Lacrosse Fends Off Virginia

But No. 8 UNC managed to tally its first conference win by defeating No. 9 Virginia 15-12 without controlling many draws Saturday at Henry Stadium.

"We just weren't getting them," junior defender Porter Wilkinson said. "That definitely gave (Virginia) some momentum and kept them in the game."

The Cavaliers (4-4, 0-2 in the ACC) needed to do more than win the ball at midfield to stifle the Tar Heels' deep offense. Six of UNC's seven starting attackers and midfielders scored in the first half.

"This offense, all seven people, are capable of putting the ball in the back of the net, and we haven't done that yet," UNC coach Jenny Slingluff Levy. "We've had two or three kids show up in each game so far, and against teams like Duke or Maryland, we need all six attackers to show up. They did today, and that is what we want."

Senior midfielder Amy Havrilla opened UNC's scoring spree 2:27 into the game with an unassisted goal.

Christine McPike continued the Tar Heels' offensive dominance with two unassisted goals in less than a minute.

Virginia kept quiet until 23:44 left in the first half when Lauren Aumiller rebounded her own shot past UNC goalie Melissa Coyne.

Fifteen seconds later, UNC attacker Erin McInnes regained momentum with a goal off a pass from Havrilla.

Havrilla and McInnes added goals before Virginia took advantage of a draw control, and Aumiller scored again to slice the lead to 6-2.

"Every time the draw went up they were swarming that one person," Havrilla said. "We tried adjusting and sending more people in the middle, but they still ended up coming up with the ball."

Virginia controlled 11 draws in the first half, while UNC (4-3, 1-2) only gained seven.

Two more Cavalier goals cut UNC's lead to two with 14:16 left in the half, but Virginia never took the lead.

A Tar Heel timeout rejuvenated their offense, and 1:18 later sophomore Betsy Gaines scored off an assist from McInnes.

McPike used another McInnes assist to score with 14 seconds left in the half.

"The defense couldn't just play one player," McInnes said. "Everybody was throwing goals in, so they had the whole entire offense to worry about."

But even with its extensive first-half scoring, draw controls continued to plague UNC. Virginia won the first five draws in the second half. The Cavaliers took advantage of their ball possession, scoring five goals in the second stanza.

"Getting the draw control gave them the ability to get back in the game," Slingluff Levy said. "Draw controls are tough. Fortunately for us, we able to get some nice transition goals."

The Tar Heels equalled Virginia's five goals in the second half and were saved by their early lead.

Havrilla scored twice in the last 2:30 to lead UNC to a 15-12 victory. She scored five points and had one assist.

"It was a really important win for us," Slingluff Levy said. "We were off all week stewing in the last-second loss against Duke. Getting back on track was important."

The Sports Editor can be reached at sports@unc.edu.