UNC Women’s Lacrosse 2026-27

[airball]

When the 2028 class arrives, I look forward to Coach Levy going with her big midfield lineup:

Sophia Buffardi (2026) 5’10”
Emma Switter (2027) 5’10”
Delaney McCrone (2028) 5’11”

 

[Jriv23]

When the 2028 class arrives, I look forward to Coach Levy going with her big midfield lineup:

Sophia Buffardi (2026) 5’10”
Emma Switter (2027) 5’10”
Delaney McCrone (2028) 5’11”

You left out Charlie R who is 6'0 and will be a sophomore this season and Reese King who is at least 5'10" or 5'11" who will be a sophomore as well.

 

[airball]

Does anyone have a list of the #s to be worn by the new players? I have seen #11 on campus, and it isn't Darcy Felter

Nate, the 2027 roster has not been issued; perhaps we will see it next week. In the meantime, I have seen some pictures that suggest the following jersey numbers for the following freshmen:

#4 Cece Powell
#8 Kady Duffy
#11 Liv Parmer
#24 Emma McCarthy
#28 Gaelle Jones
#32 Leele Bigelow
#35 Ashton Kilfoil
#51 Elizabeth Smith

Not certain about these. Still haven’t seen anything for Sophia Buffardi or Bailey Redford. FWIW, Buffardi is a tall, very blonde midfielder, while Redford is a goalie (not numbered #33 Carovillano, #47 Zenk or #88 Nelson).

EDIT 1 #25 Lexie Reber (transfer from Syracuse)
EDIT 2 #3 (guess) Grace Winkler; last season, she wore #24; I have seen several photos with Emma McCarthy wearing #24, so I am pretty confident that McCarthy is #24; Winkler’s high school number was #3, so I suspect that’s her new number (worn by Kiley Mottice during 2026 season)

 

[Jriv23]

Thanks for sharing.

 

[airball]

The 2027 UNC women’s lacrosse roster has been published on Goheels.com. Here is a list of the new players, new numbers and positions:

#0 Kate Galica SR (M) PA (transfer from Virginia)
#3 Grace Winkler SO (A) CT (wore #24 last season)
#4 Cece Powell FR (A) NY
#8 Kady Duffy FR (A) NY
#11 Alivian Parmer FR (M) PA (suffered an injury in high school last season)
#24 Emma McCarthy FR (A) NJ
#28 Gaelle Jones FR (D) NJ
#29 Lexi Reber JR (D) MD (transfer from Syracuse)
#30 Bailey Redford FR (G) VA
#32 Leele Bigelow FR (M) CO
#35 Ashton Kilfoil FR (D) VA
#42 Jenna Lundstedt SO (M) GA (transfer from So Cal)
#44 Sophia Buffardi FR (M) NY
#51 Elizabeth Smith FR (M) NY

Thirteen new players - 3 transfers (2 x M, 1 x D) 10 freshman (3 x A, 4 x M, 2 x D, 1 x G)

Home state:
Transfers (1 x PA, 1 x MD, 1 x GA)
Freshmen (4 x NY, 2 x NJ, 2 x VA, 1 x CO, 1 x PA)

* #18 Emma Connerty SO (M) MA (didn’t play last season due to high school injury)

 

[Jriv23]

The 2027 UNC women’s lacrosse roster has been published on Goheels.com. Here is a list of the new players, new numbers and positions:

#0 Kate Galica SR (M) PA (transfer from Virginia)
#3 Grace Winkler SO (A) CT (wore #24 last season)
#4 Cece Powell FR (A) NY
#8 Kady Duffy FR (A) NY
#11 Alivian Parmer FR (M) PA (suffered an injury in high school last season)
#24 Emma McCarthy FR (A) NJ
#28 Gaelle Jones FR (D) NJ
#29 Lexi Reber JR (D) MD (transfer from Syracuse)
#30 Bailey Redford FR (G) VA
#32 Leele Bigelow FR (M) CO
#35 Ashton Kilfoil FR (D) VA
#42 Jenna Lundstedt SO (M) GA (transfer from So Cal)
#44 Sophia Buffardi FR (M) NY
#51 Elizabeth Smith FR (M) NY

Thirteen new players - 3 transfers (2 x M, 1 x D) 10 freshman (3 x A, 4 x M, 2 x D, 1 x G)

Home state:
Transfers (1 x PA, 1 x MD, 1 x GA)
Freshmen (4 x NY, 2 x NJ, 2 x VA, 1 x CO, 1 x PA)

* #18 Emma Connerty SO (M) MA (didn’t play last season due to high school injury)

Thanks for posting for us readers. Go Heels!

