Tar Heels handle Commodores

For the second straight game, the No.4 North Carolina women’s lacrosse team looked sluggish coming out of the gates Friday night at Fetzer Field.

After overcoming sloppy play to defeat Denver in the season opener, the Tar Heels found themselves trailing No. 11 Vanderbilt 3-1 early in the first half after a 10-minute stretch that saw UNC commit five turnovers and six fouls.

That was before the vaunted UNC attack started to click. The Tar Heels (3-0) unleashed three goals in four minutes midway through the first half, giving them a lead they would never relinquish in a 12-6 victory against the Commodores (0-2).

“We got down in a hole … and I really liked that we showed confidence and composure to fight back and get control of the game and do what we wanted to do,” coach Jenny Levy said.

The turnaround started when freshman midfielder Emily Garrity’s first collegiate goal closed the gap to one midway through the first half.

Less than a minute later, sophomore Becky Lynch evened the score after eluding a Vanderbilt defender with a spin move. Lynch would put her team ahead for good shortly after, this time on a wraparound.

“We started off a little bit excited, so we had a little bit of jitters,” Lynch said. “But I think we got it down. We settled in a little bit and started coming together towards the second half.”

The Tar Heels dominated the second half, breaking the game open by scoring six unanswered goals before conceding two inside the final seven minutes.

With senior midfielders Megan Bosica and Jenn Russell drawing a double-team from the Vanderbilt defense, it was the freshmen tandem of Garrity and Kara Cannizzaro, each with three goals, that secured the game.

“They came in, they’ve been doing a really nice job since the fall, they’ve been working hard,” Levy said. “They’re the future, so it’s good to see them out there in a big game.”

Though the usually dynamic pair of Bosica and Russell was kept off the score sheet, Cannizzaro was quick to attribute her seemingly seamless transition to Division I lacrosse to the help she received from the team’s veterans.

“They’re really good with helping out the freshmen and just letting us know how it’s going to be,” she said.

Despite the runaway victory, Levy told her team she wants them to play with more poise at the beginning of games.

“I’m happy with a lot of the things we did,” Levy said. “I think we can still get better.”


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