No. 14 Elon at No. 2 North Carolina Date/Time March 14 | 6:00 p.m. Location Chapel Hill, N.C. Facility Fetzer Field Series History UNC leads 3-0 Last Meeting March 15, 2016 UNC won, 13-2 Watch Live ACC Network Extra Live Stats Click Here Twitter Updates @ElonWLax

ELON, N.C. – No. 14 Elon University women's lacrosse will travel for its biggest test of the 2017 season thus far when it battles defending national champion and second-ranked North Carolina at 6 p.m. in Chapel Hill on Tuesday, March 14.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Elon improved to 6-1 on the year with a 12-9 victory at home over Vanderbilt. Sloane Kessler led the Phoenix with four goals and scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal and the insurance goal in the second half the secured the win in the end. Stephanie Asher also added three goals to bring her team-high total to 26 on the year. Rachel Ramirez was tabbed CAA Defensive Player of the Week for her effort in the cage with 13 saves, three ground balls and two caused turnovers. Elon avenged a 10-9 loss in Nashville last season in which the Phoenix scored four goals late in the game to cut the lead to one with a minute to play, but fell just short of completing the comeback.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Phoenix and Tar Heels have battled each of Elon's first three years of competition with North Carolina taking each of the three matchups. UNC has been ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in each of the four meetings all time.  
 
SCOUTING THE TAR HEELS
Picked as the preseason No. 1 in the nation, North Carolina owns a 6-1 record with the lone loss coming to then-No. 2 and now No. 1 Maryland in College Park. Thus far, UNC has played two opponents Elon has played. Both programs have defeated High Point and Virginia already this season. The Tar Heels opened the season with a 16-14 win over James Madison. Elon will take on JMU in CAA play on April 7.
 
CENTURY SCORER
Stephanie Asher became the program's first player to reach the 100-career goal mark when she scored in the second half against No. 9 Notre Dame. The junior has now tallied 26 goals in seven games this season. She scored five goals apiece in each of Elon's first two games, which were a 15-5 win over Campbell and an 11-10 win at No. 13 Virginia. Her 26 goals leads the CAA.
 
AMONG THE TOP 20
Elon moved up to No. 14 this week in the Cascade/Inside Lacrosse Media poll and checked in at No. 19 in the IWLCA Coaches poll. Both rankings are program highs and the No. 19 ranking in the IWLCA poll marks the first time Elon is among the Top 20 in that list. Last week, Elon jumped into the Cascade poll for the first time in program history at No. 16 after topping Virginia Tech the week before.
 
BIG WINS
With the Feb. 11 win over No. 13 Virginia and the March 1 victory over No. 19 Virginia Tech, Elon has now beat three nationally ranked teams in each of the last two seasons. In 2016, the Phoenix went on the road to No. 10 Duke and won 7-6 in Durham, N.C. Elon owns an all-time record of 3-7 against ACC opponents. Overall against ranked teams, Elon is 3-9 in 12 games to date.
 
TAKING THE HARDWARE
Stephanie Asher has earned two CAA Player of the Week honors already this season. Both came on the heels of five-goal performances against Campbell in the season-opener and Virginia Tech on March 1. She has now won the award three times in her career. On Feb. 21, Alexis Zadjura took CAA Defensive Player of the Week after leading Elon's defense with three draw controls, two ground balls and two caused turnovers while helping to keep three of Virginia's top scorers to just two goals apiece in the game. On Monday, Rachel Ramirez was tabbed CAA Defensive Player of the Week for the third time in her career after making 13 saves with three ground balls and two caused turnovers in the 12-9 win over Vanderbilt on March 8.
 
PRESEASON HONORS
Two Phoenix earned preseason All-CAA honors on Jan. 20 with Stephanie Asher and Rachel Ramirez being named to the All-CAA team and Sloane Kessler and Alexis Zadjura earning honorable mentions. In the preseason poll, Elon was selected to finish third behind Towson and James Madison. The third-place selection is the highest Elon has been in a preseason poll in the program's brief history.
 
LOOKING BACK AT 2016
Elon posted its first winning season and first 10-win season in 2016 with an overall 10-7 record and 3-3 mark in the CAA. One of those victories was Elon's 7-6 win at No. 10 Duke, the program's first win over an ACC team and first win over a ranked opponent. At season's end, the Phoenix finished No. 29 in the NCAA RPI. Elon was second in the CAA with 15.2 ground balls, 23.4 shots and just 10.9 turnovers per game in 2016 and Stephanie Asher was third in the conference with 2.2 goals per contest and fourth in assists with 1.2 per outing. Rachel Ramirez finished tops in the CAA with 3.06 ground balls a game, a total of 52 on the season.
 
HEAD COACH JOSH HEXTER
The 2017 campaign marks the fourth season at the helm of the program for head coach Josh Hexter after being hired in April 2012 to start and lead the Phoenix lacrosse program from the ground up. Named Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year in 2014, Hexter has amassed 104 wins in his career at Elon and Bridgewater State with a 32-25 record in 57 games at Elon. Over the course of his first three seasons, he has coached two conference freshmen of the year and a total of 12 all-conference players.
 
UP NEXT
With Spring Break on the horizon, Elon will take a 10-day break before returning to action to face Coastal Carolina on Friday, March 24, at 6 p.m. at Rudd Field. The Phoenix and Chanticleers have meet each of the last three seasons with Elon earning victories on all three occasions. Last year, Elon defeated CCU 5-4 in Conway, S.C. The five goals in the win is the lowest total in a Phoenix victory in program history.