 

[airball]

Peyla Carcaterra, the top attacker in the class of 2028, committed to Florida yesterday. She picked the Gators over Syracuse, Northwestern and Boston College. Her commitment leaves Ashley Dimnaku as the sole uncommitted 2028 5-star.

 

[oldwell]

Peyla Carcaterra, the top attacker in the class of 2028, committed to Florida yesterday. She picked the Gators over Syracuse, Northwestern and Boston College. Her commitment leaves Ashley Dimnaku as the sole uncommitted 2028 5-star.

Wow - wasn’t it speculated that she was Northwestern bound? Or am I making that up.

Seems like we’ll have the #1 class by a decent margin.

 

[airball]

Wow - wasn’t it speculated that she was Northwestern bound? Or am I making that up.

Seems like we’ll have the #1 class by a decent margin.

Some thought Boston College, others thought Northwestern. From what I was reading, Florida was not identified as being seriously involved so the UF announcement was surprising.

As for Ashley Dimnaku, she is a talented soccer player as well, and there’s discussion that she might play both sports.

 

[oldwell]

Some thought Boston College, others thought Northwestern. From what I was reading, Florida was not identified as being seriously involved so the UF announcement was surprising.

As for Ashley Dimnaku, she is a talented soccer player as well, and there’s discussion that she might play both sports.

Not sure if we’d have the space for her, but no better place to do that than Carolina.

 

[3397char]

Madison Taylor appears in NW practice photos; looks like she is indeed attempting a challenge to the 5in5 rule.

 

[Jriv23]

Not sure if we’d have the space for her, but no better place to do that than Carolina.

Trust me when I say this. If she is that good, both coaches can find the space. Claudia was one that comes to mind. SH and AD made it work. I am sure AD and Jenny have done it as well.

 

[oldwell]

Trust me when I say this. If she is that good, both coaches can find the space. Claudia was one that comes to mind. SH and AD made it work. I am sure AD and Jenny have done it as well.

I agree

 

[airball]

Fall ball tomorrow - Finley Fields

10:00 am dook
12:30 pm Richmond

Deja vu all over again.

Anybody planning to attend?

 

[airball]

Trust me when I say this. If she is that good, both coaches can find the space. Claudia was one that comes to mind. SH and AD made it work. I am sure AD and Jenny have done it as well.

Two Carolina players successfully played both lacrosse and soccer in relatively recent history — Maggie Bill (2014-2018) and Julia Dorsey (2020-2023).

 

[tmatheny]

Did anyone catch the scrimmages this morning?

 

[Nate1972]

Did anyone catch the scrimmages this morning?

I went to the Fall Ball games today, and this is what I could see from ground level. Everything is subject to error on my part.

We beat dook 12-6 and Richmond 9-7. Games were four 12 minute quarters with a running clock throughout.

Players I never saw: Chloe, Galica, Calabria, Ingrili. Betty, and possibly Duffy.

Starters at the first draw were: Rathjen (draw taker), Eliza and Kaleigh on the circle; O’Connor, Levy, Corkins, Traggio, Leonard, Zenk, Roberts, Reber, and Patillo.

dook played zone in quarters 1 and 4, and Man in 2 and 3. We scored only once in the 1st quarter, and only once in open play in the 4th. (also 1 goal when a player up, and one from a free position.) Predictably we did better against the Man defense.

There were very few cards, which was nice. Maybe 1 yellow and 3 or 4 green cards overall. Also not many free positions.

Rathjen and Jenna Lundstedt took all of the draws. Although Rathjen started both games, Jenna probably took 2/3 of them, and I understand why. She barely lost a draw, and won multiple draws to herself. We won draws against dook approx 17-3! Against Richmond it was about 11-6. Additional players who were on the circle besides 15 & 17 were Bigelow, Buffardi, Liz Smith, Dwyer, Conerty and Rathjen. The difference in athleticism and speed between us and the other teams was striking. The ride was very effective.

