chloe Humphrey connection and a solo Ashley goal. Up 11-6, UNC had its largest lead of the day. 

The fourth quarter started with Ashley Humphrey assisting White’s second goal of the game and doubling Florida’s score. 

The Gators ignited a comeback, scoring three times in the fourth, to bring the score back to four points. But the dominance of Ashley Humphrey, who scored three solo goals on top of her six assists, helped give North Carolina the victory. 

The Tar Heels will return to Chapel Hill on February 22 to take on Syracuse at noon.

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