Women's lacrosse ties its school record with 24 goals

Twenty-five seconds.

That is how long it took for the North Carolina women’s lacrosse team to find the net against Canisius on Wednesday. And more than a minute later, the team zoomed down the field to score its second goal.

The rout was on, and the Golden Griffins did little to stop the bleeding in North Carolina’s convincing 24-6 victory.

Through the first three games of the season, UNC has proven to be an offensive powerhouse.

The Tar Heels have averaged 20.6 goals per game and their latest total, 24, tied the school record.

Nine of those goals were scored in the first 10 minutes.

Going into the game, freshman Carly Reed had two goals on the season. Against Canisius, the freshman led the team with five goals — four of which came in the first half.

Reed said that she enjoys playing on a team with reliable offensive players.

And despite her strong performance, she knows her primary role on the team — as a distributor.

“It’s so much fun,” Reed said.

“You can give the ball to anyone, and they’re going to make a play. Being a freshman, I’m just supposed to get them the ball and get out of their way.”

The Golden Griffins were unable to suppress the aggressiveness of the Tar Heels. North Carolina out-shot Canisius 38-17, and in the first half, the team scored 18 goals — the most in a half thus far this season.

Coach Jenny Levy said that the team has been known for its defensive talent but added that the team’s offense has been really strong as of late.

“The past couple of seasons, we’ve been able to do a lot offensively,” Levy said.

“Last year we started a little slow, but we’ve been able to put up numbers. We haven’t but numbers up like this in the past.

“But I’d like to still remain a defensive juggernaut and then add the offensive side as well.”

Sophomore attacker Aly Messinger scored four times against Canisius, and she now has scored 11 goals this season — second-most on the team.

Messinger said the secret behind this year’s offensive explosion is the mixture of skill sets.

“We’re very different,” Messinger said.

“Each one of us is so different and so unique that if one style play doesn’t work, the other style works another time.

“It makes us very diverse and helps us a lot.”

Despite the huge victory, Levy said that she does not want her team to relax. Instead, she wants the team to keep up its aggresive play.

“Each game is going to be a new game for us and each opponent is going to bring a different set of challenges for us to work through and overcome,” Levy said.

“We’re just trying to get better every day. We have to continue to push.”

sports@dailytarheel.com