BALTIMORE (theACC.com) – With a pair of fourth-quarter comebacks in Friday’s semifinals at Baltimore’s Homewood Field, Boston College and North Carolina both advanced to the NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Championship Game, setting up an All-ACC final on Sunday.
Trailing 14-7 in the fourth quarter, top-seeded North Carolina (21-0) scored the final eight goals to top No. 4 seed Northwestern, 15-14, in the first game of the day. No. 3 seed Boston College (19-3) came back from a 16-13 deficit in the fourth quarter, scoring a goal in the waning seconds to oust No. 2 seed Maryland, 17-16.
The Tar Heels and Eagles will square off for the third time this season at noon Sunday on ESPN. UNC won the first two meetings, 16-15 on March 20 at BC and 16-9 on May 7 in the ACC Championship Game at UNC. The winner will claim the ACC’s 17th women’s lacrosse NCAA championship. BC is aiming for its second straight national championship, while UNC is shooting for the third title in program history.
The Sunday contest marks the sixth time that ACC teams will face off in the national championship game, including the second straight (1998, 1999, 2013, 2014, 2021, 2022). BC topped Syracuse, 16-10, in the 2021 title game and will be playing in the championship game for the fifth straight tournament.
The ACC has placed at least one team in the national title game for the 12th time in the last 13 tournaments.
The winner Sunday also becomes the ACC's seventh team national champion this season, which is the most of any conference and matches the ACC record for most national titles in an academic year, set in 2009-10. The ACC also has brought home titles in women's cross country (NC State), women's soccer (Florida State), men's soccer (Clemson), women's swimming & diving (Virginia), fencing (Notre Dame) and men's tennis (Virginia).
After falling behind by as many as eight goals Friday, North Carolina staged a late rally, capped by Sam Geiersbach’s go-ahead score with 1:03 remaining, the last of her five fourth-quarter goals. She scored the Tar Heels’ final four goals, all unassisted, with her game-winner giving UNC its first lead of the afternoon. The eight-goal comeback is the largest by any team on NCAA Championship Weekend since Virginia overcame a nine-goal deficit in the 2007 semifinals to beat Duke.
Boston College trailed 16-13 with just over seven minutes remaining before rattling off the final four goals. Cassidy Weeks scored off a tremendous feed into traffic from Caitlynn Mossman with 18 seconds left for the go-ahead score, marking the Eagles’ seventh fourth-period goal on seven shots. Charlotte North scored six goals to lead BC.
2022 NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Championship
Friday, May 27 - Semifinals
No. 1 North Carolina 15, No. 4 Northwestern 14
No. 3 Boston College 17, No. 2 Maryland 16
Sunday, May 29 - Championship (Homewood Field, Baltimore)
No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 3 Boston College, Noon, ESPN