UNC Women’s Lacrosse 2025-2026
- Thread starter airball
- Start date
And it looked like she was bumped into the crease by the NW player.
I would actually like the second one explained more. The Northwestern player made an unnatural move to get in the way. Even with that, i’m not even sure it made contact and it certainly wasn’t an out of control play. Given where the NW girl was, Godine made an awesome play and it somehow cost us the game
2 things - surprised there were 0 shooting space calls and only a couple of FPS. Much different from previous games.
Wish Chloe would play more up top instead of behind. She could have dodged more and maybe drawn some shooting space calls.
Wish Chloe would play more up top instead of behind. She could have dodged more and maybe drawn some shooting space calls.
In real time, there was nothing that gave me pause as to this being a good goal, but as soon as I saw the officials huddled together I knew they were cooking up some BS.
A completely inexplicable, indefensible call, especially given the stakes.
Question to those who watch women's lax regularly.
How many times this season have you seen a goal overturned? Is it common? And how often does one overturned and a penalty tacked on?
SECTION 13. Goal Circle Fouls: Outside of the goalkeeper, one of the following criteria must be met for a player to enter, or to have any portion of their body or stick on or over, the goal circle at any time:
a. On a shot, the shooter may follow through with their stick over the goal circle; however, the shooter’s feet must not touch the goal circle. The shooting motion must be initiated from outside the goal circle.
yhe key phrase here is “at any time” so technically, that includes after the shot is made and goes is the net.
but you don’t often see a goal circle violattion this long after a made goal. And she was pushed from behind.
conversely, NW scored their last goal on a much clearer circle violation, but no whistles nor review.
Goal overturned is pretty common. Probably at least one a game on average for circle violation, stick violation or dangerous follow-through. Charging sometimes too though that is more rare.
dangerous follow through is by definition a card, so that is the normal outcome.
but the two overturned this game were bad calls. Plain and simple. And the one not overturned on NW also a bad call. Three goal Swing on the face of it, and even more when you consider that NW scored on the yellow card.
Stepping in the circle is not a foul. The NW player stepped on the line as she shot and the goal was not waived off . The rule only applies when the refs choose to apply it
Well. my fears came to life yesterday. I was afraid that NW would be given home cooking my the referees and yest it did happened on those three clips. Which erased 3 goals. This is what I stated about a team playing the national championship game in their own stadium. They made sure that NW won the game IMO. Also, I am going to go ahead and say it now. Chloe tied Madison Taylor for the most goals scored ever in a single season, and she did it as a sophomore and not a junior like MT. I got this feeling that the committee is going to give the Tewaaraton Award to MT when we all know that CH is the best player in women's college lacrosse. Which is another bias IMO.
.
.
Let’s be mad at the rules, not the refs (except for Godine’s goal - but the rules for that one too), I agree they took away the game, but it’s because the rule book is the way it is
Disagree. The rules exist as they are because women play the sport with near zero protective equipment. You can’t be swinging your stick without care for who you hit and goalies are protected in tons of sports.
the interpretation was the failure here. No different than basketball or football where the rules are pretty solid but you don’t want refs deciding the game.
To be clear I am not a ref hater. It is a really hard job and fans demonizing refs only discourage competent people from joining or staying in the profession. That is a serious problem across sports. We get the benefit of replays in super slomo and 10 angles to see a call. Mistakes will happen as long as humans are making judgement calls.
but the fact is, these multiple calls were missed in this game and it arguably decided a championship. All in one teams favor. And all of them either were reviewed or could have been. That is a shame.
here are Levy’s comments on the matter:
Posting these just to show it is not our biased fan opinion; it is trending across the lacrosse media:
Last edited:
Holy Moley, I did not realize that Gresham played on a torn ACL. That is insane commitment to the team and she played well 
Chloe Humphrey was named 2026 NCAA D1 most Outstanding Player today.
The problem is the inconsistency even with the benefit of review. When NW played Colorado, MT hit a Colorado player in the head on a shot follow through. The refs looked at replays and did not give her a card (she would have been ejected for a 2nd yellow card) and Colorado would have been a player up for 2 minutes with a chance to win in OT. Comparing that to the card given to Godine shows the ridiculous inconsistency. Godine did not hit the defender and showed tremendous control on her follow through.
Just inexcusable.
Just inexcusable.
By my calculation, ten players have exhausted their eligibility following the 2026 season. Two fifth year players from the high school class of 2021 — Sam Forrest and Brooklyn Walker Welch —distinguished themselves as All-American defenders at Carolina. UNC’s class of 2021 was not considered particularly strong; Forrest (#24) was the only 5-star recruit according to Inside Lacrosse while BWW, a Canadian, was considered a top-100 recruit.
