No. 2 UNC women's lacrosse displays offensive prowess in win over No. 4 Syracuse

UNC women's lacrosse head coach Jenny Levy challenged her team.

Facing No. 4 Syracuse, Levy wanted No. 2 UNC to be sharp right out of the gate.

“Against 'Cuse's zone — there's a lot of articles written about how well they've been doing,” Levy said. “And so we knew it would be a big challenge.”

After winning the initial draw, graduate attacker Ashley Humphrey found redshirt first-year attacker Chloe Humphrey over the top for a goal less than two minutes in. It was the start of North Carolina's dominant first quarter performance, taking an 8-2 lead after the first 15 minutes.

This fast start kicked off North Carolina’s 16-8 overpowering of Syracuse on Saturday afternoon at Dorrance Field. UNC scored 12 in the first half, with eight different Tar Heels recording a goal. In North Carolina's offensive onslaught, five out of the eight first half scorers tallied two or more goals. 

“I love that we came out and just established ourselves on the draw and tempo on offense,” Levy said. “We scored in a lot of different ways, and I thought we were very dynamic.”

Junior attacker Kiley Mottice was the first to record a hat trick, followed by first-year midfielder Eliza Osburn.

“Eliza had a phenomenal transition goal, and that moment brings the team up so much because it's such an exciting moment,” Mottice said. “That allowed us to really just continue to move on and keep going through our offensive goals.” 

North Carolina's assertiveness at the top of the circle was evident, firing 51 shots compared to Syracuse’s 27. 

With just under nine minutes remaining in the first quarter, Syracuse midfielder Molly Guzik chipped into the deficit, 3-2. It was the last Orange goal until the 7:11 mark in the second quarter.

Mottice’s first goal with 11 minutes remaining in the half jumpstarted a 7-0 run for the Tar Heels, extending their lead to 10-2.

Throughout the week, Mottice said that Levy shared the idea of a “low simmer” with the team. To the head coach, that means slowly building up energy throughout the week until it’s time to compete. Mottice said that this mindset, paired with the memory of a 20-5 blowout loss to the Orange last March, led to North Carolina's attacking focus from the initial draw.

“Utilizing that really helped us as a team to just stay prepared, stay focused, never get too excited until right before the game," Mottice said. 

Once the damage had been done, UNC’s first-year class took the reins in the second half. 

First-year midfielder Kate Levy became the seventh Tar Heel to get on the board in the third, followed by Osburn, who capped off her first career hat trick. First-year attacker Addison Pattillo added a pair of goals to wrap up a dominant showing from North Carolina's attack. 

“This is just another great game, another first step to just playing our best lacrosse, which we played a great game on Saturday,” Mottice said. “As a team, we continue to strive for more. And we're not satisfied with just one win.”

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