Zenk played the 1st half against dook, Carovillano played the next 4 quarters, and Redford played the last half against Richmond.

I missed two goal scorers, but the ones I caught were: Cece Powell 4, Levy 3, Osburn 2, Patillo 2, Connerty 1, King 2, Stoltz 2, Buffardi 2, Bigelow 1.

Powell and Lunstedt stood out the most to me among the new (or newish) players.

 

[tmatheny]

Hope nothing is wrong with Chloe, Galica, Calabria, Ingrili and Betty,

 

[tmatheny]

How did the newcomers look?

 

[Nate1972]

In addition to Cece and Jenna who I highlighted, Buffardi, Bigelow and Smith (who I remember also had a goal) probably played the most of the newcomers.

 

[airball]

Nate, thanks for making the effort to be there and for providing these details.

Interesting to me that Emma McCarthy (#24) didn’t make an impression; I thought she might shine.

Thanks again, Nate.

I plan to be at the Oct 24 scrimmages.

 

[Jriv23]

Hope nothing is wrong with Chloe, Galica, Calabria, Ingrili and Betty,

There is nothing wrong with these players. This games our like scrimmages. There is no need to play them. We already know what they can do with the exception of Calabria. Jenny is letting Calabria heel up more. She is probably not ready yet. I like what Jenny is doing. Let the transfers, freshmen and players who hardly played last year play in these games to see what they can do. That is what I would be doing. Besides Payton Magday did not play either. She got hurt. She played a lot last year as a freshman before she got hurt. She is probably not 100% either like Calabria.

 

[Ccccctv]

Hope nothing is wrong with Chloe, Galica, Calabria, Ingrili and Betty,

Chloe is currently with team USA so had to miss the scrimmages.

Not sure about Betty, but Calabria Ingrilli and Galica are all recovering from injuries.

 

[tmatheny]

Thanks for the info. I didnt realize the USA was in training camp until your post. However why wasnt Osburn with US?

 

[airball]

Thanks for the info. I didnt realize the USA was in training camp until your post. However why wasnt Osburn with US?

Eliza Osburn is a member of the USA world championship national team, but is not a member of the USA women’s Sixes team, which has only 12 players on its roster.

Here is an article from USA Lacrosse.com about the Sixes team:

USA Lacrosse Names Roster for Pan-American Women's Sixes Championship | USA Lacrosse (2026)

Nine players who helped the USA win The World Games 2025 championship have been named to the 12-player roster for the Pan-American Women's Sixes Championship, which begins later this month in Canada.

www.usalacrosse.com

 

[airball]

Nate, I watched the short instagram video re: the Heels’s fall ball scrimmages with dook and Richmond and I concur with your assessment that Cece Powell (#4) was impressive (there was negligible footage of Jenna Lundstedt whose performance you also cited).

The video also showed a couple of nice goals by freshman Sophia Buffardi (#44).

 

[airball]

Ashley Dimnaku has committed to Princeton where she is expected to play both lacrosse and soccer. She is the last of Inside Lacrosse’s 2028 5-star rated players to commit.

 

[airball]

The USA Women’s Sixes team opened pool play Wednesday with a 33-10 win over Argentina. USA team leaders: Chloe Humphrey had 6g/3a, Ellie Masera had 5g/2a and Madison Taylor had 5g. Sam Giersbach had 5g for Argentina.

 

[airball]

Here’s an Inside Lacrosse article reporting that all of the top 50 girl players have committed. All seven of UNC’s commits are in the top 50; Maryland and Clemson are second with 4 top-50 recruits.

https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/2028-recruiting-every-top-50-player-committed-as-no-4-overall-dimnaku-picks-princeton/cf5f56e8-3323-4aeb-8c50-eda44a08dd99

 

[oldwell]

Here’s an Inside Lacrosse article reporting that all of the top 50 girl players have committed. All seven of UNC’s commits are in the top 50; Maryland and Clemson are second with 4 top-50 recruits.

https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/2028-recruiting-every-top-50-player-committed-as-no-4-overall-dimnaku-picks-princeton/cf5f56e8-3323-4aeb-8c50-eda44a08dd99

Odd that NW didn’t land a top recruit? Did I miss something?

