When we last saw North Carolina on a lacrosse field, the Tar Heels were coming off a 20-goal explosion against Northwestern, unbeaten at 7-0, ranked No. 1 in the country and getting ready for a showdown against undefeated Notre Dame.

Then, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the NCAA season.

But North Carolina has been anything but shut down in recent months. First, the Tar Heels learned that star Katie Hoeg, who broke the school’s all-time scoring record during the win over Northwestern, would be coming back for another year after the NCAA awarded all 2020 spring sport athletes an additional season of eligibility.

She rejoins four rising seniors who joined her on the final Tewaaraton Watch List for 2020 — emerging star midfielder Scottie Rose Growney, All-American goalie Taylor Moreno, All-American 100-point scorer Jamie Ortega and All-American and U.S. national team defender Emma Trenchard.

More recently, head coach Jenny Levy announced that a pair of All-Americans, Dartmouth’s Katie Bourque and USC’s Kerrigan Miller, both on the final Tewaaraton Watch List as well, would be transferring to Chapel Hill.

The talent doesn’t stop there. Headlining North Carolina’s incoming freshman class is one of the most heralded recruits in years, attacker Caitlyn Wurzburger. Wurzburger, the leading scorer on the 2019 U.S. U19 team, set the all-time national high school scoring record before her shortened senior year even began, ultimately finishing with a basketball-like total of 1,027 career points.

Pretty loaded, right?

But let’s not forget about another new piece of the puzzle for 2021.

Levy and the Tar Heels are anticipating the return of Elizabeth Hillman, the nation’s No. 1 recruit from the Class of 2018, according to Inside Lacrosse, back to the lineup.

Hillman, a three-sport standout (soccer, basketball, lacrosse) at Bel Air (Md.) High School, played through an elbow injury her freshman season with the Tar Heels. Originally injured in her final high school basketball game, it progressively got worse during the 2019 college season, but she played through the pain.

The do-it-all midfielder finished her freshman year with 12 points, had a pair of goals in UNC’s NCAA quarterfinal victory over Virginia and had a decision to make at the end of the season.

Surgery right away, or wait a few months?

Hillman needed a surgery more common in baseball — Tommy John surgery — but even if she got it done right away, she would likely miss at least two months of the Tar Heels 2020 spring season. She decided to redshirt for 2020, and that made her decision to wait even easier, but there was another big reason.

Hillman had been selected to compete for the 2019 U.S. U19 team, and even with missing some of the training weekends during the lead-up to the world championship in Canada, she was named one of the team captains alongside UMass defender Ally Murphy.

She and 17 of her teammates were on the verge of realizing a dream of representing their country in the sport they love. Roughly a year after they began a tough tryout process, the moment had arrived. And then in the very last practice before the games began, the unthinkable happened.

“I was in the eight playing defense, my foot got caught and I just went down,” Hillman said. “I immediately thought the worst. I felt super unlucky to have had made it that far after everything with my elbow.”

She thought she had torn her ACL, but found out it was only a partially torn MCL with small tears in her meniscus. The only treatment was rest, something in short supply in a world championship format in which teams play seven games in a little over a week.

“We didn’t really know if she was going to be able to play,” U.S. U19 head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller said. “She just focused in, was very driven and it was pretty clear that she wanted to figure out a way to play.

“She had big goals for herself, was very patient and did everything she was supposed to do with her rehab.”

As she waited to get back on the field, she never sulked. She put the team ahead of herself.

“She really handled the situation with a great sense of leadership and calm,” Amonte Hiller said. “So many times in tough situations, it’s all about what’s happening to you. Throughout the whole time she was engaged, communicating with the players and had a pretty good sense of leadership.”

Her first moment on the field came in a quarterfinal victory over Wales. Just after checking into the game, she scored a goal. She later added an assist and was named the team’s Player of the Match.

Welcome back @_ehillman  pic.twitter.com/xkKbDDoTqd

— U.S. Women's National Team (@USAWLax) August 8, 2019

“Despite everything that’s been going on, it’s been an incredible experience to meet all these girls,” Hillman said that night. “Definitely being back on the field for the first time and looking out and realizing I’m playing against another country was something different. It was awesome.”

Hillman played briefly that evening and not at all in a semifinal win over Australia. Amonte Hiller wanted her as ready as possible for the gold-medal showdown against the reigning world champs from Canada.

A decidedly pro-Canada crowd had hopes of another world championship, but the U.S. began to pull away in the second quarter and brought the trophy back to the United States with a 13-3 victory.

“I think when the tournament started, everyone expected us to steamroll everyone even as they remembered the last World Cup,” said Hillman, who scored a goal in the gold-medal victory. “There was a lot of pressure through the whole tournament. It was always integrated from the very first tryout all the way to the championship game.

“The gold medal was more of a statement to ourselves. We remained strong through the entire tournament, through every tryout and we did it together.”

That was also the last time she played a competitive game. She’ll miss this fall after another surgery this week to fix some lingering problems with the elbow, but expects to be fully ready for 2021 after nearly 20 months between games.

“It’s definitely been a challenge,” Hillman said. “I’ve never gone this long without playing competitively.”

When she returns to the field, she’ll join a Carolina team that will be heavily favored to win a national championship, but Hillman is used to dealing with pressure, and it’s a different world now.

“We’re not worried as far as the pressure; that’s why you come to Carolina,” Levy said. “This break has been good in the sense that you reflect on what this is all about — having fun and being a good teammate.”

Levy recalled how Hillman got herself involved while sidelined last spring, even helping to run the box during games. Her determination and toughness are two of the traits that made her such a coveted recruit and teammate.

She won’t be alone in longing to be back on the field this spring. The entire lacrosse world knows that feeling. But after battling through injuries and almost missing her dream of playing in a world championship, Hillman understands it more than most.

“At that moment there so much more appreciation for being there and being able to play,” Hillman said. “I took every second and took it all in. I learned it can be take an at any time.”