Perry's Overtime Game-Winner Sends Heels Past Hawks

Saturday, February 17

Chapel Hill, N.C. (Kenan Stadium)

12 Noon

North Carolina

3-0

Lehigh

2-1

Lehigh

North Carolina

William Perry launches the overtime game-winner.

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

February 17, 2018 | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score Box Score & Play by Play Photo Gallery Coach Breschi Post-Game (mp3)Watch Highlights Perry's Game-Winning Goal 2018 Media Guide (PDF)

UNC improves to 3-0 on the season.

By: Dave Lohse

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – For the second straight Saturday, the 13^th-ranked University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team needed overtime to prevail in a barnburner as William Perry's fourth goal of the game with 36 seconds elapsed in extra time gave the Tar Heels a 12-11 win over Lehigh before 826 fans at Kenan Stadium.

Just seven days ago it was Perry's fellow sophomore first midfield line mate Justin Anderson who scored just 31 seconds into overtime to lift the Tar Heels past Furman 15-14 at Kenan Stadium.

With the win over the Mountain Hawks, the Tar Heels improved to 3-0 on the season while Lehigh fell to 2-1. Saturday's game marked the second straight Saturday in which the Tar Heels fell behind late in regulation, earned a tying score late and then won the game in the first minute of overtime.

William Perry had a career high four goals to lead the Tar Heels while Timmy Kelly matched his career high for goals in a game with three and Andy Matthews equaled his career high for points in a game with five. Matthews had two goals and three assists in the game.

Lehigh had two players combine for seven of its 11 goals as Andrew Pettit had four tallies for the Mountain Hawks and Tristan Rai had three goals.

The Tar Heels ended the game with a 39-35 shot advantage. North Carolina's Charles Kelly did yeoman's work in the face-off circle as he won 15 of 26 face-offs, including four of six in the fourth quarter and the face-off to begin overtime. He led the Tar Heels with six ground balls.

Kelly's work at the X was a key factor in the Tar Heels' win as the Mountain Hawks had an edge in most other statistics. Lehigh led in ground balls 30-20 and it committed only seven turnovers compared to 11 for the Tar Heels. Both teams scored two extra-man goals and both squads were almost perfect in the clearing game as Lehigh went 15 for 16 and UNC went 19 for 21. Conor Gaffney had a game-high seven ground balls for the Mountain Hawks while Andrew Pettit had six ground balls to go with four goals and an assist.

Both goalies played the entire 60:36 in the cage with Lehigh's James Spence making 11 saves and UNC's Jack Pezzulla notching eight saves.

The Tar Heels jumped out to a 5-2 lead less than 10 minutes into the game. After the two teams traded early goals, Andy Matthews sandwiched a pair of goals around a tally by Timmy Kelly to put the Tar Heels up 4-1 with 5:39 left in the first quarter. But Lehigh persevered and scored six of the next nine goals of the game. Alex Tumminello's extra-man goal with 5:20 left in the first half resulted in the second tie of the game at 7-7. William Perry's unassisted goal with seven seconds left in the first half put the Tar Heels up at intermission 8-7.

After the high scoring first half there were only two goals scored in the third quarter. Lucas Spence scored with 5:53 to play in the quarter to tie the game and his goal was answered by Perry, off an assist by Matthews, with 4:08 left in the quarter.

Lehigh scored three of the first four goals of the fourth quarter and Pettit's fourth goal of the game put the Mountain Hawks up 11-10 with 3:04 left in regulation. On the ensuing face-off Charles Kelly earned the win and Jack Halpert scooped up the ground ball leading to a Tar Heel timeout. The Tar Heels responded by scoring 31 seconds later as Andy Matthews fed Timmy Kelly in front for the equalizer.

The Tar Heels won the following face-off but turned the ball over on an offside call with 1:53 to play. Carolina forced a turnover after a shot clock warning was put on the Mountain Hawks. But Carolina then turned the ball over on the clear and Lehigh almost won the game with seven seconds left but Tristan Rai's shot from in close hit the pipe.

The game went to overtime where Charles Kelly persevered to win a tough ground ball on the face-off, leading to UNC head coach Joe Breschi calling a quick timeout. Twenty-eight seconds later the Heels had the game-winner as Chris Cloutier sent a pass from the right side of the crease to the left side alley where Perry finished from 10 yards out.

Next up for Carolina is a match at Johns Hopkins next Friday at 5 p.m. at Homewood Field in Baltimore, Md. The game will be nationally televised on ESPNU.

NOTING THE TAR HEELS

North Carolina improved to 9-2-1 all-time against Lehigh. The Tar Heels have won the last three meetings between the two teams.
UNC is now 7-5 in overtime games under head coach Joe Breschi.
Chris Cloutier scored two goals in the game. He has scored at least one goal in 23 successive games. Cloutier's 23-game scoring streak is the second longest active streak in the country and it is the sixth-longest goal scoring streak in UNC history.
Andy Matthews had three assists against the Mountain Hawks. He now has at least one assist in 12 successive games. That equals the seventh longest assist streak in UNC history.
Chris Cloutier has now scored 89 goals in his career. That ranks him 23rd in Tar Heel history. He is now 30^th in career points at UNC with 121.
Tar Heel head coach Joe Breschi needs three more victories to reach 200 career wins.
Carolina has won 103 of its last 128 games against non-conference opponents dating back to 2006.
The Tar Heels have won 23 of 42 games decided by one goal during Coach Breschi's 10 years as head coach.
William Perry's four goals were his career high. His previous career high was three, also against Lehigh, on February 18 2017.
Timmy Kelly scored three goals in a game for the third time in his career. He also had a hat trick against UMBC on February 4, 2017 and against Lafayette on February 3, 2018.
Andy Matthews had five points in the game, tying his career high previously set against Dartmouth on March 18, 2017.