• 46 Goals
  • 19 Assists
  • 65 Points

During the first half of the 2021 women’s lacrosse season some could argue that Scottie Rose Growney was one of the best players on the UNC attack. She had a hat trick in eight (8) of the Tar Heels first 11 games totaling 31 goals. She received a number of mid-season All American nominations and honors and she was well deserving. When Katie Hoeg was held scoreless versus Florida, Growney stepped up with four (4) goals.

As I have mentioned numerous times, the Notre Dame game was the turning point. This is when coaches started to realize that sliding off UNC attackers was not a successful strategy. As soon as defenders slid, Ortega, Hoeg, Growney and others would cut into the 8 meter, receiving a pass and score at will. Unless the goal had eyes in the back of her head, there was no way to defend this. Notre Dame accepted that UNC would get shots off but at least the goalie would see them. Bridget Deehan had an amazing game and the Fighting Irish almost pulled off the upset in South Bend.

Against Notre Dame, Growney only scored one (1) goal. She was then held scoreless versus UVA and didn’t even get a shot off. Prior to the Notre Dame game, Growney was shooting at a 57% clip (31 of 54). After the Notre Dame game, Growney shot 41%. (14 of 34).  Most of the games after the Notre Dame game were rematch games in which coaches and teams had the opportunity to watch tape and adjust.

When UNC needed Growney the most she did not play her best games. In the season ending game against Duke Growney was held scoreless and only had two (2) shots. In the NCAA tournament Growney scored three (3) goals on 11 shots. By the end of the season, many of Growney’s shots weren’t even making it on goal. In the NCAA tournament only six (6) of her 11 shots were on goal.

One has to wonder if the Growney of the first half of the season were around for the NCAA Tournament would UNC be the 2021 National Champions? While UNC struggled to score against Syracuse in the ACC Championship and James Madison and Stony Brook in the NCAA Tournament, they still found a way to win. The lack of scoring in the Final Four did them in against Boston College.

Growney has one more year of eligibility at UNC. We will find out if she will take that year of eligibility in the fall. Coming into her freshman season at UNC, she was ranked the #15 incoming freshman by ILWomen. The top three of that class:

  1. Andie Aldave (Notre Dame)
  2. Jamie Ortega (UNC)
  3. Alli Mastroianni (UNC)

#14 was Charlotte North.