The University of North Carolina Tar Heels women's lacrosse team has Fox Lane High School graduate Sammy Jo Tracy to thank for winning the 2013 NCAA championship.
Tracy, a UNC freshman and Bedford resident, scored the game-winning goal during a third, sudden-death overtime period on Sunday night, the university announced. The Tar Heels (18-3 for the season) beat the University of Maryland Terrapins by 13-12 in what UNC noted was the longest title game in the history of the sport.
The two teams fought and back forth, UNC noted in its account of the game. The Tar Heels were up 9-6 at halftime but Maryland went on a 5-0 run during the second half and led 11-9 before UNC score three goals, according to the recap. The Terrapins got in another goal to tie the game and to force it into the first overtime period.
“A dream — it literally feels all like a dream,” Tracy told UNC's student newspaper, The Daily Tarheel. “To see that ball go in the back of the net was something I’ve dreamed about ever since my dad put a stick in my hand.”
For Tracy, the win is the latest in her many accomplishments as a lacrosse player.
While at Fox Lane her team made it to the 2010 state final roundagainst Long Island's Garden City. She has won numerous regional honors; The Journal News declared her a Westchester/Putnam Player of the Year, while MSG Varsity named her a Hudson Valley player of the year.
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