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North Carolina hasn’t replicated its dominant previous two women’s lacrosse seasons. But the young Tar Heels are putting it together at the right time and are a win away from their seventh consecutive ACC title. No. 6-ranked and No. 3-seed UNC scored the first eight goals and rolled to a 15–9 upset of No. 2-ranked and No. 2-seed Syracuse on Friday in the semifinals of the ACC tournament at American Legion Memorial Stadium in Charlotte.
Two individual national champions — wrestler Austin O’Connor and diver Aranza Vazquez — earned Athlete of the Year honors at the Rammy Awards on Monday night at Memorial Hall. The awards program recognizes excellence in Carolina athletics over the previous year. Women’s basketball center Malu Tshitenge of women’s basketball and football defensive lineman Kaimon Rucker were the hosts for the event, which was back at Memorial Hall for the first time since 2019.
DURHAM — For a program with one loss in the previous three seasons, North Carolina has faced unfamiliar challenges after losing plenty of talent from last season’s unbeaten national champions. No. 6 UNC added another new challenge Friday when they trailed Duke for the first time since 2018. The Tar Heels haven’t overcome all those challenges this season but withstood a spunky Blue Devils team to win 13–12 in the regular-season finale for their 14th consecutive win over their rivals.
CHAPEL HILL — Top-ranked North Carolina’s biggest early test early in the women’s lacrosse season just showed more evidence that the Tar Heels are again one of the best teams in the country. After UNC (2–0) blanked No. 7 Florida in the first half, the Gators’ first scoreless half since their inaugural season 13 years ago, the contrast between the teams was evident.
CHAPEL HILL — Even after losing six multiple-year All-Americans from last season’s undefeated national champions, the No. 1 North Carolina’s women’s lacrosse team doesn’t look any less dominant. With the type of leadership junior attacker Caitlyn Wurzberger gave the Tar Heels on Wednesday, they look hard to beat again.
You can relive North Carolina’s amazing undefeated run to the NCAA women’s lacrosse championship in the documentary “Road to Redemption,” which is available on YouTube. The UNC Hussman School of Media and Journalism production, in conjunction with UNC Athletics, includes interviews with Coach Jenny Levy and numerous players as well as highlights of key games on the Tar Heels’ way to finishing off a perfect 22–0 season.
When it’s UNC’s turn during ACC Network School Takeovers on Tuesday, you’ll see 10 memorable victories in nine sports from the last school year that aired on an ESPN channel. You won’t see the Tar Heels’ Final Four victory over Duke because that aired on TBS, but you’ll get a chance to relive their 94–81 victory in Durham to ruin Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s last home game (6 p.m.), a softball no-hitter, an amazing football comeback and three ACC Tournament championship wins.
Led by the national champion women’s lacrosse team, North Carolina finished sixth in the final Division I Directors’ Cup standings for the 2021–22 school year. Coach Jenny Levy’s unbeaten Tar Heels team was one of eight UNC teams to finish in the top 10 in NCAA championship play to help the school finish with an ACC-leading 1,087.25 points. Her team earned UNC 100 points and Coach Hubert Davis’ men’s basketball team earned 90 for playing in the national championship game.
It was a perfect finish to a perfect season and a perfect 24th birthday for Sam Geiersbach. No. 1-ranked and No. 1 seed Carolina used a late 4–1 run on its way to a 12–11 victory over Boston College in Baltimore at Johns Hopkins’ Homewood Field to earn the Tar Heels’ third national championship and first since 2016. UNC (22–0) avenged a national semifinal loss last season to Boston College, which won the NCAA title. The Eagles finished 19–4, with three of those losses to the Tar Heels.
Put this one in the Carolina sports history books alongside the 1974 men’s basketball rally from eight points down with 17 seconds left against Duke. In one of the most amazing comebacks in UNC sports history, the unbeaten No. 1-ranked and No. 1-seed Tar Heels erased an eight-goal third-quarter deficit to take an incredible 15–14 victory over No. 4-seed Northwestern in the NCAA women’s lacrosse national semifinals Friday at Johns Hopkins’ Homewood Field in Baltimore.
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