Tar Heels Roll Past Louisville In First ACC Home Game

Thursday, March 5

Chapel Hill, N.C.

7 p.m.

North Carolina

6-0, 2-0ACC

Louisville

4-4, 0-2ACC

Louisville

North Carolina

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

March 6, 2020 | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Pat James

CHAPEL HILL – Playing in the first-ever women's lacrosse game on the ACC Network, top-ranked North Carolina put on a show, outscoring Louisville 13-2 in the first half en route to a 19-7 win on Thursday night at Dorrance Field.

As they've done all season, Katie Hoeg and Jamie Ortega took center stage for the Tar Heels, combining for 15 points. With two goals and six assists, Hoeg moved into second place on UNC's career points list. Ortega almost made history, as well, scoring all seven of her goals in the first half, one shy of tying the program record for a game.

Scottie Rose Growney followed Hoeg and Ortega with five points (four goals and an assist). Melissa Sconone and Ally Mastroianni rounded out Carolina's multi-point scorers, finishing with three (one goal and two assists) and two points (one goal and one assist), respectively.

The Tar Heels also received one goal apiece from Marisa DiVietro, Amanda Fedor, Bailey Horne and Emily Nalls, while Charlotte Allard, Ida Farinholt and Nicole Humphrey each had an assist.

With the win, UNC improves to 6-0 overall and 2-0 in ACC play. Louisville falls to 4-4 and 0-2 in the league. Carolina is now 6-0 all-time against the Cardinals, with all six games coming since Louisville joined the ACC prior to the 2015 season.

Key moments

The Tar Heels wasted little time getting on the scoreboard, as Mastroianni converted a free-position shot just 27 seconds into play. Louisville responded less than a minute later with its first goal. But UNC scored the next nine, beginning with Ortega's goal at the 24:37 mark, to give it a lead it wouldn't relinquish.
After falling behind 14-2 early in the second half, the Cardinals twice pulled within nine. Both times, Carolina quickly went back ahead by double digits, first with two straight goals by Growney and then with a 3-0 run to end the game.

Noteworthy

Hoeg moved past Marie McCool (2015-18) for third place on UNC's career points list when she dished out her second assist of the game with 18:40 left in the first half. After adding two more assists and a goal, Hoeg moved past Abbey Friend (2011-14) for second when she scored off an assist from Farinholt with 7:35 left until halftime.
Now sitting at 253 career points, Hoeg is just four shy of breaking the school record of 256, set by Corey Donohoe (2008-11).
Hoeg's eight points matched her season high, set on three previous occasions, and were one shy of her career high.
Hoeg's six assists matched her career high, set on five previous occasions.
Ortega's seven goals were one shy of the school record of eight, set by Kellie Thompson against UMBC in 2002 and by Ortega against Virginia Tech in the 2019 ACC Tournament quarterfinals.
Ortega has now scored five or more goals 18 times in her career.
Ortega entered Thursday ranked second nationally in shot percentage (.793). She scored her seven goals against Louisville on nine shots.
Hoeg and Ortega combined for 216 of Carolina's 490 points last season, becoming the first pair of 100-point scorers in program history. Through six games this season, the duo has combined for 86 of the Tar Heels' 179 points.
With four goals, Growney registered her 10th career multi-goal game. Seven have come in her last nine games, dating back to last season. She's scored 28 goals in that span.
DiVietro, a senior, has scored at least one goal in each of the last four games, the longest goal-scoring streak of her career.
Mastroianni's seven draw controls were a season high. She's recorded 18 draw controls in her last three games after totaling five in the first three games of the season.
Mastroianni's three caused turnovers matched her career high, set against Louisville last season.
Sconone finished with three points for the third time in the first six games of her career.
In addition to scoring a goal for the second straight game, Nalls chipped in with three ground balls and three draw controls. The freshman has collected seven of her 10 ground balls in the last two games.
Allard recorded the first assist of her career when she found Horne for a goal with 1:06 left.
Fedor scored her first goal of the season with six seconds remaining. Humphrey picked up her first career assist on the play.
The contest was the women's lacrosse team's first night game at Dorrance Field, which opened in March 2019.

Quotable

Jenny Levy after the game: "Louisville with Coach (Scott) Teeter, they do such a good job with their team. There are a lot Canadians on that team with slick sticks and smart IQs, and I thought they played real hard. I'm really happy with how we played, especially in the first half. We had a slow start against UVA last weekend, and one of the things we've been talking about is coming out ready to play and take care of our business. I thought there were a lot of great efforts, starting with the draw with Ally (Mastroianni), Emily Nalls and Emma Trenchard. And then having 13 of our 19 goals assisted, that will happen against a zone, but the ability to make sure that happened successfully was high end. We had 16 turnovers and threw the ball over on easy stuff, so I'd like to clean up that. But overall, great team effort."

Hoeg on moving into second on UNC's career points list: "I actually didn't know that until like three seconds ago, but it's such an honor to be at such a prestigious university with a tradition like UNC. It's definitely an honor, and I guess it's something I don't strive for, but it just comes with my great teammates around me who make me seem a little better."

Hoeg on playing in the first women's lacrosse game on the ACC Network: "It's such an honor to be a part of that. And I think spreading girls lacrosse is something we're very passionate about. I think that kind of brought to life the passion on the field."

Up next

The Tar Heels will return to action Monday, when they'll face No. 7 Northwestern in Evanston, Ill. The opening draw is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.

Gallery: (3/5/2020) UNC Defeats Louisville 19-7