Notebook: Women's lacrosse holds on to beat Towson

They taketh away. They giveth back.

So has been life for the No.3 North Carolina women’s lacrosse team through two games this season —at once a too-hot-to-handle offensive juggernaut and a boiling teakettle hemorrhaging its steam.

Carolina’s Jekyll and Hyde both made appearances Friday afternoon at Fetzer Field. The Heels (1-1) stormed out to a 5-1 lead against No. 17 Towson (0-1) before 11 minutes had been played. Three and a half minutes into the second half, the four-goal cushion flattened to a tenuous 6-5 edge.

But Jekyll won out, as UNC put foot to accelerator to roar past Towson 9-6 for their first win of 2013.

“I think we’re a great starting team,” coach Jenny Levy said after the win. “I think we come out with a ton of momentum. We’re fast and athletic, and I think it takes people by surprise.

Senior midfielder Kara Cannizzaro was the pacesetter for the track meet arranged by the Tar Heels in the opening minutes.

Described by her coach as “explosive,” Cannizzaro had a hat trick before the crowd at Fetzer could blink. She tore through porous Towson marking to deposit her first goal 35 seconds in. 1:20 later, Cannizzaro finished off a quick UNC counterattack to put UNC ahead 2-0.

And 1:55 after her second goal, Cannizzaro struck again to give UNC an early three-goal lead.

“It was just kind of being in the right place at the right time and just executing our transition,” Cannizzaro said of her lightning-like goal-scoring. “It’s really not me — it’s how my team played.”

UNC’s blistering start to Friday’s game was shades of their rip-roaring beginning to their Feb. 9th game against No. 3 Florida. The Tar Heels grabbed a 3-0 lead just 7:25 into the first half and then saw their lead evaporate quicker than sweat on a dry summer’s day in the second half.

UF scored five unanswered goals to top the Tar Heels. And Friday, Towson nearly pulled the same comeback stunt — the Tigers edged to within one goal fewer than four minutes into the second half.

“It’s two games in a row we’ve come out fast and hard, which I love. It’s great energy,” Levy said, “but we have to keep that full press on for the entire game.”

Even Cannizzaro, who seemingly had a Midas touch, squandered golden chances in the first half that would have put the score out of reach. She scored her fourth goal of the game by the 19-minute-mark of the first half, but couldn’t find the twine for the rest of the tilt.

There to pick up the scoring slack was freshman attacker Aly Messinger, who potted her first career goal on a breakaway 4:10 into the first half and added another in the second half to extend UNC’s lead to 8-5.

So much for a freshman learning curve.

“Most of the people that you play in high school play in college, too,” Messinger said. “It’s definitely an easy transition. I’m having fun.”

Her coach is, too — even if her team’s foot slips off the gas pedal.

“I like how hard we’re working on defense. We’re working well in transition. We’re attacking the cage,” Levy said of her team’s strengths through two games. “What we need to get better at is just playing together as a group and knowing what we’re doing out there.

“We’re going through all these ugly learning things. We’re going to get better progressively.”

For Cannizzaro, that improvement starts not in the muscles or tendons, but between the ears.

“It’s more about (the) mental effort that you give than the physical effort,” Cannizzaro said. “I think we’re out here and we’re leaving it on the field, but we have to put it together mentally and know when to push and know when to hold back and settle the ball, and just grow as a team to get to the next level where we want to be.”

As the new season unfolds, she’s banking on Jekyll upstaging Hyde.

“We’re young. We’re growing – it’s our second game,” Cannizzaro said. “I’m sure that we’re going to work on it and we’ll get better.

“I don’t have any worries. I have faith in our team.”

NOTES:

Senior midfielder Emily Garrity left the game with 3:01 remaining in regulation and did not return. She appeared to clutch her arm and shoulder after colliding with Towson defender Michelle Dufault.

Levy said Garrity had a sore shoulder but would be “okay.”

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There were some rather curious officiating decisions made throughout Friday’s game. Marginal fouls were called while far more flagrant collisions went unnoticed.

The questionable officiating drew the ire of the small crowd assembled at Fetzer Field. In particular, the contingent of Towson fans was not shy about voicing their displeasure with the officials — sometimes profanely.

Levy said she believed most of UNC’s hits were “clean,” but said her team needed to respond accordingly to the officials’ style.

“It’s funny little knick-knack stuff,” she said of most of the fouls whistled during the game. “We just need to adjust a little bit to how this officials’ group calls it, because (Sunday against Richmond), it might be totally different.”

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Cannizzaro was effusive in her praise of Messinger and freshman midfielder Sammy Jo Tracy.

“They have almost the best sticks on our team, if the not the best sticks,” Cannizzaro said. “It’s amazing playing with them.”

With the infusion of young talent comes an adjustment period to playing a team game at the NCAA level, however. While Carolina boasts a wealth of experience in the midfield, the attacking corps is mostly composed of underclassmen.

Naturally, Cannizzaro said, younger players are more likely to make hurried decisions near the goal — leading to a frenzied attack that could use a bit more veteran poise.

“We’re a young team growing,” said Cannizzaro. “It’s hard … having your experience be in your midfielders just because they’re the ones transitioning the ball and not really necessarily down there (near the goal) to settle it.”

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Levy spoke enthusiastically about her goaltending tandem of senior Lauren Maksym and freshman Megan Ward.

Levy plans to split goalkeeping duties by the half, unless Maksym “has an outrageous first half” — as she did Feb. 9 against Florida, which earned her the full start.

But after allowing three goals in the first half Friday, Maksym departed at halftime in favor of Ward. In her NCAA debut, the freshman keeper also allowed three goals, but made four key saves and allowed the Tar Heels to widen their second-half advantage.

“I’m excited about my goaltending,” Levy said. (Maksym) was on fire last weekend against Florida. She played great. And today, she had the sun in her eyes in the first half.

“Megan’s been doing great, too. She’s a great option. She started a little slow (today) and then made some nice saves down the stretch.”

For Levy, it’s a great surplus to have.

“It’s nice to have two really good goalies. They’re both capable, they both work really hard and they’re very supportive of each other.”