CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina women’s lacrosse head coach Jenny Levy is pleased to announce the additions of graduate transfers Katie Bourque and Kerrigan Miller to the Tar Heels’ 2021 roster.
US Lacrosse Magazine reported that Miller would transfer to UNC in April.
A pair of Inside Lacrosse Media All-Americans during the coronavirus-shortened 2020 season, Bourque and Miller spent the past four years at Dartmouth and Southern California, respectively. Both players are eligible to play in 2021 and have one season of eligibility remaining after the NCAA granted spring student-athletes an extra year due to the 2020 season being cut short.
“We are so excited to welcome Katie and Kerrigan into the Carolina Lacrosse program,” Levy said. “Both are seasoned veterans who were leaders and impact players on their teams and in their conferences. They both come from programs ranked in the top 10 in 2020 and have demonstrated a passion for the game and an ability to be great teammates and leaders.
“Their experience and maturity will serve our program well as we put the shortened 2020 season behind us and start to build our 2021 team. Katie, Kerrigan and our incoming freshman class bring fresh faces and new energy to a new year and our returning group.”
Bourque garnered third-team All-America honors from ILWomen in 2020 while leading Dartmouth to a 5-0 record and a No. 9 ranking in the final Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) national poll. One of the nation’s top scorers, she paced the Big Green in goals (21) and points (27). She finished the year ranked seventh nationally in goals per game (4.2) and tied for 12th in points per game (5.4).
A Ridgewood, New Jersey native, Bourque scored three game-winning goals in Dartmouth’s five games. One of those came in overtime on Feb. 29 at Brown, when she tallied a career-high six goals to earn U.S. Lacrosse National Player of the Week honors. A week later, she matched that six-goal output against New Hampshire. That proved to be her final game with the Big Green.
“I want to thank everyone at Dartmouth for the opportunity they gave me and all my teammates over the last four years,” said Bourque, a midfielder. “I’m so thankful for the coaching staff and the players on the Carolina team for welcoming me. UNC provides an amazing combination of athletics and academics, and I’m really excited for this next chapter in Chapel Hill.”
Bourque ranks 20th in Dartmouth history in points (133) and 21st in goals (98). Her 109 career draw controls are tied for the seventh most ever by any member of the Big Green. She’s also totaled 83 ground balls and 55 caused turnovers in her career, which has included her earning first-team All-Ivy League honors in 2018 and second-team recognition in 2019.
“Katie has played every position on the field at Dartmouth, except goalie,” Levy said. “Besides her versatility as a player, she is tough, gritty and relentless. Katie competes and is willing to do the dirty work on the field, picking up ground balls, winning draw controls and making all-around hustle plays.
“Being recognized as an All-Ivy League player and All-American is an accomplishment considering she has played so many different positions on the field. After talking to Katie about the possibility of joining our program, what became clear is her passion for the sport of lacrosse and her excitement to put in the hard work to help make our team great.”
A four-time All-America honoree at USC and a member of the U.S. national team, coached by Levy, Miller earned second-team All-America honors from ILWomen after leading the Trojans to a 6-0 record and a No. 7 ranking in the final IWLCA poll this spring. The all-around midfielder finished second on her team in ground balls (16) and caused turnovers (8) and tied for second in draw controls (13). She also tallied 11 points (10 goals and one assist).
The No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2016 according to ILWomen, Miller received Mountain Pacific Sport Federation Rookie of the Year honors in 2017. She then followed that up by being named the Pac-12 Midfielder of the Year in 2018 and 2019. In 66 games at USC, she hit the century mark in five key statistical categories: goals (104), points (143), ground balls (158), caused turnovers (120) and draw controls (157).
“There were a lot of different factors that went into my decision,” said Miller, from Bayport, New York. “I loved USC and I can’t say enough good things about it, but I also was getting kind of homesick after being on the West Coast for four years. So, I started to look at my options and what I want to do with my life, and then I came across UNC’s sports administration program. The more I researched it, I was like, ‘This is awesome.’
“One of my best friends is Katie Hoeg; we played travel together. So I started reaching out to her to get a feel for her experience at UNC, and then when I entered the transfer portal, Jenny was the first coach who reached out to me. We already had a nice relationship, and every time we got on the phone, it seemed like a perfect fit for me.”
Miller was a member of the U.S. women’s U19 national team that won silver at the 2015 FIL Women's World Cup. In the spring of 2019, she was named to the U.S. women’s national training team and later played in the 2019 Fall Classic.
“Kerrigan has been a dominant midfielder in the Pac-12 and in the country since she entered the college scene,” Levy said. “She is a scrappy, relentless and confident player. Her competitive fire and passion are what separate her. She has been in so many competitive situations throughout her playing career, which has given her a fearlessness and an ability to handle pressure situations. Not only is Kerrigan a fierce competitor, but she is a team player who prioritizes building relationships and being a great teammate.”
Bourque and Miller join a Carolina squad that went 7-0 in 2020 and was ranked No. 1 in the final IWCLA poll. With their arrivals and the returns of Hoeg, Jamie Ortega, Emma Trenchard, Scottie Rose Growney and Taylor Moreno – as well as 26 other players from UNC’s 2020 roster – the Tar Heels will enter 2021 with seven players who garnered All-America recognition from ILWomen this spring.
“We are living through extraordinary times with circumstances changing daily,” Levy said. “We hope our students will be back on campus and fall sports will resume. Additionally, we hope we find a vaccine for COVID-19 and spring sports in 2021 have an opportunity to compete.”