No. 20 Clemson drops 18-9 to No. 8 North Carolina

Clemson, S.C. – The No. 20 Clemson Tigers dropped 18-9 to the No. 8 North Carolina Tar Heels on Saturday, March 9 at the Clemson Lacrosse Complex. Kayla Macleod led the way for the Tigers as she recorded a career high four goals. 

Today’s game marked the first time Clemson has lost the draw control battle all season, as UNC secured 20 of the game’s 30 draws. With that, North Carolina had a lot more scoring opportunities, shooting 38 shots compared to Clemson’s 20. The game had nine total free position shots, with UNC scoring on two of them and Clemson scoring on three of them. 

Regan Byrne immediately made her presence known as she scored the first goal of the day. However, UNC followed shortly behind and went on to score six consecutive goals into the second quarter. Kayla Macleod snapped the Tar Heels scoring streak with a powerful shot from outside, making the score 6-2 with 11:30 left in the first half. 

With two goals from Regan Byrne and Natalie Shurteff  at the end of the half, Clemson went into halftime down 9-4. UNC opened the second half with two goals of their own. Kayla Macleod then notched her second of the day off a free position. The next Clemson goal came from defender Paris Masarachia, which was her first goal of the season. The Tigers then went into the fourth quarter down 16-7. With two more goals, Macleod would then be the only Tiger to put the ball in the back of the net in the last 15 minutes. The Tar Heels notched three more goals to make the final score 18-9. 

Up Next: Clemson has a quick turnaround as they travel to Spartanburg, S.C. on Monday, March 11 to play Wofford at 4:00 p.m.

For complete coverage of the Clemson women’s lacrosse team, follow @ClemsonWlax on Instagram and Twitter and @ClemsonWLacrosse on Facebook.