When then-No. 1 Boston College took on then-No. 2 North Carolina on March 20, there were three 2021 Tewaaraton finalists on the field. But it was a freshman who didn’t play field lacrosse until junior high who made the play of the game.

With under 30 seconds left and UNC up by one, the ball was inevitably in Charlotte North’s stick. Fifth-year All-American Emma Trenchard had the match-up. When she fell, North made her move — right into Brooklyn Walker-Welch, who took what UNC head coach Jenny Levy felt was a charge. Walker-Welch didn’t get the call, but her slide did result in a turnover, and the Tar Heels got the ball and the win. For that, Walker-Welch got herself into the highlight reel.

“It was pretty cool,” Walker-Welch said. “Most of the things you see are the offense or someone ripping [a shot] from the 8-meter. You don’t see many [highlights] of defensive stops.”

Six years ago, Walker-Welch’s play wasn’t even close to making a highlight reel. Her grandfather introduced her to box lacrosse at an early age, but she had never played the field game. There weren’t many opportunities for girls to play box lacrosse, either, so her mother had her try out for Team Ontario, a U17 field team.

It was the first time she attempted to play the women’s game — and it showed.

“I didn’t know how to catch and throw at that time,” Walker-Welch said. “I kept missing all the balls. We ended up scrimmaging in the end, and I ended up getting a red card because I cross-checked someone. You couldn’t do that in the girls’ sport.”

Unsurprisingly, Walker-Welch wound up watching the team play at the national championship on TV. Despite the setback, she realized how much she enjoyed the game. She set her sights on college and began watching as many games as possible. She loved UNC, particularly the Tar Heels’ ultra-competitive, do-it-all midfielder Marie McCool, the two-time Tewaaraton finalist and ACC Midfielder of the Year who now stars in Athletes Unlimited and for the U.S. national team.

Walker-Welch made her way south of the Canadian border to attend a clinic run by coach Jenny Levy in Syracuse. The clinic almost didn’t happen. It was pouring in central New York, and Levy thought they’d have to cancel.

As luck would have it, the camp director found an indoor facility. And Levy found her next defensive star.

“We were like, ‘Who is this kid?’” Levy recalled. “She played with a ton of energy. She was trying all sorts of stick work and trick shots. She was aggressive, had a ton of presence and was athletic. We felt she was someone we could definitely train in our program.”

Levy, who never had a Canadian commit to play at UNC, said Walker-Welch wasn’t easy to find at first. But eventually, other top schools did find her. Playing at Canadian high school lacrosse titan Hill Academy helped with that. On Sept. 1 of her junior year, she had a full inbox. 

“It was crazy,” Walker-Welch said. “I almost had to take a step back from my life. Getting cut from that team may have been the best thing that happened to me.”

Walker-Welch had her eyes on UNC and, at that point, looked up to Kayla Wood, a defensive midfielder who shined in transition. Levy thought Walker-Welch was the total package — athletic, aggressive and coachable. Walker-Welch committed.

It’s not easy for a freshman to break into the starting lineup these days, with several veteran players taking advantage of an extra year of eligibility because of the shortened 2020 season. Though UNC has its share of depth — the Heels returned much of their starting offense from last season and added five transfers — defense was an area with cleats to fill. Wood and two other standout defenders, Catie Woodruff and Caroline Wakefield, graduated.

Walker-Welch came in as a midfielder, but after three weeks, Levy decided to have her focus on defense.

“We said, ‘You know what? She’s someone we could see starting and competing for a starting position on our defensive end, so why don’t we just focus her on one end of the field right now as a freshman?’” Levy said. “She started taking off right away. That was a pretty natural fit for her.”

On the defensive end, Walker-Welch has capitalized on her box lacrosse roots.

“She’s really good off-ball,” Levy said. “She understands when people are dangerous and going to shoot. She has really good instincts because the box game makes you think fast and react fast.”

But Walker-Welch still had some fine-tuning to do, like running the ball up the field in transition instead of making a bad pass and getting better at 1v1 defense. She credits Trenchard, goalie Taylor Moreno and junior defender Emily Nalls for helping her make adjustments. 

“If I were to mess up something, they didn’t yell at me,” Walker-Welch said. “They encouraged me to try something different that would help my style.”

Walker-Welch and the entire defense have had to step up this season with Trenchard sidelined for four game due to nagging injuries. They have. The unit ranks ninth nationally in scoring defense at 8.79 goals allowed per game. For her part, Walker-Welch is second on the team in caused turnovers (13) — perhaps none bigger than the one she got against North last month.

“It’s a one-goal game, and Charlotte North has the ball,” Levy said. “Brooklyn was next to ball, and her kid went through. Sometimes, defenders would go with that player, but Brooklyn was like, ‘No, I’m going to stay and take a physical charge on a really talented, physical player,’ which I thought took a lot of courage.”

Levy expects more plays like that from Walker-Welch as she continues to develop at UNC. The Tar Heels have a history of developing top-flight defenders who go on to garner All-American honors and play professionally and internationally.

“She’s probably going to be one of the best to come through our program,” Levy said. “She’s going to be one of those — an Emma Trenchard, Cookie Carr, Amber Falcone.”

Not bad for someone who got cut from her regional team six years ago. This summer, Walker-Welch will compete for Canada at the World Lacrosse Women’s World Championship in Maryland, where she’ll go toe-to-toe with the top attackers on the U.S. team, coached by Levy. The two joke about it along with Nalls, who will suit up for England. 

But right now, they’re laser-focused on Thursday’s game against Duke. The winner gets home-field advantage for the ACC championship. UNC is going for its sixth consecutive league title, and Walker-Welch is relishing the chance to secure the top seed against the team’s rival from down Tobacco Road.

“The rivalry [is intense] right now after we stormed Franklin Street when UNC beat Duke in basketball,” Walker-Welch said, referring to UNC’s win over Duke in the men’s basketball Final Four. “Clinching home field and to be able to have all of our fans around us supporting us would mean so much.”