UNC women's lacrosse sends Boston University packing 18-8 win

The Boston University women’s lacrosse team would normally fly to a game in Chapel Hill.

But due to the winter storms that pushed its game against the No.1 North Carolina Tar Heels from Friday to Saturday, the Terriers were forced to alter their travel arrangements.

They took an eight-hour train ride from Boston to Washington, D.C., followed by a six-hour van ride from D.C. to Chapel Hill, finally arriving at their destination late Friday night.

The Terriers might have wished they stayed home.

The top-ranked Tar Heels dispatched their challengers from the Northeast with a convincing 18-8 win that saw UNC leading 15-4 at the halftime break.

The victory puts the Tar Heels at 2-0 overall with both of their wins coming by at least 10 goals apiece.

But despite those lopsided margins, coach Jenny Levy said her team tries not to focus on the score but instead on the play at hand.

“Being in the moment, each play is its own play,” she said.

“Every chance we have to win a draw or play a defensive or offensive set we want to play to the best of our abilities. Be in the moment and play at the highest level that you can, so we don’t think about it being a blowout. We’ve got to keep our kids having the eye of the tiger.”

Sophomore attacker Aly Messinger was an important cog in the Tar Heel attack that amassed a 4-0 lead less than four minutes into the game. Messinger tallied four goals on the afternoon and when asked how her chemistry was with fellow attackers Abbey Friend and Sydney Holman, the New Jersey native couldn’t help but smile.

“I mean, it’s awesome,” she said.

“Our whole attack unit, everyone’s a threat, everyone plays well together. It’s great, I couldn’t ask for a better attack group to play with.”

The three starting attackers combined for 11 goals in the first half, so their job was mostly through at halftime.

The second half essentially turned into a glorified practice as the Tar Heels were able get everyone on their roster into the contest, which was fittingly played on the football practice field due to issues with snow remaining on Fetzer Field.

Levy said that while she would have liked to see her second and third stringers execute a little bit better, it was great to see everyone on the team be able to have some game experience.

“We had an opportunity to get all our players in, and we were able to do that early (in the second half),” she said.

“So all the kids who work hard every day in practice got a chance to play. And that’s good for our team. It’s good in this part of the season to get everyone on the field.”

And it wasn’t all bad for the Terriers — they did get to fly home.

sports@dailytarheel.com