The 2022 college lacrosse season is nearly upon us. As is our annual tradition, we’re featuring every team ranked in the Nike/USA Lacrosse Preseason Top 20.
Check back to USALaxMagazine.com each weekday this month for new previews, scouting reports and rival analysis.
NO. 2 NORTH CAROLINA
2021 Record: 20-1 (9-0 ACC)Final Ranking (2021): No. 2
Coach: Jenny Levy (27th season)
Out with the old, in with the … old?
Well, sort of.
Over the past four seasons, Katie Hoeg and Jamie Ortega were the yin and yang, Thelma and Louise for the North Carolina women’s lacrosse team. Although Ortega, the school’s all-time leading goal scorer, will use her fifth year of eligibility and play this spring, Hoeg graduated as the all-time leading scorer in UNC and ACC history.
Losing a player of Hoeg’s caliber would spell doom for many teams. But after an offseason fueled by the stunning loss to Boston College in the NCAA semifinals, returning attackers Scottie Rose Growney and Tayler Warehime are ready to take on the challenge of being Ortega’s top running mates, while hoping to lead the No. 2-ranked Tar Heels to their first national title since 2016.
“Katie helped form what the future at Carolina is going to look like, and I don’t think many people can say that,” Growney said. “I really hope we’re able to redeem everything she set forth and win the natty we wanted last year.”
After being a rotation player early in her career, Growney has become a full-time starter for the Tar Heels over the last two seasons, recording 68 goals and 24 assists in 28 games.
Warehime, meanwhile, emerged as an instant contributor during her first season in 2019, when she earned 14 starts and scored 34 goals. She upped the ante last year by notching a career-best 38 goals, good for third-most on the team.
NIKE/USAL PRESEASON TOP 20
TEAM PREVIEWS
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3. Syracuse |
4. Northwestern |
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5. Stony Brook |
6. Maryland |
7. Notre Dame |
8. Duke |
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9. Loyola |
10. Florida |
11. Virginia |
12. James Madison |
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13. Princeton |
14. Stanford |
15. Denver |
16. Rutgers |
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17. Drexel |
18. Jacksonville |
19. UConn |
20. Penn |
Even with Ortega (82 goals) returning, Warehime is excited to see others step up and make the unit even more potent with its versatility.
“We caught ourselves last year a couple times relying on one or two players. People realize this year they have to be a threat individually,” Warehime said. “If we have seven threats on the field, our attack will be so dangerous.”
While Ortega, Growney, Waremime and sophomore Caitlyn Wurzburger (58 points) provide experience on attack, other parts of the field will be bolstered by two preseason All-American transfers.
Graduate transfer Andie Aldave should be a useful weapon on draw controls, as she broke the single-season record at Notre Dame twice with 98 and 135 controls during her freshmen and sophomore seasons, respectively. Sophomore Olivia Dirks, the reigning Big Ten Midfielder of the Year, should also have a featured role. She finished with 31 goals and 12 assists in 13 games for Penn State last year.
Aldave, Dirks and first-team All-American Ally Mastroianni (31 goals, 112 draw controls) all have trained with the U.S. national team, giving North Carolina built-in chemistry at the midfield position.
As the nation’s top team before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the 2020 campaign and falling short last season despite entering the NCAA tournament with an 18-0 record, the Tar Heels understand the stakes they are up against.
Although Growney admitted that a season ending prematurely is often out of a team’s control, she said the players have shown noticeable growth over the past few months.
And now speaking as a newly anointed leader with championship aspirations, she believes the team’s mental and physical development could put UNC over the top.
“This offseason was probably some of the most work we’ve put into a fall, whether it was individual skills, conditioning, speed and agility, or even the weight room,” Growney said. “It just really shows the overall maturity of this group.”