The high school class of 2022 was a bellwether class for the Tar Heels. It featured six 5-star recruits and was the first of a succession of exceptional classes recruited by Coach Levy and her staff. Class of ’22 players who have completed their eligibility are Caroline Godine (IC #8), Darcy Felter (IC #17), Kiley Mottice (IC #18) and Ellie Cabrera (IC #24). The class also included Marisa White (IC #2), who transferred after the 2025 season and defender Molly Longfield. Two members of this class — Kayleigh Harden (IC #12) and Ellie Traggio (IC top 100) have missed seasons due to injury and are expected to return for the 2027 season. Both have been multi-year starters during their UNC careers.
Three players transferred to UNC and were members of the 2026 team: Sophie Straka (Yale) and Negai Nakazawa (Louisville) contributed for one season, while Sarah Gresham took draws for the Heels for two seasons. Gresham‘s heroic participation in the championship game with an ACL injury was an inspiration to her teammates.
Much appreciation to these players who distinguished themselves as Tar Heels.
The high school class of 2022 was a bellwether class for the Tar Heels. It featured six 5-star recruits and was the first of a succession of exceptional classes recruited by Coach Levy and her staff. Class of ’22 players who have completed their eligibility are Caroline Godine (IC #8), Darcy Felter (IC #17), Kiley Mottice (IC #18) and Ellie Cabrera (IC #24). The class also included Marisa White (IC #2), who transferred after the 2025 season and defender Molly Longfield. Two members of this class — Kayleigh Harden (IC #12) and Ellie Traggio (IC top 100) have missed seasons due to injury and are expected to return for the 2027 season. Both have been multi-year starters during their UNC careers.
Three players transferred to UNC and were members of the 2026 team: Sophie Straka (Yale) and Negai Nakazawa (Louisville) contributed for one season, while Sarah Gresham took draws for the Heels for two seasons. Gresham‘s heroic participation in the championship game with an ACL injury was an inspiration to her teammates.
Much appreciation to these players who distinguished themselves as Tar Heels.
Last edited:
Really strong senior class and some key players lost, especially on defense and draw control
Last edited:
E. Traggio should be back for us next year along with some other players that got injured this season, Tess Calabria, Payton Magday, etc.
We will definitely need to find a draw specialist for next year. Hopefully we can find one in the portal to go with Charlotte R.
Probably shouldn't have said after the Maryland game (in the broadcast booth, no less) that she definitely wanted to play NW rather than JHU. Bulletin-board material right there.
This has to be the preseaon #1 with a chip on their shoulder.
Experts, please chime in with what Levy could have done differently to win the game (assuming refs were unbiased).
I think Chloe should have touched the ball more on top/45 degree angle sides where her dodging ability could have drawn more shooting space penalties thus FPS.
I think Chloe should have touched the ball more on top/45 degree angle sides where her dodging ability could have drawn more shooting space penalties thus FPS.
Mottice, Felter and Godine were very productive players. Mottice was an attacker as a freshman and a two-way midfielder for her last three years while the other two were exclusively attackers. Because her playing time and stats were reduced as a junior, people forget that Felter had 24g/7a as a sophomore. None of the three was a leading scorer, but playing with Chloe Humphrey, Addison Pattillo and Marisa White limits your shots. Here are the career stats for each of them.
Kiley Mottice, midfielder (two-year team captain)
97g/ 27a/ .524 sh%/ 76 gb/ 40 cto
Darcy Felter, attacker (2026 Athletic Director Scholar)
72g/ 27a/ .483 sh%/ 33 gb/ 4 cto
Caroline Godine, attacker (2023 ACC all tourney, AA HM, 2nd team All Region)
101g/ 90a/ .419 sh%/ 34 gb/ 9 cto
All three had games where they were critical to Heel victories. Their leadership was stellar and they were excellent students (all three were multi-year All-ACC academics) and exemplary representatives of the university.
Kiley Mottice, midfielder (two-year team captain)
97g/ 27a/ .524 sh%/ 76 gb/ 40 cto
Darcy Felter, attacker (2026 Athletic Director Scholar)
72g/ 27a/ .483 sh%/ 33 gb/ 4 cto
Caroline Godine, attacker (2023 ACC all tourney, AA HM, 2nd team All Region)
101g/ 90a/ .419 sh%/ 34 gb/ 9 cto
All three had games where they were critical to Heel victories. Their leadership was stellar and they were excellent students (all three were multi-year All-ACC academics) and exemplary representatives of the university.
Last edited:
Godine dynamically split time a X with Chloe this season right? a critical position on offense.
In general, while I agree that our graduating attackers were great and key contributors, we have tons of young star talent on that side of the ball, where concern is not too high. But I think the losses on defense and draw control will be more obviously felt and a little less apparent who will step up.
Good sign that Chloe won the IWLCA POY award.
beat me to it, another POY award in the bag!
And I think it is notable that Maddie Taylor at NW did not win IWLCA midfielder of the year; they gave that to the woman at Army who is also a Tewaaraton finalist.
IWLCA Announces 2026 Division I Players of the Year
www.iwlca.org
Godine and Chloe both played at X, but frequently played together, so they didn’t split time in that sense.
