CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Ava Arceri’s hat trick tally in the fourth quarter provided a spark but a late comeback effort was stymied as the No. 11/9 Stanford lacrosse team fell in its first-ever Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championship game to the No. 1 North Carolina Tar Heels on Sunday afternoon, 12-8.
Arceri led the Cardinal with three goals on the day while five players found the back of the net including Rylee Bouvier who grabbed a brace as both players were named to the ACC All-Tournament Team. Kaleigh Sommers earned a team-high three caused turnovers while Lucy Pearson nabbed eight saves in her third game back from an extended absence.
Stanford (15-4, 8-2 ACC) stormed out of the gates in Sunday’s affair, quickly doubling-up the Tar Heels (16-1, 10-0 ACC) just over three minutes into the contest. Rylee Bouvier got the scoring started with a shot off a feed from Mallory Hasselbeck while Arceri snagged her first of the afternoon off an assist from Amanda Lawson.
However, UNC found an answer to the early Stanford rush, working through a 4-0 run that included two power-play tallies and a free-position conversion that gave the Tar Heels a 4-2 advantage with 6:17 to go in the first quarter. However, Stanford went right back to work as Lawson dodged toward the cage and wired a shot into the netting to cut the deficit to one heading into the second quarter.
UNC opened the scoring in the second quarter with a Kate Levy tally before Stanford answered with another Arceri trademark shot to keep Stanford in reach. However, the Tar Heels avenged the Arceri tally with a 3-0 scoring run midway through the frame to jump out to an 8-4 lead. The Cardinal, though, busted through in the final moments of the half with Bouvier once again finding the back of the net to see Stanford into the break down, 8-5.
In what was a blistering scoring-spree in the first half, Stanford looked to lock down the nation’s top offense in the second half. The Cardinal, having given up a 3-0 run to the Tar Heels to begin the third quarter, did so for the remainder of the afternoon to stymie UNC’s potent offense and fuel the comeback. Stanford’s defense forced 7 of UNC’s 12 turnovers on the day in the second half while the Cardinal earned contributions from multiple players including Olivia Leahy who slotted in at defence in the second quarter.
On the offensive end, Stanford broke the scoreless drought with Annabel Frist’s tally in the final minute to cut the lead down to five. In the fourth, Stanford secured two more goals with Jordyn Case finding her way through on a free-position goal while Arceri completed the hat trick with another trademark finish to bring Stanford within three. However, UNC was able to kill off the remaining moments of the match, tallying the final goal of the game with eight minutes to go to as the Cardinal fell, 12-8.
Stanford now waits for the NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Tournament Selection Show on Sunday, May 3, to see its postseason picture.