BOSTON — Charlotte North and Taylor Moreno are far from strangers on the field. 

Whether they’re on opposite sidelines in an ACC game or both donning the red, white and blue for the U.S. women’s national team, North and Moreno have each learned the ins and outs of the other’s play style. 

Moreno, North Carolina’s goaltender, knows what to expect when the ball is in North’s stick. And North, Boston College’s leading scorer and the reigning Tewaaraton Award winner, knows just how to keep Moreno on her toes. After spending so much time together on the field, the two have become close friends off the field, too.

“I love her as a person, but I hate playing against her because she’s super talented,” North said of Moreno. 

Moreno and No. 2 UNC will travel to Chestnut Hill to take on North and No. 1 Boston College on Sunday, with the first draw set for 2 p.m. Eastern. Both teams enter undefeated, and, despite it falling early in the teams’ ACC slates, the contest is dripping with playoff potential.

But BC head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein said that no matter how much it feels like the game belongs in May, she’s happy it’s happening so early in the Eagles’ season.

“This is such a great game for March because it can help us really grow and expose us where we need to be exposed, and then, you know, help build our confidence,” Walker-Weinstein said. “I don’t want to wait. I want to play the best teams as quickly as we possibly can and as often as we possibly can.”

Many of those top teams hail from the uber-competitive ACC, currently home to seven teams in the Nike/USA Lacrosse Division I Women’s Top 20. 

“The ACC is so competitive, and all the matchups require your focus and your attention to detail,” UNC head coach Jenny Levy said. 

The game marks the teams’ first meeting since BC downed the Tar Heels 11-10 in a 2021 NCAA tournament semifinal. That semifinal was the Tar Heels’ only loss of the 2021 season and featured their second-lowest goal total of the year, behind only a 9-4 win over Syracuse. 

“I think it’s a little bit of a redemption game for us,” Moreno said of this weekend’s matchup. 

Moreno, a 2021 Tewaaraton finalist, was second in save percentage last season and holds a 7.77 goals against average this year, good for second in the ACC. 

“As much as you study her, she’s just a really great, athletic goalie,” North said of Moreno. 

To get to Moreno, though, North will have to go through All-American defender Emma Trenchard. Trenchard was tasked with keeping North quiet during the 2021 NCAA semifinal as well and held her to two goals. 

“Emma is just one of those patient defenders with her,” Moreno said. “Charlotte takes advantage of those defenders who just get really, really aggressive with her. … So I think Emma does a great job of being patient and staying on her hands, and I think that’s where me and Emma kind of work well together in that respect.”

North, who won the Tewaaraton Award after scoring an NCAA-record 102 goals last spring, leads the NCAA in goals with 41. She and UNC’s Ally Mastrioanni are tied for ninth in the nation in draw controls with 53 each. 

Close on North’s heels in scoring is Jamie Ortega, a fellow 2021 Tewaaraton Award finalist. Ortega leads the Tar Heels in goals with 25 and points with 43. 

Tasked with defending Ortega in Sunday’s matchup is Courtney Taylor, a graduate transfer from Temple who joined BC’s roster ahead of the 2022 season. After just seven games as an Eagle, Taylor was added to the 2022 Tewaaraton Award watch list.

“Obviously, them adding [Taylor] is going to be a huge asset to them, and I think it’s going to give us an opportunity to kind of challenge ourselves and see how well we can adjust,” Moreno said. 

Though the teams’ rosters look largely unchanged from their national semifinal matchup last season — the Tar Heels graduated Katie Hoeg and Kerrigan Miller, while BC’s biggest losses on the roster include Jillian Reilly and Cara Urbank — Walker-Weinstein said that her team has moved on from the emotions of the 2021 season. 

“Last year is last year’s story. This year is this year’s story,” Walker-Weinstein said. “We have a totally different team, totally new goals, a totally new mission. And Carolina is a totally different team — in my opinion, even better — so it’s going to be great.”

Last year’s result aside, Sunday will be a battle of the undefeateds.

“Both these teams are really effective at what they do,” Levy said. “The chess game will be very interesting.”