The North Carolina women’s lacrosse team kicked off its season in dramatic fashion Saturday, defeating Florida 10-9 on a game-winning goal from senior Corey Donohoe with seven seconds remaining in overtime.
After trading goals with Florida (0-1) in the first half of the overtime period, the No. 3 Tar Heels (1-0) took possession at the beginning of the second with hopes of holding the ball for the last shot of the game.
North Carolina safely worked the ball around the goal for the first 2:30 of overtime’s second half to ensure the Gators would have little time to respond with a possession of their own.
With 30 seconds left to play, UNC started to run its offense, but had little success penetrating Florida’s tight defense inside the crease.
That’s when Donohoe stepped in.
She got the ball with 18 seconds left to play, looked up at the clock and took the game into her own hands.
“Our first play actually didn’t work, and I knew that the time was getting down so I just decided to attack on the crease,” Donohoe said. “I just went for it, and luckily I got the inside roll and I was able to get a shot off.”
She spun off her defender and finished with a shot that landed in the upper-right pocket of the goal.
Though they controlled possession for 96 percent of the second overtime half, the Tar Heels struggled throughout the game with holding onto the ball.
