The defending national champion North Carolina Tar Heels proved their No. 1 ranking on Saturday, pulling away from No. 5 Florida late in the second half and winning 13-10 In Gainesville, Fla.
Junior Ela Hazar led the team, tying a career high with six points on two goals and four assists. She highlighted a North Carolina attack that got contributions from a number of players — Sammy Jo Tracy (four goals), Molly Hendrick (three goals), Carly Reed (two goals), Maggie Bill (one goal, one assist).
Hendrick had two early goals to help North Carolina jump out to a 5-2 lead in the first half. The visitors outshot Florida 17-14 and took a 6-3 advantage into halftime.
The Gators took the momentum early in the second half. Mollie Stevens had two goals in the first 13 minutes on the half, helping the Gators cut the deficit to one goal with 17 minutes remaining in the game. Stevens had two goals and an assist on the day.
Florida continued to put the pressure on North Carolina, scoring two of the next three goals to tie the game at 9-9 after a Shayna Pirreca tally with 7:58 left. Shayna Pirreca and her sister, Syndey, both had hat tricks to lead the way for Florida in the loss.
North Carolina responded with a three-goal run to take a 12-9 lead with 1:42 remaining and put the game out of reach. Tracy had two goals and Hazar added the third to help the Tar Heels seal the victory.
Tracy capped the game with her fourth goal in the final minute. Despite being outshot 18-12 in the second half, the Tar Heels held on for their second win of the season.
The win, coach Jenny Levy’s 297th in her career, is North Carolina’s 19th in a row. It will be back in action Friday when it hosts High Point. Florida will hosts the Scotland National Team on Wednesday before facing off with No. 3 USC on Feb. 24.
6 points from Ela Hazar & 4 goals from Sammy Jo Tracy highlight the big 13-10 win over No. 3 Florida. pic.twitter.com/TYS5VNGOpK
— UNC Women's Lacrosse (@uncwlax) February 11, 2017
Other Games of Note
No. 7 Penn State 13, No. 17 Towson 11
Steph Lazo scored five goals for the second straight game to lead the Nittany Lions past a rallying Tigers team.
Penn State took a 9-2 halftime lead, but Towson cut the deficit to one goal with less than 10 minutes remaining. Lazo, Madison Carter, Katie O’Donnell and Maggie Gallagher combined for a four-goal run to put the game out of reach.
The Nittany Lions outshot the Tigers 29-18 and won 18 of 26 draw controls.
Check out the highlights from this afternoon's, 13-11 victory over No. 19 Towson! #WeAre #PSUWLAX #PennStatehttps://t.co/kDRyqfp9zN
— Penn State WLacrosse (@PennStateWLAX) February 11, 2017
No. 6 Syracuse 18, No. 18 Boston College 8
The Orange used two seven-goal runs — one in the first half and the other to open the second half — to cruise past the Eagles in a season-opening victory. Riley Donahue led the way with a career-high seven points on four goals and three assists.
Natalie Wallon added two goals in the Syracuse win.
Elon 11, No. 12 Virginia 10
Abby Godfrey scored off a free position shot with one second left to give Elon the upset win over Virginia in Charlottesville. Godfrey’s goal was the last for Elon in the final 15 minutes of the game.
The Phoenix broke open a tie game at half with a 5-2 run early in the second half. Stephanie Asher had three of her five goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half, helping Elon take a 10-7 lead.
Virginia scored three straight goals to tie the game with 6:34 left, but Elon found the game-winner in the final seconds.
No. 2 Maryland 13, William & Mary 3
Maryland got goals from 10 different players to cruise by William & Mary in both team’s season openers. Jen Giles, Caroline Wannen and Kacie Longo each had two goals to fuel the Terms victory.
Maryland outshot William & Mary 35-21.
No. 8 Notre Dame 24, Detriot-Mercy 9
The Irish responded after falling to Northwestern on Feb. 5 with a win over Liberty on Friday and another blowout of Detroit-Mercy on Saturday. Courtney Fortunato and Samantha Lynch both had six goals to lead the way for Notre Dame (2-1).
Fortunato added four assists in the win over Detroit-Mercy, pushing her season total to 16 goals and four assists in three games.
Army 13, Marist 12
Rachel Hornick scored a career-high seven goals to help Army overcome a halftime deficit and beat Marist. The junior scored four straight goals to begin the game and had one of four goals in the Black Knights’ big second half.
The game featured five runs of there goals or more. Army’s four-goal, second-half run turned an 11-9 deficit into a 13-11 lead. Marist outshot Army 33-28, but Army won the draw control battle 16-11.
OTHER WOMEN’S DIVISION I SCORES
Delaware 10, Georgetown 9
James Madison 18, Michigan 6
Oregon 11, San Diego State 9
Mercer 23, Presbyterian 13
Temple 13, Rutgers 11
Monmouth 16, George Washington 15
Holy Cross 11, Fairfield 8
USC 20, St. Mary’s (Ca.) 2
Vanderbilt 18, Kennesaw State 5
Bucknell 10, Villanova 6
Virginia Tech 13, Davidson 7