UNC women’s lacrosse rebounds Wednesday

The No. 3 North Carolina women’s lacrosse team did not make the same mistake twice.

Fresh off their first conference loss in the previous game against Boston College, the Tar Heels knew they needed to regain confidence and focus. And with a convincing 14-5 win against Virginia Tech, they did just that.

But the opening minutes of Wednesday’s game seemed to be leading the Tar Heels (9-2, 2-1 ACC) to another loss.

The Hokies (5-7, 0-4 ACC) came out strong with an early 2-0 lead, and UNC could not put the ball in the net despite many opportunities and shots.

That was when the Tar Heels woke up.

“We came out a little bit slow, but we figured out how to get back into it,” said sophomore midfielder Maggie Bill.

After falling behind 3-1, UNC got back into it with three goals in four minutes to lead 4-3. In the second half, the Tar Heels scored four unanswered goals and nearly tripled the Hokies.

“I felt we improved,” Coach Jenny Levy said. “We made some improvements, and that’s our goal coming out of every time out — being better than the last time we were on the field.”

Bill, with two goals and one assist, was among the leaders of UNC’s scoring onslaught.

This game wasn’t about personal achievements, though. It was all about rebuilding confidence in the team as a whole.

The team took it as a challenge to come back better than before.

Senior attacker Sam McGee, who also scored two goals and had one assist, said Wednesday’s game meant more than just a win.

“We were really pumped for this game,” she said. “Especially coming off of an overtime loss to BC last weekend.”

Using the loss to Boston College as a learning step rather than a stumbling block, the team is focused on starting and finishing strong in the upcoming games.

“We were really trying to focus on playing a full game and controlling the tempo,” Bill said. “I think overall we did a really good job of following the game plan.”

While Levy said the Tar Heels improved throughout the course of the game, she acknowledged there is still room for improvement.

“We haven’t felt like we have put together two solid halves yet this season,” she said. “We are in the process of growing as the season goes.”

With the next two games on the road, UNC is focusing on the goals ahead of them rather than those behind them.

“(Wednesday) was a really big confidence boost for us,” Bill said. “We needed that because it just kind of reminded us of what a great team we are and what we can do.”

sports@dailytarheel.com