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The Daily Tar Heel

Women’s lax defeats Hokies convincingly

Junior Corey Donohoe cradles the ball past Virginia Tech’s defense. DTH/Phong Dinh
Junior Corey Donohoe cradles the ball past Virginia Tech’s defense. DTH/Phong Dinh

In what has been a regular occurrence this season, the No.3 North Carolina women’s lacrosse team put on a clinic Friday at Fetzer Field.

This time, the victim was Virginia Tech, as the Tar Heels obliterated the Hokies 19-3 and extended their home unbeaten streak to six.

Prior to Friday’s contest, Virginia Tech (4-8, 0-3) had yet to defeat the Tar Heels in 14 attempts, dating back to 1996. From the very beginning, UNC (10-1, 2-1 ACC) made it painfully clear to their opponents that the 15th time was not going to be the charm.

The Tar Heels built a 5-0 lead inside of the game’s first 10 minutes and tallied 10 consecutive goals before the Hokies answered with one of their own late in the first half. Ten minutes into the second half, coach Jenny Levy was already pulling her starters.

“It was really nice to be able to reward our second team for the hard work that they’ve put in and encourage them to get better,” said Levy. “We put them out in real competition so they can see what they need to work on to get to the next level.”

By the looks of it, the first team is already there.

The team’s 19 goals were scored by eight different Tar Heels, four of whom — Kristen Taylor, Corey Donohoe, Laura Zimmerman and Becky Lynch — had three goals apiece. Donohoe was particularly impressive, earning four assists with sharp passes from the feeder position behind the opposition’s goal.

“Corey has a great game every game,” Taylor said. “She’s a great finisher, but she always keeps her head up looking for the open pass.”

Both of these abilities were showcased during a two-minute stretch late in the first half. With her back to the goal, Donohoe faked a step to her right, then spun left and scored to put UNC ahead 9-0.

Shortly after, she caught a flip pass from Lynch behind the goal and found a streaking Zimmerman in front of the net to give UNC a 10-goal lead.

Though it is easy to be distracted by the team’s array of offensive weaponry, UNC’s defense Friday was just as good, if not better, than its offense. The three Virginia Tech goals are the fewest the Tar Heels have given up all season.

“They have done, all season, a great job of just patiently waiting for the ball to come back down there and turning it over as soon as it comes down,” Taylor said. “They communicated all over the field, and they played really intense.”

Though the Tar Heels have yet to win a home game by less than five goals this season, things will get a little more difficult in the weeks to come.

During this stretch, the Tar Heels will host No. 2 Maryland, the last visiting team to win at Fetzer Field, and No. 5 Duke, which handed UNC a 14-4 defeat in last year’s ACC Tournament.

Then UNC will travel to Evanston, Ill., to take on the same Northwestern team that pummeled the Tar Heels in last year’s national championship game.

Despite the grueling nature of the Tar Heels’ late-season schedule, Levy is excited to see how her team will stack up against the nation’s best.

“They’re great challenges for us,” she said. “They’re all great teams, and if you want to be really good and you want to be great and to be the best, it’s a great measure to see where we are.”



Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.

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