UNC women's lacrosse routs Florida as Chloe Humphrey scores 7 goals

North Carolina freshman attacker Chloe Humphrey celebrates in the crowd after North Carolina defeats Florida 20-4 in the NCAA Division I women’s lacrosse semifinals at Gillette Stadium on Friday. Credit: Jon Ratner
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — This was why Olivia Vergano came to North Carolina.
After three years of personal achievements at Virginia Tech but very little team success — the Hokies never even made the NCAA Tournament during her time there — the attacker from West Babylon hit the transfer portal in search of a place where she could finally get a taste of winning during her senior season.
So far she’s gotten nothing but that from her new squad.
North Carolina continued its undefeated season Friday with a dominant 20-4 victory over Florida in a women’s lacrosse Division I semifinal at Gillette Stadium. The Tar Heels scored the final 18 goals of the game to advance to Sunday’s championship against either Northwestern or Boston College.
“I wanted to be with a team that has as much passion as I do and the work ethic that these girls have,” Vergano told Newsday after the game in which she scored an early goal on a free position. “Ultimately it was a decision I had to make and it paid off pretty well.”
Redshirt freshman Chloe Humphrey scored a season-high seven goals and her older sister Ashley Humphrey had four assists. Those numbers dwarfed what Vergano contributed on the stat sheet. And after scoring 158 career points and earning two honorable mention All-America nods at Virginia Tech, her 37 goals this season are actually a career low. But Vergano, one of the few Long Islanders with a prominent role on this team, helps North Carolina in other ways.
“Verg’s been great,” North Carolina head coach Jenny Levy said. “She’s open every day to learning and working hard. She’s a great teammate. She pinches herself every day that she gets to be where she is and with the people she is doing it with … Sometimes a reset for some athletes is really positive and they can make a positive impact on your environment, too, because they have a different perspective. So she’s been amazing. She gives us her heart all the time and she’s been a joy to coach.”
Said Vergano: “Credit to all of them for making it so easy to come here and fit in.”
The game didn’t start out quite the way North Carolina (21-0) planned. Florida (20-3) led 4-2 after the first quarter and the high-powered Tar Heels offense looked out of step with five turnovers. Chloe Humphrey then scored three straight to open the second quarter and the rout began to show itself.
Playing what junior Sam Forrest said the team calls “velociraptor defense” North Carolina held Florida to just two shots in the second and third quarters combined. Humphrey, meanwhile, put on a show and in the process set the team’s single-season goal-scoring mark with 85.
The win avenged a North Carolina loss to Florida that knocked them out of last year’s tournament.
“We wanted to cash our check and make sure we got our revenge on them,” Forrest said.
Humphrey said after the game she had been dreaming about winning a national championship for North Carolina ever since she attended a camp on the Chapel Hill campus in sixth grade. For Vergano, it’s a more recent desire. One she probably didn’t even consider until the past year.
Now both have a chance to reach it on Sunday.
“It’s kind of surreal,” Vergano said. “These girls worked so hard. Being with them every day makes it so much fun.”
Winning, she has learned, leads to that.