'A big transition': Lessons from the first two games of the UNC women's lacrosse season

When UNC women's lacrosse head coach Jenny Levy watches her women’s lacrosse team take the field, she still sees a lot of inexperience. 

“It doesn’t matter what year you are in school," the Levy said. "I think it’s just, have you been on the field for big games?”

The No. 6 Tar Heels are young in a lot of ways. The team boasts seven first-years, eight sophomores and two transfers in its 35-player roster. Many of Levy’s players have not been on the field for said big games. If they have, the more experienced have yet to play those games alongside the new cohort around them.

On Saturday, UNC finally got the chance to play in a coveted “big game” on the road against then-No. 6 James Madison for its season opener. In the closely contested overtime battle, the then-No. 3 Tar Heels fell, 19-18, following a Dukes’ goal a little over a minute into sudden death. The last time North Carolina fell in the first game of its season happened in 2018, in a similar overtime setting against the Dukes.

Levy returned to the drawing board — she had to acknowledge the inexperience and implore her players to reset as a collective to become an elite team.

Three days later, the Tar Heels forced themselves to get over the disappointment of Saturday. Levy challenged her players to return to their units and consider the ways they beat themselves up against JMU, with the goal of “being sharp” on Tuesday for the home opener against an unranked Liberty team.

In the first 16 seconds of play on Tuesday, senior midfielder Alyssa Long scored the opening goal to ignite an eventual 19-6 victory over the Flames — a decisive win that proved the Tar Heels possess the ability to be sharper in every unit, starting defensively and with draw controls.

After losing last year’s draw unit in sophomore midfielder Kaleigh Harden and senior midfielder Sophie Student, who are both currently sidelined, Levy has worked to find players who can take over. 

Currently, three players run draw controls for UNC: fifth-year midfielder Olivia Dirks, graduate defender Bailey Horne and graduate draw specialist Flynn Reed. Horne only appeared in 11 games last year and this is Reed’s first season donning Carolina Blue after transferring from East Carolina.

Against JMU, the inexperienced draw control unit failed to win in overtime, allowing the Dukes to secure their sudden death victory. But on Tuesday, the draw unit turned it around. Liberty only won four times compared to the Tar Heels’ 24 draw control successes, leading the Tar Heels to hold the Flames to a mere six goals.

North Carolina's 24 draw controls matched its program record done twice prior against High Point and Virginia — both in 2023.

“We did a really good job on the draw securing the ball, on the defensive end and causing a lot of turnovers which gave us a lot of opportunities on the offensive end,” graduate attacker Ashley Humphrey said. 

Humphrey — who transferred from Stanford in January — collected one goal and two assists against Liberty, including a behind-the-back score in the first quarter.

Other younger attackers, like first-year Eva Ingrilli, have also been able to find the back of the mesh. After scoring three goals against JMU, Ingrilli scored two goals against Liberty.

“It’s definitely a big transition," Ingrilli said, "but I’ve learned how to play with a lot of the girls and just figured out a way to learn how to play with their tendencies and mine and just mesh it together."

As North Carolina prepares for its second ranked matchup against No. 12 Florida this Saturday, Levy will continue to challenge her inexperienced players to become sharper.

“It just takes a while to get there," Levy said, "and the only way they’re going to do it is be on the field and make mistakes and have some success and kind of go through the season."

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