The Griffs trailed the defending national champions 9-2 at the half, after allowing an 8-0 run over 17:13 of play, but managed to cut the lead to five on four separate occasions during the second act of the game.
The Blue and Gold opened the game’s scoring with a free position tally from junior Lauren Smolensky, the team’s only lead of the contest, and then allowed the eight straight Tar Heel goals for an 8-1 deficit with 8:12 remaining in the first.
Canisius responded with an unassisted goal from sophomore Tessa Chad at 3:22, but North Carolina put away their ninth goal of the afternoon at 0:57 for a 9-2 halftime lead.
Out of the half, the Golden Griffins hit their stride, scoring the first two goals half (Erica Evans and Jen Reininger) and cut the North Carolina lead to 9-4 with 27:21 remaining.
The teams traded three goals apiece over the next 15:50, with Evans adding two additional markers and sophomore Jourdan Roemer netting her first of the game, to put the score at 12-7 with 11:31 left to play.
Chad had an opportunity to close the gap to four with a free position attempt at 10:15, but the chance was blocked before she was able to get off a clean shot.
From there, the Tar Heels regained momentum, scoring four of the games’ last five goals for the eventual 16-8 win.
With the loss, VanLaeken moves to 3-4 on the season, while North Carolina goalkeeper Caylee Waters is now 5-1.
The Griffs return to Buffalo this week for a Wednesday afternoon matchup against Duquesne at 4 p.m. The Dukes are 0-2 to begin the year with home losses to Ohio State and Penn State, and will host Detroit Monday at noon.
