With all of the talk of new weapons coming to the already-stacked North Carolina roster, it was a group of familiar faces that paved the way to a 14-7 victory for the No. 1 Tar Heels over No. 5 Stony Brook.

Redshirt senior Katie Hoeg scored the 100^th goal of her career and finished with a team-high seven points on two goals and five assists. Junior Tayler Warehime scored four first-half goals. Senior goalie Taylor Moreno made 10 saves, and senior Jamie Ortega had three goals and two assists.

Stony Brook’s Ally Kennedy, the US Lacrosse Magazine Preseason Player of the Year, scored the first two goals of the game, which came together late last week after UNC’s game with James Madison was canceled due to COVID-19 issues. The Seawolves, however, were unable to maintain the early momentum.

Hoeg’s milestone goal got the Tar Heels on the board, and Warehime tied it up. USC transfer Kaeli Huff gave Stony Brook its final lead at 3-2 with 23:11 left in the first half, and then Ortega and Warehime each scored three more times before halftime to give UNC a 9-4 lead.

Season opener
First win

Highlights from today’s win over #6 Stony Brook pic.twitter.com/jV1jALxPAa

— UNC Women's Lacrosse (@uncwlax) February 14, 2021

Stony Brook started the second half strong again, scoring the first three goals to pull within 9-7 on Siobhan Rafferty’s goal off the draw with 23:29 to play. UNC then called a timeout, regrouped and dominated the rest of the way.

Carolina’s defense held Stony Brook scoreless for the final 23:29, and Ally Mastrioanni scored the first of her back-to-back goals just three minutes after the timeout. Scottie Rose Growney then scored back-to-back goals for Carolina to put the game away.

Kennedy and Rafferty each scored three goals for Stony Brook.

Sunday’s other games

No. 6 Northwestern shut out Ohio State in the first half and led the Buckeyes 18-0 at one point in an eventual 23-7 victory. Izzy Scane tied a Northwestern single-game record with nine goals and added three assists for a 12-point afternoon. Lauren Gilbert scored six goals, and Madison Doucette made eight saves while allowing five goals to earn the win.

Just one of Izzy Scane’s record-tying goals on Sunday for @NULax in a win over Ohio State. Sunday Scaries indeed. pic.twitter.com/qvL4ev0GNw

— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) February 14, 2021

Sam Geiersbach had three goals and five assists and Madison Ostrick scored four goals as No. 10 Richmond opened the season with a 19-10 win over Radford. Marina Miller and Rachel Ziemba also had hat tricks for Richmond. Jennifer Shield had all three first half goals for Radford and added two assists in the second half.

Penn State pulled away in the second half to open its season with a 20-11 Big Ten victory over Rutgers. The Nittany Lions led just 10-8 at the half but scored the first three goals of the second half. Maria Auth and Kristin O’Neill each scored four goals for Penn State, and Taylor Suplee made 12 saves. Cassidy Spilis scored four for Rutgers.

Cincinnati scored the final three goals of the game to cap a wild 20-19 victory over Marquette. Alyssa Adams scored the game-winner with just 22 seconds remaining. Monica Borzillo had five goals, including the tying goal with 1:38 to play, and tied her own school single-game records with six assists and 11 points. Megan Menzuber had six goals and three assists for Marquette.

High Point bounced back from Friday’s tough loss to Jacksonville by holding on to beat Mercer 13-11. The Panthers lost a six-goal lead in the second half on Friday and saw a five-goal second-half lead on Sunday starting to slip away after Mercer cut it to 11-10 with 9:29 remaining. Kaely Kyle and Nicole Pugh scored consecutive goals to bring it home for High Point. Ashley Britton led High Point with four goals. Hailey Rhatigan had two goals and three assists for Mercer, and Iseabal Cryne made 15 saves for the Bears.

Davidson led from start to finish in a 14-10 win over Furman, evening its record at 1-1 for the season. Gianna New had five goals for the Wildcats and Olivia Carey had a goal and four assists. Kyra LaMotte scored six goals for Furman, and Hannah Demis had five assists.

Winthrop opened the season with a 19-6 victory over Presbyterian. Bianca Tedesco had a goal and seven assists to lead the Eagles offense, and Alyssa Angelo scored four goals.

Anna Hofgard and Sorona Larson each scored four goals as UC Davis beat Fresno State 20-12 on Sunday afternoon. Hannah Krats led Fresno State with three goals.

Nike/US Lacrosse Top 20 Scoreboard

No. 1 North Carolina 14, No. 5 Stony Brook 7
No. 6 Northwestern 23, Ohio State 7
No. 10 Richmond 19, Radford 10

Other Scores

Cincinnati 20, Marquette 19
Davidson 14, Furman 10
High Point 13, Mercer 11
Penn State 20, Rutgers 11
UC Davis 20, Fresno State 12
Winthrop 19, Presbyterian 6