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The Daily Tar Heel

Navy can’t keep up with quick start by UNC women's lacrosse

Heels to face Virginia in quarter?nals

When the women’s lacrosse team faced Navy in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, they knew that they wanted to get a quick start right out of the gate and attack relentlessly on offense.

Not only did the Tar Heels get a quick start, they outshot the Midshipmen 39-13 en route to an 18-5 victory.

“To be able to come out strong early is great, and to be able to keep playing at a high level throughout the game is something we really try to do,” said Tar Heel midfielder Megan Bosica. “It definitely helps the momentum of the game.”

UNC dominated on the field with goals by eight different Tar Heels. Becky Lynch led the team with three goals and three assists, followed by Bosica with three goals and two assists.

Corey Donohoe and Laura Zimmerman also added to the final tally with three goals and one assist each.

Within the first six minutes of the game, the Tar Heels swept the field by scoring five goals from five different players. This caused Navy to pull their starting goalie.

The change didn’t affect UNC, however, when Zimmerman scored her second goal only five minutes later.

Both teams traded goals with about 10 minutes left to play in the first half, but the Midshipmen were unable to slow down the Tar Heel offense and two more goals gave UNC the 9-1 edge at halftime.

Thirty seconds into the second half, Carolina quickly made the score 10-1 with Zimmerman’s third goal. Carolina scored two more goals before Navy stole the momentum.

Navy midfielder Erin Rawlick scored three goals in five minutes, cutting Carolina’s lead to 12-4 and forcing a Tar Heel timeout.

“I thought we were getting out-hustled on the draw. A couple things didn’t go our way, and Navy came up with some loose balls,” UNC coach Jenny Levy said. “Our first three goals of the second half were at a very high level, things that you don’t see all the time from a team and I thought we relaxed a little bit.

“So, we called a timeout to get us refocused. We lost some discipline; we were swinging away. We weren’t worried or afraid — we just needed a little break to get ourselves together and refocused.”

A refocused Tar Heel team shutout Rawlick and allowed only one more Navy goal. Taking back the momentum, UNC scored six more goals in the last 15 minutes of the game, making the final score 18-5.

After Saturday’s first round victory, the Tar Heels will advance to the quarterfinals to play No. 6 seed Virginia at Fetzer Field on Saturday at 1 p.m.

The Tar Heels lost to the Cavaliers once this season 13-12 in a March 13 contest that went into overtime in Charlottesville, Va.

“We’re on a constant search to find the best we can be and next week is another opportunity, and we’re excited to have it,” Levy said.

“It doesn’t matter who we play, because it is really about us.”

Contact the Sports editor at sports@unc.edu.

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