Women's lacrosse defeats Navy 18-5 in opener

Coming out of the gate, the North Carolina women’s lacrosse team wanted to get a quick start on Navy and attack relentlessly on offense.

Not only did the Tar Heels get a quick start, they outshot the Midshipmen 39-13 and had double the amount of Navy’s groundballs in their 18-5 victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday.

“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,” senior midfielder Megan Bosica said. “It definitely helps the momentum of the game.”

North Carolina dominated on the field with goals by eight Tar Heels. Becky Lynch had three goals and three assists and Bosica had three goals and two assists. Corey Donohoe and Laura Zimmerman also added three goals and one assist apiece.

The Tar Heels swept the field with five goals scored by five different players within the first six minutes of the game. This caused Navy to bring Margaret Verbeeck into the game at goalie.

However, Zimmerman scored her second goal five minutes later.

A free position goal by Caitlin Mandrin Hill put Navy on the board with 11 minutes left in the first half, quickly followed by a free position goal from Tar Heel midfielder Jenn Russell.

The Midshipman were unable to slow down UNC’s offense and two more goals by the Tar Heels put the halftime score at 9-1.

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

Senior midfielder Erin Rawlick scored three goals within five minutes for the Midshipmen, cutting UNC’s lead to 12-4, and forcing a Tar Heel timeout.

“I thought we were getting outhustled 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.

After Saturday’s first round victory, the Tar Heels advance to the quarterfinals on May 22 where they will play host to Virginia at 1 p.m. at Fetzer Field.

“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.”