Pirates Lose to No. 1 North Carolina, 20-4

Wednesday, April 9

Greenville, N.C.

6:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

4-8

North Carolina

13-0

North Carolina

ECU

April 09, 2025 | Lacrosse

Box Score

GREENVILLE, N.C. – The East Carolina lacrosse team fell to No. 1 North Carolina, 20-4, on Wednesday evening in Johnson Stadium. Kayla Wilkes scored or assisted on three of ECU's four goals.

The Pirates (4-8, 2-1 AAC) got out to a strong start in the game. It was a 4-3 contest after Erin Gulden scored on a Wilkes feed with 3:07 remaining in the first quarter. To that point, the game had looked even, but things turned on a dime with two North Carolina (13-0, 7-0 ACC) goals in 23 seconds to end the period, both by Ashley Humphrey.

Humphrey, who had a pair of goals and three assists—now with over 70 points and 50 assists on the season—along with her sister Chloe Humphrey were as advertised. The two dynamic offensive players helped key a Tar Heels offense which used a 7-0 second quarter and 3-0 third quarter to turn a 4-3 contest into a 17-3 blowout before ECU managed another score in the fourth quarter.

North Carolina's 20 goals were tallied by 11 players with six players scoring at least twice.

In goal, Jaime Behar got the start, making 10 saves in over 50 minutes played before Brynn Knight entered in relief, making three saves to three goals allowed. For North Carolina, Betty Nelson earned the win with one save to three goals allowed while Lexi Zenk and Alecia Nicholas both earned minutes in cage. Zenk made three saves and allowed just one goal.

The Tar Heels, newly the unanimous top team in the land, looked the part. They led the draw 19-7, outshot the Pirates 44-14 and won the turnover battle 13-10 with nine caused turnovers by eight different players.

Riley Matthiesen and Erin Gulden were the other two goal scorers for ECU while Leah Bestany tallied one assist in the game.

Up Next
The Pirates won't have long to wait to bounce back as they welcome American Athletic Conference foe Vanderbilt to Johnson Stadium at 11 a.m. on Saturday. Attendance is free and Dennis Cox and Debbie Taylor will have the call on ESPN+.