Katie Hoeg Breaks UNC Points Record As Tar Heels Down Northwestern, 20-18

Monday, March 9

Evanston, Ill.

7 p.m.

North Carolina

7-0

Northwestern

4-3

North Carolina

Northwestern

Photo by: John Konstantaras/JohnKonPhoto.com

Katie Hoeg Breaks UNC Points Record As Tar Heels Down Northwestern, 20-18

March 10, 2020 | Women's Lacrosse

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By: Pat James

EVANSTON, Ill. – Katie Hoeg tied her season high and became North Carolina's all-time leading scorer with eight points as the top-ranked Tar Heels rallied from a two-goal halftime deficit to beat No. 6 Northwestern, 20-18, on Monday at Ryan Fieldhouse.

With four goals and four assists, Hoeg boosted her career points total to 261, breaking Corey Donohoe's school record of 256, set from 2008-11. Already UNC's all-time assists leader, Hoeg now has 162 in her illustrious career. Ela Hazar (2015-18) held the previous record of 121, which Hoeg broke on her way to dishing out a school-record 73 assists last season.

The Wildcats and Tar Heels entered Monday ranked first and second, respectively, in the nation in scoring offense. Northwestern's offense lived up to the hype, scoring almost half as many goals as Carolina had allowed all season (40). But UNC's offense was even more proficient, as the Tar Heels reached the 20-goal mark for the third time in seven games.

In addition Hoeg, Carolina received multi-point efforts from five other players. Scottie Rose Growney finished with five points (four goals and an assist), while Marisa DiVietro (two goals and an assist), Nicole Humphrey (three goals), Taylor McDaniels (three goals) and Jamie Ortega (two goals and an assist) each tallied three. Ida Farinholt and Brooklyn Neumen also chipped in with a goal apiece.

Northwestern was led by sophomore Izzy Scane, who scored five first-half goals en route to finishing with a career-high eight. The Wildcats also got six points from junior Lauren Gilbert, who registered three goals and three assists.

With the win, Carolina improves to 7-0, continuing its best start since 2014. Northwestern falls to 4-3, with its other two losses coming against Notre Dame and Syracuse.

Key moments

The Tar Heels and Wildcats came out strong defensively, holding each other scoreless for the first three minutes. But once Growney found the back of the cage for the first goal of the game at the 26:53 mark, UNC's offense took off, scoring four goals before Northwestern got its first. Carolina quickly responded with another to seize a 5-1 lead with 18:35 left in the first half.
Despite falling behind early, the Wildcats stormed back, stringing together six unanswered goals – three of them by Scane – to take a 7-5 lead with 6:47 left until halftime. The Tar Heels rallied with back-to-back goals to tie the game at 7, but Northwestern scored three of the last four goals of the half to take a 10-8 lead into the break.
UNC took control of the game by scoring the first five goals of the second half. Amid that run, Carolina seemed in danger of losing its momentum when Hoeg picked up a yellow card with about 24:15 left, moments after the Tar Heels had gone ahead 11-10. But UNC's defense came up with one of its biggest plays of the game, forcing a turnover that allowed the offense to kill the penalty. By the end of the 5-0 spurt, Carolina led 13-10.
Twice within the final 20 minutes, Northwestern pulled within one. The first time, Ortega scored her only two goals of the game in succession and Humphrey added a free-position goal to take the Tar Heels' lead from 13-12 to 16-12. Later, after the Wildcats went on a 5-1 run to cut UNC's lead to 19-18, Growney scored with 2:33 left to seal the win.

Noteworthy

Hoeg entered Monday ranked first nationally in points per game (7.33). On her way to becoming Carolina's all-time leading scorer, the senior maintained her stronghold atop the national rankings, finishing with eight points for the fifth time in seven games this season. Her career high of nine points came against James Madison last season.
Monday's game marked Hoeg's 26th with five or more points. She's played just as many games with 2-4 points.
Hoeg's four goals matched her season high, set on three previous occasions. She's up to 22 goals on the season. Her single-season best of 39 came in 2018.
With four assists, Hoeg increased her season total to 30. That's already tied for the eighth-best total by a Tar Heel in a single season. Sydney Holman (2014-17) finished with 30 assists in 2017. At her current pace, Hoeg would finish the regular season with 69 assists, just four shy of her school record of 73.
Hoeg's 10 shots matched her career high, set against Virginia earlier this season.
With two goals, Ortega tied Marie McCool (2015-18) for fourth on UNC's career goals list with 183. Ortega only trails Molly Hendrick (186 from 2014-17), Donohoe (192) and Abbey Friend (198 from 2011-14).
Ortega's four draw controls matched her career high, previously set against Louisville on April 6, 2019. The junior hadn't recorded a single draw control before Monday.
Scoring four goals for the second straight game, Growney registered her fifth hat trick of the season. Over her last 10 games, dating back to last season, she's scored 32 goals.
Growney's 10 draw controls surpassed her previous career high of eight, set against High Point earlier this season. She registered all 10 in the second half, during which the Tar Heels held a 13-8 edge in draw controls. That came after Northwestern won the draw control battle, 12-7, in the first half.
Humphrey's three goals were as many as she had scored across the first six games of her freshman season.
McDaniels had scored just two goals all season before finishing with three Monday. In her last two games against Northwestern, she's scored eight goals on 11 shots.
DiVietro, a senior, has scored at least one goal in each of the last five games, the longest goal-scoring streak of her career.
Emily Nalls collected a game-high three ground balls, bringing her total to 10 over the last three games.
Maddie Hoffer, a two-time captain, collected her first career ground ball in her seventh start of the season.

Up next

The road doesn't get any easier for the Tar Heels, who will return to action Sunday when they'll face No. 2 Notre Dame at Dorrance Field. The opening draw is scheduled for 12 p.m.

Fans can purchase single-game tickets online at GoHeels.com/tickets, by phone at (800) 722-4335 or in person at the UNC Ticket Office during normal business hours (Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.).

Gallery: (3/9/2020) Tar Heels Outlast Northwestern, 20-18