UNC women’s lacrosse advances to NCAA quarterfinals

FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS - MAY 25: The North Carolina Tar Heels celebrate after scoring a goal during the Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship held at Gillette Stadium on May 25, 2025 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/NCAA Photos via Getty Images) | NCAA Photos via Getty Images

For the 20th time in 21 seasons, the UNC women’s lacrosse team is headed back to the NCAA quarterfinals.

The #2 seed and defending national champion Tar Heels beat unseeded Clemson for the second time this season, claiming a 17-6 win that was even more lopsided than the final score suggests. The Tigers went up 1-0 at the 12:35 mark of the first quarter and did not score again for over 40 minutes of game time as Carolina put up 16 consecutive goals–including nine in the second quarter.

Reigning Tewaaratan Award winner Chloe Humphrey outscored Clemson singlehandedly with seven goals, all but one of which came in the first half. The sophomore amassed 11 points on the day, matching her career high. She now has 99 goals and 144 points this season, which puts her atop Division I in both categories.

Sophomore goalies Betty Nelson and Lexi Zenk split halves for UNC, with Nelson stopping four of five shots and Zenk stopping five of 10. Since Jenny Levy essentially called off the dogs in the second half, many of the team stats ended up deceptively close, but the Tar Heels still finished with a 16-5 advantage in draw controls.

Carolina hosts unseeded Stanford, which upset #7 seed Michigan, on Thursday at 7:30 PM ET. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU. It will be the third matchup between the Tar Heels and Cardinal this season; UNC beat Stanford 18-9 in the regular season and 12-8 in the ACC championship game.