Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/24/13
From Press Release and Staff Report
The third-seeded North Carolina women’s lacrosse team will make its fourth appearance in the NCAA Tournament semifinals in the last five years when it faces second-seeded Northwestern on Friday at 5 p.m. at Villanova Stadium in Villanova, Pa. Carolina will be making its seventh appearance in the NCAA semis.
The game will be live streamed online by ESPN3. Click here to buy tickets.
“We are excited and honored to be part of such an elite group of programs,” says head coach Jenny Levy. “This weekend will certainly provide all the spectators with some brilliant play, some inspiration and some nervous moments.
“Every year, each team starts the year with the goal of getting to championship weekend. We are proud of our players and program to be one of the four teams still competing. We’ve been on a great journey this year. We’ve got a lot of new faces on the field, as we’ve graduated a lot through the years. We’ve continued to work hard to build and grow. We will continue to do that through the weekend and are excited to see great competition.”
Friday’s matchup will be the fourth meeting between UNC (16-3) and Northwestern (19-2) in the NCAA Tournament in the last five years (2009 national title game, 2010 semifinal, 2011 semifinal, 2013 semifinal).
Carolina beat unseeded Loyola, 19-9, and Virginia, 13-9, to advance to Friday’s semifinals. The Wildcats beat Stanford and Penn State at home to advance to Villanova.
The winner of Friday’s contest will advance to Sunday’s championship game to face the winner of Friday’s second semifinal between top-seeded Maryland and fourth-seeded Syracuse.
UNC beat Northwestern 11-8 earlier this season in Chapel Hill on Feb. 22. Northwestern leads the all-time series with North Carolina, 10-3. The teams have played in the regular season every year since 2005 and will be meeting in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in the last five years.
Friday’s game will be the ninth meeting between Carolina and Northwestern in the last five seasons (since 2009). UNC is 0-4 against Northwestern in NCAA Tournament play (Wildcat wins in the 2006 quarterfinals, the 2009 national championship game, the 2010 semifinals and the 2011 semifinals).
Philly connection for UNC
Senior midfielder Emily Garrity (Strath Haven) has been a standout in the post-season and has collected 15 goals, 17 assists, 29 groundballs, 33 draw controls and 19 caused turnovers for the Tar Heels.
Sophomore defender Margeret Corzel (Merion Mercy) has 38 groundballs and 17 caused turnovers and is one of the team’s key close defenders. Sophomore Kelly Devlin (Downingtown East) is a key midfield reserve and has five goals and 11 draw controls.
Northwestern Philly connection
Starting goalie Bridget Bianco (Moorestown) has started every game and has 120 saves and a 7.47 goals against average.
Sophomore attack Blake McHugh (Episcopal Academy) has one goal in nine games. Junior midfielder Jess Roy (Pennridge) has played in six games.
