UNC women's lacrosse beats High Point 19-5

Just over three minutes into the game against High Point on Friday, senior Brittney Coppa opened up the scoring for the No. 2 North Carolina women’s lacrosse team by bouncing a ball into the net after a quick jab step to the left.

Just over a minute later, sophomore Molly Hendrick sprinted around her defender with a crisp overhand shot from the right side. Nearly two more minutes passed. Hendrick scored two more goals.

UNC (3-0) raced ahead and never looked back in its 19-5 victory over High Point (0-1). The Panthers were on their heels for the entire match.

“The key to our offense was playing big, dodging hard and also cutting hard,” junior Sammy Jo Tracy said. “We love to go at opponents hard and to get them down as soon as possible.”

And true to Tracy’s word, the High Point Panthers were blitzed by the Tar Heels’ early offense. UNC opened up the game on a 6-0 run, and High Point did not get on the scoreboard until nearly 12 minutes into the game.

But as soon as the Panthers scored to make it 6-1, the Tar Heels zoomed downfield and scored a goal of their own to make it 7-1. It only took 19 seconds.

“We love fast-paced play,” junior Aly Messinger said. “We love getting the ball right in transition off the draw control.”

The Tar Heels overpowered the Panthers in draw controls. High Point won the first draw control of the game, but UNC took the next five. In just the first half, the Tar Heels owned a 14-3 advantage. The domination prevented High Point from setting up an offense, which led to a lopsided 14-2 halftime score.

Coach Jenny Levy said she coaches the fast-paced offense and recruits players who love to run in transition.

She added that some of the tougher teams on the schedule prefer to slow down the game, so she expects the offense to become more efficient.

“I think we can get quicker,” Levy said. “A balance between a quick pace of play and poise is something that we’re focused on. It’s still early in the season, and of course, it (was) a little cold (Friday), so it’s harder to get that fast-paced play. But as the season continues, I believe we will become more sharp and faster.”

Thirteen different Tar Heels scored a goal in the game Friday. Hendrick led all scorers with four goals and Messinger, Tracy and Coppa all added two goals of their own.

The bench is deep and every player loves to push the pace.

“We’ve got weapons all over,” Levy said. “All seven of our kids on offense are threats, and we have a lot of confidence in the different players we have. It makes it really hard to guard us.”

It was a track meet for the Tar Heels. And the Panthers forgot to bring their running shoes.

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