Levy Gets 200th Win as UNC Beats Georgetown
from press release
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Senior Laura Zimmerman
scored four goals to lead the fifth-ranked North Carolina women's
lacrosse team to a 13-10 win over No. 13 Georgetown Saturday
afternoon at Fetzer Field. The win was the 200th career victory for
Tar Heel coach Jenny Levy, who has been the UNC coach since the
program's inception 16 years ago.
"It just means I've been coaching a long time," Levy said. "I've
been very fortunate to be at the University of North Carolina for
16 seasons."
The visiting Hoyas (3-2) scored the first two goals of the game
before Zimmerman got UNC (6-2) on the board with 20:57 to play in
the first period. The score sat at 2-1 Georgetown for more than 10
minutes before Hoya freshman Hannah Franklin scored her second goal
of the game to give her team a two-goal advantage at the 10:24
mark. After that, the Tar Heels took over, scoring five consecutive
goals in a span of less than four minutes to grab the lead for
good. Junior Becky Lynch and sophomore Kara Cannizzaro each scored
twice and Zimmerman added another as the Tar Heels took a 6-3
lead.
In a flurry of scoring late in the half, Georgetown added two more
goals in the final 1:16 and freshman Abbey Friend scored for UNC
with a second on the clock to put the halftime score at 7-5.
In the second half, Georgetown drew within a goal on two more
occasions before a three-goal run by UNC gave the Tar Heels some
breathing room. Zimmerman had two more goals in the second half,
sophomore Emily Garrity had two, and Friend and Lynch each added
one more.
Sophomore Lauren Maksym played all 60 minutes in goal, making six
saves.
For Georgetown, Franklin and sophomore Sophia Thomas led the way
with three goals each. Freshman goalkeeper Barb Black made nine
saves in the loss.
"Georgetown hasn't had the opening to their season that they
wanted, but they're a good team," Levy said. "They've got some
youth, as do we. I thought we came out and battled back in some
tough situations. We stayed focused. We're making improvements and
that's really the biggest thing for me is that we consistently get
better. From the coaches to the players, I thought it was a great
team win today."
The Tar Heel victory made Levy the 11th women's lacrosse coach in
NCAA Division I history to win 200 games and the sixth active coach
to do so, joining Navy's Cindy Timchal, Notre Dame's Tracy Coyne,
Princeton's Chris Sailer, Virginia's Julie Myers and Duke's Kerstin
Kimel.
In its 16th season as a varsity program, Carolina reached the
200-wins mark faster than any other program in Atlantic Coast
Conference history. Maryland won its 200th game in its 18th season
in 1991 and Virginia won its 200th in its 19th season (1995). Duke
has 197 wins following Saturday's win over Dartmouth.
"Because Carolina is such a great university, academically and
athletically, we've had a great opportunity to attract
student-athletes who do well in the classroom and on the field and
also give back in the community," Levy said. "Everyone has sweated
on Fetzer and helped our program grow. It's a nationally-recognized
program, and it competes for a national championship each year. We
of course would like to win one, but I'm really happy with where
our program is right now.
Levy is the second-fastest women's lacrosse coach in ACC history to
reach 200 wins, trailing only Virginia's Julie Myers, who won her
200th game in her 13th season in Charlottesville (2008). Levy (then
known as Jenny Slingluff) and Myers were teammates at Virginia,
winning the NCAA championship in 1991.
The Tar Heels return to action on Wednesday, hosting Cornell for a
6 p.m. game at Fetzer Field.
