North Carolina coach Jenny Slinguff Levy hoisted the ACC championship trophy high Sunday afternoon after the Tar Heels won the ACC Tournament with an 11-10 victory over seven-time defending national champion Maryland.
The Tar Heels were led by ACC Most Valuable Player Christine McPike, who tallied five goals as North Carolina (13-2) won its first ever ACC women's lacrosse title.
Following the celebration, an emotional Levy reminisced about the beginning of the program seven years ago, when club players and Title IX helped make women's lacrosse a varsity sport in Chapel Hill.
"Every player who has come through the Carolina program has helped us get to this point," Levy said.
Although McPike's performance was nothing short of extraordinary, the play of North Carolina's defense was just as insurmountable for the No. 12 Terrapins (9-7).
"They played great defense and came [through] in the clutch," Maryland sophomore Kelly Coppedge said.
Terp senior Meredith Egan expressed her chagrined compliments as well.
"They just swarmed all over us," she said.
Legendary coach Cindy Timchal was very excited for North Carolina's senior class, which boasts four All-Americans and is six members strong.
"It's great to see Carolina win it--honestly," Timchal said. "The seniors on this team deserve it."
"And if we'd played a little better today, then we would have deserved it."
North Carolina maintained a four-goal lead with just 3:50 left, but Maryland closed to within one in the final span. At 11-10, a foul on McPike gave Maryland a free position near the goal.
McPike's reaction to the foul was emblematic of that of the vociferous contingent of Tar Heel fans at the game.
"OOh, no!'" McPike said. "Then we just had to get in front of the ball and stop her."
Despite Maryland's charge, Thompson felt that her teammates maintained their composure well.
"We needed to go a little bit harder at the end," Thompson said. "I don't think we ever second-guessed ourselves."
"I think it's a great step towards where we want to be at the end of the season."
There was a little taste of Duke following the game, as senior Kelly Dirks was named to the All-Tournament team.
The 2002 All-ACC team for the regular season included three Blue Devils as junior midfielder Lauren Gallagher and senior goalkeeper Kristen Foster were named first team All-ACC. Sophomore Caline McHenry was named an at-large selection for the team.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.