LI's Sam Geiersbach scores 5 goals down stretch in North Carolina women's lacrosse comeback
North Carolina attacker Sam Geiersbach, center, shouts with Ally Mastroianni, Olivia Dirks (27) and Andie Aldave (31) after scoring a goal against Northwestern in the the semifinals of the NCAA Division I women's lacrosse tournament at Homewood Field, Friday, May 27, 2022, in Baltimore. Credit: AP/Karl Merton Ferron
Sam Geiersbach scored all five of her goals in the final 5 minutes, 27 seconds, including the winner with 1:03 left, as North Carolina came back from an eight-goal, second-half deficit to beat Northwestern, 15-14, in the NCAA women's lacrosse tournament semifinals Friday in Baltimore.
Geiersbach, a graduate student from West Babylon, started her streak with 5:27 left in the game to get the Tar Heels to 14-10.
Scottie Rose Growney scored with 5:00 left to make it 14-11, then Geiersbach struck again with 4:33 to go, 3:15 and 2:25.
The No. 1 Tar Heels (21-0) forced a turnover with 2:07 left and Geiersbach scored the winner 1:04 later on a shot from about 8 yards in front into the upper right corner of the net. It was her 34th goal of the season.
Goalie Taylor Moreno, also a grad student, a Tewaaraton finalist this season and a consensus first-team All-American, made five saves, including one with 28 seconds left against Northwestern's Lauren Gilbert.
Jamie Ortega, a fifth-year student and consensus first-team All-American from Centereach, had three goals and three assists. Ally Mastroianni also had three goals. Geiersbach added two assists.
Gilbert scored five goals for No. 4 seed Northwestern (16-5), which had leads of 6-0 at the end of the first quarter, 8-2 at the half and its largest lead of 11-3 with a little more than 6 minutes left in the third quarter.
UNC coach Jenny Levy said: “I didn’t have the team ready to roll, and luckily for me, I’ve got fabulous student-athletes who found a way to win today. Overall, just an unbelievable game. We scored 10 of the last 11 goals of the game with so many contributions from so many players, and a lot of effort and refusing to go away. I’m incredibly proud and grateful that we get two more days with this crew.”
The Tar Heels on Sunday will face No. 3 seed Boston College in the final.
Boston College 17, Maryland 16: The Eagles scored the final four goals, including Cassidy Weeks’ winner with 18.8 seconds left. Charlotte North had six goals for No. 3 seed BC (19-3), including the tying goal with 3:06 to play, her 88th score of the season.
Weeks, a senior from Bayport-Blue Point, had two goals and an assist. Jenn Medjid, a senior from Garden City, had three goals and two assists. Kayla Martello, a sophomore from Rockville Centre (Sacred Heart) had three goals.
Hannah Leubecker scored five goals for Maryland.