 

[airball]

With 5in5, NW will probably draw from the transfer portal, particularly from Ivy Leaguers since those schools don’t offer players a fifth year. The portal has been a significant source of the Wildcats’ recent resurgence.

While on the subject, today IL provides the 2027 grad student portal, which is for players who want to transfer after the 2027 season. The list has 38 names, 28 of which are Ivy Leaguers.

https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/di-womens-transfer-portal-tracker-2027/3846d1f1-ca20-4d7d-9430-659fe615ad53

 

[3397char]

With 5in5, NW will probably draw from the transfer portal, particularly from Ivy Leaguers since those schools don’t offer players a fifth year. The portal has been a significant source of the Wildcats’ recent resurgence.

While on the subject, today IL provides the 2027 grad student portal, which is for players who want to transfer after the 2027 season. The list has 38 names, 28 of which are Ivy Leaguers.

https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/di-womens-transfer-portal-tracker-2027/3846d1f1-ca20-4d7d-9430-659fe615ad53

This list has obviously only just started, but the only notable names I see right now are Ruby Sliwkowski (Brown) & Catherine Berkery (Penn) who both were 1st team All-Ivy. That should play anywhere.

Michelle Zhai (Columbia) has over 100 career points but she is more of a best-player/bad-team distinction that is hard to quantify elsewhere.

 

[unc80]

Odd that NW didn’t land a top recruit? Did I miss something?

Who needs elite recruits when the refs gift you national championships?

 

[airball]

Northwestern’s 2028 class has a 7 players, five of which are graded as four stars, including the #34 and #39 players in the class.

KAH typically recruits non-traditional areas (only 1 of the 2028 class members is from the hotbeds of New York and Maryland). She has an eye for talent and develops her players. But her recent success (after a middling decade 2013-2022) has relied heavily on the transfer portal.

PLAYER	POSITION	HIGH SCHOOL	CLUB	COMMITMENT DATE
Anne Marie Zukauskas	M	Thayer Academy - Mass.	Laxachusetts 2028 Black	09/13/2026	Verified		#34 class of 2028
Emmy Leonard	A	Fairview - Colo.	Concept Lacrosse 2028	09/11/2026	Verified		#39 class of 2028
Jordin Rosga	M		Yellow Jackets Maget/Bertolone 2028	09/08/2026	Verified		--
Lucy Whipple	M	Irondequoit - N.Y.	Aces Elite 2028	09/12/2026	Verified		Watchlist class of 2028
Kathleen Hardy	M	Nazareth Academy - Ill.	Lacrosse Monkey 2028	09/13/2026	Verified		--
Cora Kelley	A	St. Teresa's Academy - Mo.	KCLC 2027	09/08/2026	Verified		--
Josie Craytor	M	Fairview - Colo.

 

[Jriv23]

Who needs elite recruits when the refs gift you national championships?

I agree totally with this statement. There are two national championship games that I still get mad when I think about them that we lost because of the referees cheating. The most recent one was us against NW in Lacrosse this past season at their stadium and the other one is the UCLA vs UNC in women's soccer a couple of years ago when our goalie got pushed and that was how the UCLA girl scored in the closing seconds of that game which we could have won.

 

[airball]

In its second pool game I Pan-Am games Sixes lacrosse on Friday, the USA defeated Brazil 36-1. Four USA players had 5 goals: Brigid Duffy 5g/4a, Emma LoPinto 5g/4a, Chloe Humphrey 5g/2a and Ellie Masera 5g/2a.

The USA closes out pool play Saturday against Puerto Rico, which is also undefeated.

 

[airball]

UNC goes on the road for fall ball scrimmages against Johns Hopkins (a 2026 Final 4 participant) on Saturday and Loyola on Sunday

 

[Chooch]

Is the lacrosse team playing a scrimmage game in Maryland today? Thanks.

 

[oldwell]

Is the lacrosse team playing a scrimmage game in Maryland today? Thanks.

Yes - John Hopkins.

 

[Jriv23]

Can someone please provide us with an update on our the youngsters played as well as some of our other players who might have played a little bit last season? Thanks.