No. 1 seeded UNC women’s lacrosse (17-0, 11-0 ACC) defeated No. 5 seeded Clemson (13-6, 7-4 ACC), 17-7, Friday night at American Legion Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina to move on to the ACC Championship game.
The Tigers won the draw control, giving them the first offensive possession of the game. An aggressive shot attempt by Clemson's Brooke Goldstein was saved by redshirt-first year goalie Betty Nelson to give North Carolina’s dominant offense the ball.
After two missed shots, the Tar Heels scored with redshirt first-year attacker Chloe Humphrey passing the ball to redshirt sophomore attacker Marissa White.
“We have a lot of athleticism,” first-year midfielder Eliza Osburn said. “So even if it doesn’t go exactly where we want it, we will work as hard as we can to get that ground ball.”
On the next play, though, Clemson’s Lindsey Marshall snuck one in from the left to tie the game at one.
It didn’t take long for the Humphrey sisters to connect and score UNC’s second goal. Graduate attacker Ashley Humphrey passed the ball from behind the net to Chloe, who was hit in the head by her opponent's stick, but still managed to find the back of the net.
Two minutes later, and with a man-up advantage, Chloe Humphrey found junior attacker Kiley Mottice and netted North Carolina’s third goal from right outside the crease.
With one second remaining in the first quarter, redshirt-sophomore midfielder Kaleigh Harden was granted a free-position shot. She launched the ball from her stick into the back of the net to make the score 4-1.
Within the first two minutes of the second quarter, the Tar Heels scored back-to-back goals, one from White off a free-position shot and the other from Mottice.
