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GAME NOTES

BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Virginia Tech lacrosse team will face No. 3 North Carolina at 6 p.m. on Wednesday night on ESPN3.

THE HOKIES

Tech is playing its fourth straight road contest on Wednesday at North Carolina. The Hokies are coming off a loss at No. 6 Louisville on Saturday, 16-9.

After trailing 6-2 at halftime to the Cardinals, the Hokies fought back and closed the gap to 8-5 with 19:43 remaining. Louisville responded and scored five straight goals to pull ahead 13-5 with 11:16 left. The Hokies did outscore Louisville 4-2 down the stretch but were unable to overcome the deficit.

Jessi Thon had a career-high four goals to lead the Hokies. The Hokies did have an advantage in ground balls at 14-10 and draw controls 15-11, thanks in large part to the play of Tristan McGinley going up against Louisville’s Kaylin Morissette who ranked first in the nation in draw controls per game heading into the contest.

Offensively, Tristan McGinley leads the team with 28 points off of 21 goals and seven assists. Kristine Loscalzo has a team-high 24 goals with three assists. Defensively, Meghan Macera ranks second in the ACC in caused turnovers per game (2.46) and ground balls per game (2.69). As a team, Tech is second in the conference in caused turnovers per game at 10.62.

UNC will be the fifth team ranked in the IWLCA Poll that Tech has faced so far this season.

THE TAR HEELS

The Tar Heels are currently on a five-game winning streak, including four victories in a row on the road.

UNC defeated Boston College in its last outing, 13-12. In the game, UNC had built an 8-1 lead in the first half only to see the Eagles cut the deficit to 11-10 with 16:49 remaining. UNC scored twice to go up 13-10 and hold on for the victory.

Offensively, Molly Hendrick leads the Tar Heels with a team-high 30 goals and six assists. Aly Messinger has 15 goals and a team-best 16 assists. Marie McCool has scored 23 goals with six assists. Defensively, Sammy Jo Tracy has 76 draw controls and McCool has only has a team-high nine caused turnovers and McCool leads the squad with 21 ground balls.

The Tar Heels are coming off a season in which they reached the NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Tournament Championship game.

Nine UNC women’s lacrosse players earned Preseason All-America honors from Inside Lacrosse. Carolina led all teams with nine players on the magazine’s three preseason All-America teams and honorable mention list. Attacker Messinger, midfielders Maggie Bill and McCool and goalie Caylee Waters were named to the preseason All-ACC squad. UNC’s four players on the team led all ACC teams.

For updates on Virginia Tech lacrosse, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_Lax