UNC women's lacrosse storms past Virginia

CHAPEL HILL -- Delayed but not deterred by a 98-minute lightning interlude, third-seeded North Carolina cruised past Virginia 15-7 on Saturday in the opening round of the NCAA women's lacrosse tournament.

Kara Cannizzaro scored four goals and Laura Zimmerman added three for the Tar Heels. Abbey Friend and Brittney Coppa put in two apiece.

The Tar Heels (14-5) will host Loyola (Md.) next Saturday to try to advance to their third straight national semifinals.

UNC has won 10 straight NCAA games at Fetzer Field.

"We're really happy with how we played today," Tar Heels coach Jenny Levy said. "I thought we played a total team game."

The Tar Heels were in control, leading 8-3 when lightning in the area brought a delay with 26:50 left in the second half. Rain never fell, and for most of the delay, the sun tried to peek through the clouds.

Afterward, Virginia seemed to be relieved to escape its locker room, coming up with a defensive stop, scoring a goal and then winning the ensuing faceoff.

But the Cavaliers never pulled closer than four goals, and the Tar Heels reasserted themselves, scoring the next five.

"I was a little worried about a letdown, and I thought we did a great job of coming out and making sure our intensity was still there," Levy said.

UNC was one goal better than the Cavaliers (9-9) when the teams first met this season. But the gap got progressively bigger as the season went along, and the Tar Heels defeated Virginia 16-5 in the ACC Tournament in April.

Then came Saturday's eight-goal differential.

"It's not because we didn't try or because we're not tough," Virginia coach Julie Myers said. "I think it's because Carolina is that good."

Margaret Corzel got the Tar Heels started, scoring a little more than 2 minutes into the game.

The Cavaliers countered shortly thereafter, and then Cannizzaro gave UNC the lead for good.

Zimmerman, in particular, gave Virginia trouble, using her speed to press the attack. When UNC scored to take a 4-2 lead, the all-ACC selection outran the Cavaliers' defenders through the middle of the field before feeding Friend in front for the goal.

"Coming down the field, there was a shift down the right side," Zimmerman said. "She just finished with a good goal."

"That was a good goal," Levy added.

Now the Tar Heels will try to advance to the national semifinals again. Two years ago, they lost to Northwestern in the NCAA championship game. Last year, they fell to Maryland in the semifinals.

Two of UNC's five losses this season are to the Terrapins, which is one of the reasons Maryland is the top seed in the tournament. If UNC can produce Saturday's form again, perhaps a third meeting between the teams awaits.

If nothing else, the results against Virginia indicate the Tar Heels are an improved bunch.

"Early in the season, I thought we had a lot of growth to do, but now I sit here on May 14 ... I think we've gotten better," Levy said.