A little more than one minute into the first half of Friday night’s game against No. 16 Albany, Kara Cannizzaro buried the ball into the back of the net on a free position shot. From there, the No. 3 North Carolina women’s lacrosse team never looked back.
A rain delay lasting slightly more than an hour did little to postpone UNC’s offensive attack, which started fast and finished strong on the way to a dominating 16-7 victory at Fetzer Field. The Tar Heels also beat No. 10 Vanderbilt 18-9 on Sunday.
Less than a minute after Cannizzaro’s opening goal on Friday, Abbey Friend tallied two more scores, giving the Tar Heels a 3-0 advantage. After Albany responded with a goal of its own, UNC posted five-straight goals to go ahead 8-1.
“It was big that we just took it to them right away,” coach Jenny Levy said. “Any game plan they had, maybe to stall the ball or do something different on us, went away because we were able to pound them quickly.”
Perhaps even more striking was the ease with which the Tar Heels converted defensive stops and draw controls into offensive opportunities and, ultimately, goals.
The UNC transition game stood out Friday thanks to a 20-5 advantage in draw controls and a 19-11 edge in ground balls.
“Getting up the field is something we really like to do because it’s a true testament to our athleticism and how hard we prepare in the offseason,” said Friend, who finished with four goals.
Against Vanderbilt on Sunday, UNC was met with a bit more resistance, but eventually had its way in the victory.
A stingier defensive effort by the Commodores forced the Tar Heels to take their time on offense, but in the end, Vanderbilt couldn’t keep the Tar Heels off the board.
