Sam Geiersbach, top seed North Carolina Tar Heels secure NCAA women's lacrosse championship

BALTIMORE — Sam Geiersbach scored three times — including the go-ahead goal with about 5 minutes to play — and North Carolina defeated defending-champion Boston College 12-11 Sunday to win the NCAA women's lacrosse title.

The top-ranked Tar Heels finished the season 22-0, setting a school record for wins and becoming the first undefeated national champion since 2017 (Maryland).

Charlotte North, the NCAA's all-time goals leader, led Boston College (19-4) with four goals and Cassidy Weeks scored three.

Weeks and Jenn Medjid each scored before North added back-to-back goals to close the second quarter and open the third and give the Eagles an 8-7 lead. Jamie Ortega and Nicole Humphrey scored 61 seconds apart to give North Carolina a 10-9 lead early in the fourth before Belle Smith's goal with 9:50 to play tied the score at 10-all.

Geiersbach put the Tar Heels in front for good on a goal with 5:26 left, and Scottie Rose Growney scored to make it 12-10 with 2:23 to play.

North Carolina, which has won 49 of last 50 games and 57 of its last 59, improved to 16-0 this season vs. ranked teams, including 9-0 vs. top-10 opponents and 5-0 vs. top-five foes.