When North Carolina women’s lacrosse attacker Corey Donohoe gets the ball in a one-on-one situation near the goal, all bets are off for the other team.
The Tar Heels scrap their offensive plans and defenders hold on for dear life as she thunders on a path of destruction toward the goal.
Boston College defender Jill Rekart didn’t get that memo.
In the fifth minute of the second half, Donohoe drove Rekart into the ground, knocking her on her backside on her way to her fifth goal of the game. The goal gave UNC a comfortable four-goal lead it would hold for the rest of the game.
Donohoe uses her strength and agility to create one-on-one situations, which UNC coach Jenny Levy encourages her to take advantage of — and to finish.
“Corey’s effective because she’s a great athlete — her footwork, her strength, her size, her hands, her stickwork are all very good,” Levy said. “She’s very difficult to defend one-on-one, so we keep telling her ‘when you have a one-on-one, regardless of where you are on the offense, either low or high, you go.’”
Donohoe was able to take advantage of her athletic abilities and dominate single coverage in the first half, scoring four goals, three of which were consecutive in a seven-minute span.
BC finally caught on to Donohoe’s tendencies in the second half and put her in double coverage with a defender face-guarding her at all times.
The result was only one goal for Donohoe in the second half. But it did not mean Donohoe’s offensive contributions were nullified.