Losing two AA defenders is a huge loss. BWW was not quite herself this season, but Sam Forrest was arguably the best man-to-man defender in the country the past two years. While these two can’t be replaced, Ellie Traggio returns from injury next season and UNC adds highly regarded sophomore Lexi Reber (Syracuse) via the transfer portal. GraceAnn Leonard and Avery Roberts also return. We have some talented defensive players on the roster, but Forrest and BWW are almost irreplaceable.
On the draw circle, we have incredible circle players (Kayleigh Harden, Eliza Osburn, Kate Levy), which is a big plus. Sarah Gresham really played well late in the season and really will be missed. Charlotte Rathjen will improve with experience and there is always the possibility that the transfer portal will provide a draw specialist.
The attack potentially has an embarrassment of returning riches, but it’s hard to identify the candidates until the transfer portal smoke clears. Furthermore, the incoming freshman class has some talented attackers (Cece Powell, Emma McCarthy).
So I would have to agree that defense appears to be the area where we suffered the most significant losses. But the experience and leadership of Godine, Mottice and Felter undoubtedly will be missed.
Last edited:
You forgot to mentioned Charlotte Corkins who was a starter on the defensive side of the ball. Corkins had a heel of a year. Remember she was coming off an ACL injury she had her senior year in high school. She did a superb job defensively. She will be back as well. I think the draw specialist will be an area that will need to be addressed.
Having trouble letting this one go, mainly because I keep seeing stuff on socials about the officiating. Algorithm keeping me mad, lol.
I mentioned a while back that I think UNC’s incoming freshman class could be special. I got the response that the class is ranked #1 so of course it should be special. Well, all #1 classes are not created equal. UNC’s sophomore class (class of 2024) (Pattillo, Levy, Osburn, Corkins, Zenk, Calabria, etc.) is what I consider a “special” #1 class (three AAs as sophomores).
I bring this up because one of tonight’s Tewaaraton candidates is Brigid Duffy from Army, who has already been named the IWLCA Midfielder of the Year. Duffy is a senior from Queensbury, NY, a small town at the foot of the Adirondacks in eastern NY. Duffy was unranked by IC coming out of high school. She did not get much notoriety because she hadn’t played in a lot of showcases, etc. I suspect that much of the reason that she missed these events was because she has nine younger siblings. Raising 10 children probably doesn’t allow a lot of opportunity to travel the showcase circuit.
Anyway, I mention this because UNC’s incoming class includes attacker Kady Duffy. Like sister Brigid, she hasn’t gotten a lot of visibility, but IC didn’t overlook another Duffy — she’s ranked 4-stars. As you would expect, there isn’t a lot of information about Kady, but one poster said she’s the “real deal” and she put up big numbers for Queensbury. Another reason to like her is she was recruited by Jenny Levy’s staff. She would seem to be an excellent candidate to have a strong upside.
(In the preliminary rankings, UNC’s 2026 class has six 5-stars, three 4-stars and an unranked player. One of the reasons I am enthusiastic about the class Is I think all four players not ranked as 5-stars have excellent potential. Two are defenders, a position of need for the Heels; the fourth is a goalie.)
I bring this up because one of tonight’s Tewaaraton candidates is Brigid Duffy from Army, who has already been named the IWLCA Midfielder of the Year. Duffy is a senior from Queensbury, NY, a small town at the foot of the Adirondacks in eastern NY. Duffy was unranked by IC coming out of high school. She did not get much notoriety because she hadn’t played in a lot of showcases, etc. I suspect that much of the reason that she missed these events was because she has nine younger siblings. Raising 10 children probably doesn’t allow a lot of opportunity to travel the showcase circuit.
Anyway, I mention this because UNC’s incoming class includes attacker Kady Duffy. Like sister Brigid, she hasn’t gotten a lot of visibility, but IC didn’t overlook another Duffy — she’s ranked 4-stars. As you would expect, there isn’t a lot of information about Kady, but one poster said she’s the “real deal” and she put up big numbers for Queensbury. Another reason to like her is she was recruited by Jenny Levy’s staff. She would seem to be an excellent candidate to have a strong upside.
(In the preliminary rankings, UNC’s 2026 class has six 5-stars, three 4-stars and an unranked player. One of the reasons I am enthusiastic about the class Is I think all four players not ranked as 5-stars have excellent potential. Two are defenders, a position of need for the Heels; the fourth is a goalie.)
Last edited:
I saw that too airball that two coming into to UNC for the 2026 class are defenders. Airball, you left Charlotte Corkins name out as a defender who started for us this past season. She will also be back next year. I do agree that losing two AA defenders is going to hurt but I also believed that Corkins, Grace Ann Leonard, and Avery Roberts learned alot from being able to practice with and from being around BWW and Sam Forrest. I know I would have been picking their brains, studying their techniques, picking up pointers, etc. this whole season.