Playing unranked Virginia Tech at Fetzer Field, the No. 8 North Carolina women's lacrosse team led 5-1. The margin would be looked upon favorably by most teams, but Slingluff Levy and her attackers said they didn't like their play.
That all changed in the last minute of the first half, as the Tar Heels (5-3) got on a roll and destroyed the Hokies 20-1, tying their largest margin of victory in program history.
"The start of the game was sloppy," Slingluff Levy said. "We were trying to do a little bit too much. We weren't finishing the little details."
UNC started to finish the details with less than one minute to go before halftime. The Tar Heels put four balls into the back of the cage in 49 seconds to end the half with a 9-1 cushion.
Midfielder Amy Havrilla scored with 49 seconds left in the half. She assisted on the next goal 11 seconds later by Christine McPike. The lead increased when Nicole Foran scored unassisted with 23 seconds to go.
An 8-1 deficit looked bad enough for Virginia Tech, but the Hokies allowed another last-minute goal.
With only two seconds to go, Kellie Thompson was fouled at the 12-meter mark. Off the restart, she passed to Havrilla, who rocketed the ball past Virginia Tech goalie Stacey Rainbolt as the horn sounded.
The slow start had turned into an exciting finish and a 9-1 lead.
"I think we just realized that that wasn't the way we wanted to play against (Virginia Tech)," Havrilla said. "As a team, we just decided to pick it up. From then on, it just changed the whole pace of the game."
