COLLEGE PREVIEW 2014 NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN’S TOP 20 1 Sloane Serpe
Key Game The Tar Heels will hang an
NCAA title banner at Fetzer Field and then realize just how challenging its title defense will be against a hungry Florida team that’s out to prove it hasn’t fallen back in the hunt.
N
Enemy Lines WHAT RIVAL COACHES SAY
“Fast, feisty and confident coming off a national championship… They have finally gotten the can’t-win-the- big-games monkey off their backs… Coaching staff is one of the hardest- working groups, stay humble enough. They have the support of their peers come tournament time…Lost strong senior class, but as the championship showed, it doesn’t always take veterans to get the job done.”
North Carolina TAR HEELS
2013 RECORD: 18-3 (4-1 ACC) COACH: JENNY LEVY (18TH YEAR) • RECORD AT NORTH CAROLINA: 242-95
09 10 11 12 13
Schedule Feb 8
Feb 14 Feb 19 Feb 22 Feb 27 Mar 2 Mar 8
Mar 12 Mar 15 Mar 22 Mar 26 Mar 30 Apr 5
Apr 12 Apr 16 Apr 19
orth Carolina coach Jenny Levy calls them “pleasurable
distractions.” They include appearing at halftime
of a Tar Heels football game, and getting gear emblazoned with “2013 NCAA champions” on it. Last May, for the first time in team history, North Carolina won an NCAA championship. In 2014, there will be another first: defending the title. North Carolina returns so much of
the national title team that it’s hard not to think of a repeat. Leading scorer and Tewaaraton finalist Kara Cannizzaro graduated, as did two other starters in
midfielders
Jess Griffin and Emily Garrity. But Brittany
Coppa,
a 56.2-percent shooter, and Taylor George can fill the void. And there’s always the chance a freshman — like
Nike/US Lacrosse National
High School Player of the Year Carly Reed or Maggie Bill, a forward for the Tar Heels’ soccer team — breaks out in a big way. The defense features returning All- American Sloane Serpe and Margaret Corzel, although Serpe sat out the fall with an injury. On attack, Abbey Friend has slick inside moves and pinpoint shooting.
52 LACROSSE MAGAZINE February 2014 >>
Top Returner A ABBEY FRIEND (SR.)
Friend had a terrific 2013 with UNC and Canada. Her sharp cuts and creative shooting make her extremely tough to mark.
If the Tar Heels think about the 2013 championship at all, it’s mostly about the dynamics of the game itself, an instant- classic triple-overtime thriller in which the Tar Heels beat then-undefeated Maryland 13-12 before more than 9,000 fans. “We had so much positive feedback
from the championship game, and the sport really had a lot of energy around it,” Levy said. “Look at the elements of that game that really engaged fans and people who don’t know much about the sport, because they’re the future of growth.” Levy liked the back-and-forth nature —
both Maryland and North Carolina are loathe to stall — and the game’s speed and high score. She opposes the new post-goal stick-check rule, because it slows down the pace of the game. “The NCAA right now, their focus on all
of their sports is how to play faster, how to make it more fan-friendly and how to make it more media friendly. We have to be aware of that, and we are not,” Levy said. “We have to look at our sport from an unbiased view, not a traditional view and say what’s the best for the fans and best
for the growth of the sport,” she said. — Clare Lochary
Florida
Boston University Canisius
Vanderbilt
Notre Dame Penn
at Virginia Elon
Georgetown
at Boston College Virginia Tech
at Northwestern Maryland
at Syracuse Duke
Towson
Projected Starters A Abbey Friend (Sr.)* G: 47
A Ally Messinger (So.)* G: 31
A Taylor George (Sr.)* G: 31
A: 15 A: 15 A: 6
M Brittney Coppa (Sr.)* G: 36
M Sammy Jo Tracy (So.)* DC: 30
M Mallory Frysinger (So.)* GB: 21
M Devin Markison (So.) G: 10
DC: 33 G: 15 CT: 9 GB: 7
M Maggie Bill (Fr.) G: 55
D Sloane Serpe (Sr.)* GB: 26
D Margaret Corzel (Jr.)* GB: 38
D Caileigh Sindall (Jr.)* GB: 14
G Megan Ward (Jr.)* GAA: 8.54
* returning starters X-Factor M MAGGIE BILL (FR.)
The loss of Kara Cannizzaro, Jess Griffin and Emily Garrity means that the midfield is the spot most in need of a breakthrough performance. Could Bill be the one?
Power Ratings (SCALE OF 1-5)
5 5 5 5 OFFENSE DEFENSE GOALIE DRAW A Publication of US Lacrosse
GB: 55 (at St. Anthony’s) CT: 16 CT: 17 CT: 9
SV%: 48.7
Tournament Trend
CHAMP GAME FINAL FOUR
FINAL FOUR QUARTERS
NCAA CHAMPIONS
©JOHN STROHSACKER (SS, AF, BG, TC); ©JOHN MECIONIS (MB); ©PEYTON WILLIAMS (KM)
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