No. 1 seed North Carolina routed Pitt, 15-6, in the second round of the ACC women’s lacrosse tournament at Arlotta Family Lacrosse Stadium in South Bend, Ind., on Friday afternoon. Pitt finished its inaugural season 9-9 and could potentially qualify for the NCAA tournament.
North Carolina, who’s a perennial powerhouse in women’s lacrosse, dominated every facet of the game and out-shot Pitt, 42-20. Despite the lopsided loss, Pitt goalie Paulina DiFatta had another standout performance with 18 saves. DiFatta had an ACC tournament record 19 saves in Pitt’s win over Louisville on Wednesday. In total, DiFatta broke an ACC tournament record with 37 saves in just two games.
North Carolina stormed out to a 5-1 lead in the first period and out-shot the Panthers, 13-4. If it wasn’t for DiFatta ‘s seven saves in the opening period, the early deficit would have been a lot worse.
North Carolina’s Sam Geiersbach struck first with a goal. Scottie Rose Growney then followed with a goal on a free position shot to give the Tar Heels a 2-0 lead. Pitt answered with a goal by Kate Elam. Jamie Ortega scored a goal to enhance North Carolina’s lead to 3-1 at the 7:13 mark of the first period. Caitlyn Wurzburger delivered the assist. A few minutes later, Wurzburger got a goal of her own. Late in the period, Growney buried a shot past DiFatta to give the Tar Heels a 5-1 advantage.
Carlie Leach scored early in the second period to cut the Tar Heels’ lead to 5-2. Shortly after, Andie Aldave scored her 38th goal of the season to put North Carolina up 6-2. At the 8:12 mark, Ortega scored her second goal of the afternoon on a free position shot. North Carolina continued to control the pace of the game and went into halftime with an 8-3 lead.
DiFatta had 14 saves in the first half against North Carolina. The Tar Heels out-shot Pitt, 24-11, in the first half.
Early in the third period, Ortega earned a hat trick after scoring on a free position shot to put the Tar Heels up 9-3. Rose Growney also got a hat trick and North Carolina had a commanding 11-4 lead with 9:45 remaining in the third period.
Growney continued to dominate and scored her fifth goal of the afternoon to increase North Carolina’s lead to 12-4 with 12:02 left in the fourth period, a lead that wasn’t squandered. The trio of Rose Gowney, Geiersbach and Ortega each had at least three goals. Six different Tar Heels scored goals on the afternoon. Carlie Leach and Elam led the Panthers with two goals each.
