Before she helped fuel one of the biggest comebacks in lacrosse history, before she was an undefeated national champion, and before she was the Most Outstanding Player of the 2022 Final Four, Sam Geiersbach was just a little nervous about being part of the Carolina women’s lacrosse team.

Geiersbach, a graduate transfer from Richmond, was a member of the 2021 Tewaaraton Award watch list, an award that goes to the best player in the country. But even she had never seen a collection of talent like what she saw in the summer of 2022 in Chapel Hill.

“Stepping on the field the first day of practice,” Geiersbach says, “was really intimidating.”

The Tar Heels had finished 20-1 in the slightly unusual 2021 campaign, a season marked by virus and travel restrictions, plus online classes. And still, a one-goal loss to Boston College in the national semifinal was the only blemish on the season. That meant that coming into 2022, the Tar Heels had won 27 of the past 28 games and had won 35 straight games against any opponent other than Boston College.

When the NCAA granted players an extra year due to the Covid-shortened 2020 season, it set the Tar Heels up for a deep, talented squad in 2022. Players like Jamie Ortega, Ally Mastroianni and goalkeeper Taylor Moreno, who otherwise would have been out of eligibility in 2021, were able to come back for another shot at winning the program’s third national championship.

And head coach Jenny Levy had made Chapel Hill one of the premier destinations in the country for graduate transfers, as players eager to combine great academics with a chance to compete for a national title were deeply interested in being a Tar Heel. For 2022, Levy added Andie Aldave from Notre Dame, plus Geiersbach and undergraduate transfer Olivia Dirks.

The veteran core of the team immediately began the task of explaining the season’s goals in very specific terms.

“We have spent so much time with those fifth and sixth years,” Geiersbach says. “They have so many stories about how it felt to come so close in past years. They’ve opened their arms and said, ‘You don’t want to experience this. This is not how you want to go out.’ They told us how much it hurts and how it hits you, and they’ve been nothing but inclusive to the rest of us.”

Mastroianni was one of those veterans. And even as the 2022 season progressed, with the same perfect results as the 2021 regular season — Carolina entered the NCAA Tournament as ACC champions with an 18-0 record — she thought she noticed something different about this year’s team.

“We have so much depth all over the field,” Mastroianni said. “Every person on the team is so talented. But our connection off the field was really important. We missed out on a lot of that last year (because of Covid), so we’ve really been honing in on those relationships. There’s nothing more fun than playing with all your best friends. When times get heated or tough, you know you can look to the person on your left or your right and have full belief and trust in them.”

And times would eventually get heated and tough. The Tar Heels obliterated Virginia, 24-2, in the NCAA Tournament opener. They won a defensive battle with Stony Brook, 8-5, to advance to a national semifinal against Northwestern.

It was the same round where the 2021 season came to an untimely end. And it looked like it might happen again when the Wildcats built a 6-0 lead after the first quarter and eventually led, 14-7, with 10:15 remaining. Being perfect, it appeared, would once again be too difficult a task.

That’s when Geiersbach caught fire. She eventually scored five of Carolina’s final six goals, including four in a row over a stretch of 3:30 to give the Tar Heels the lead. The Tar Heels won, 15-14, and would eventually defeat nemesis Boston College in the national title game.

“It was so inspiring to be part of it,” said Geiersbach. “Each huddle after each goal was so empowering and motivating. Everyone was just screaming at each other. You look at the pictures, and our faces are so close together, there’s no space between our heads.”

Aldave eventually provided some veteran leadership and told the Tar Heels to calm down, that there was still work remaining. But the ultimate guidance, of course, came from Levy, who won the 2013 NCAA title with an epic triple-overtime win over Maryland and the 2016 championship by beating the Terps again, 13-7.

“We always talk about all of Jenny’s words of wisdom,” Mastroianni said. “She knows how to motivate everyone, and she makes so much effort to create those relationships. She sees the big picture and all the steps it takes to get there.”

“Jenny just gets it,” Geiersbach said. “She has this really calm presence, but with so much passion. She’s really passionate about what she does and really cares about us as human beings. She’s the whole package when it comes to a coach and she’s an extraordinary person. She has so much will and drive that rubs off on us. Anyone should want to play under her.”

Less than two months later, Levy added to her championship credentials, as she served as the head coach of the United States women’s national team that won a world championship with an 11-8 win over Canada. The 18-player squad featured six Tar Heels, more than any other school in the country.

The team’s record was, of course, a perfect 8-0.