Northwestern allows 8 straight late goals in a stunning 15-14 loss to North Carolina in the women’s lacrosse Final Four

BALTIMORE — No. 1 seed North Carolina staged a furious rally Friday in the semifnals of the women’s lacrosse NCAA Tournament, scoring eight unanswered goals for a stunning 15-14 victory against No. 4 Northwestern at Johns Hopkins’ Homewood Field.

The Tar Heels were rescued by a player in her first season with the program.

Attacker Sam Geiersbach, who transferred from Richmond, scored all five of her goals in a 4-minute, 24-second span to fuel the game-ending run that helped the Tar Heels end a three-game skid in the Final Four before an announced 7,694 and take aim at what would be the program’s third national championship.

The Tar Heels (21-0) will play defending champion Boston College (19-3) in the championship game at 11 a.m. Sunday on ESPN.

Geiersbach’s heroics — which included two assists for a game-high seven points — helped the Tar Heels rally from a 13-5 deficit with 32.3 seconds left in the third quarter. Fifth-year senior attacker Jamie Ortega added three goals and three assists, and graduate student midfielder Ally Mastroianni scored three times.

The final score was North Carolina’s first lead of the game and was preserved by Taylor Moreno. The goalkeeper made her fifth save of the game by stoning Wildcats attacker Lauren Gilbert on a breakaway with 28 seconds left, and Moreno redeemed a performance that included getting pulled for 7:47 in the third quarter in favor of freshman Alecia Nichols.

Gilbert paced Northwestern (16-5) with five goals and one assist, midfielder Jill Girardi amassed three goals, six draw controls and two ground balls and senior goalie Madison Doucette stopped nine shots.

But the Wildcats lost for the fifth consecutive time in the semifinals since capturing their eighth title in 2012.

The game was delayed for 1 hour, 36 minutes by lightning with 1:11 left in the first quarter.

No. 3 Boston College 17, No. 2 Maryland 16: In the second semifinal, Maryland committed a series of turnovers and failed to protect a three-goal lead with 7:13 left in the fourth quarter, and Boston College scored the final four goals to escape with a win.

Attacker Charlotte North, the 2021 Tewaaraton Award winner as the top player in the nation, scored two of her game-high six goals to fuel a comeback that tied the score at 16 with 3:06 remaining. Then the Eagles cemented the victory with 18.8 seconds left when midfielder Cassidy Weeks dunked a pass from senior attacker Caitlynn Mossman.

The Terps (19-2) had chances to salt the game away. Leading 16-14, Aurora Cordingley committed a turnover under heavy pressure from Boston College defender Courtney Taylor, which contributed to North’s goal that drew the Eagles within one with 5:16 remaining.

Maryland defender Abby Bosco won the ensuing draw but lost the ball, which led to North scoring her tying goal. Then after sophomore midfielder Shannon Smith controlled the next draw, junior attacker Hannah Leubecker lost the ball on a spin move to the middle, and Boston College capitalized with the eventual winning goal.

Leubecker led the Terps with five goals. Junior attacker Libby May finished with three goals and two assists, and freshman midfielder Jordyn Lipkin added two goals and two assists.