Tar Heels Look To Pull Off Upset In The Dome

Saturday, April 14

Syracuse, NY

4:00 p.m.

North Carolina

Syracuse

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

April 12, 2018 | Men's Lacrosse

Watch ESPN Live Stats Complete Game Notes (PDF)Media Guide (PDF)

UNC meets Syracuse Saturday at 4 p.m.

By: Dave Lohse

Carolina Heads To Syracuse Looking For First Win At Carrier Dome Since 1991

2018 UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA MEN'S LACROSSE GAME NOTES
Game 13: North Carolina Tar Heels (6-6, ACC 0-2, receiving votes in USILA Division I Men's Lacrosse Coaches Poll, receiving votes in Inside Lacrosse Maverik Media Poll) vs. Syracuse Orange (6-4, ACC 3-0, ranked #6 in USILA Division I Men's Lacrosse Coaches Poll, ranked #7 in Inside Lacrosse Maverik Media Poll )
Saturday, April 14, 2018
4 p.m. EDT
Carrier Dome
Syracuse University
Syracuse, N.Y.
KEY LINKS FOR SATURDAY'S GAME
UNC Media Guide: 2018 Media Guide
Player Roster & Coaches' Bios: GoHeels.com Roster Page
2018 Statistics: Individual Stats
UNC Lacrosse Social Media Links: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
Live Stats: GoHeels.com
TV: ESPNU

TAR HEELS HIT THE ROAD LOOKING TO BREAK INTO ACC WIN COLUMN SATURDAY: Head coach Joe Breschi and his 2018 University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team return to action on Saturday afternoon when the Tar Heels meet the sixth-ranked Syracuse University Orange at 4 p.m. EDT at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, N.Y.
The game will be the third ACC contest for Coach Joe Breschi's youthful and banged up Tar Heel team which is looking to end a six-game losing streak and in the process keep alive its hopes for a berth in the 2018 ACC Tournament and a bid in the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
The Tar Heels turned in a pair of their top three efforts of the campaign in their last two games. On Friday, March 30, the Tar Heels dropped an 11-10 heartbreaker at fifth-ranked Duke followed up by a close lose to Virginia 15-12 in Chapel Hill last Saturday. The Tar Heels face the Orange seeking their first win since beating St. John's 9-8 on March 3 at Kenan Stadium. UNC is receiving votes this week in the U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association coaches poll and it is also receiving votes in the Inside Lacrosse Maverik media poll.
Syracuse is hosting the Tar Heels coming off a 13-8 loss at Cornell on Tuesday night in Ithaca, N.Y. The Orange is 6-4 overall and it has already clinched a share of the ACC regular season title with a 3-0 league mark. Even with a loss against Carolina on Saturday, Syracuse is assured of the #1 seed in the upcoming ACC Tournament which will be held at the University of Virginia's Klockner Stadium on April 27 and 29. Only the top four teams in the regular season standings qualify for this year's ACC Championship. Syracuse and Duke have clinched their spots while Virginia, Notre Dame and North Carolina are in the mix for the other two tournament spots.
The four Syracuse losses this year have all come against Top 10 teams – Albany, Johns Hopkins, Rutgers and Cornell. The Orange is ranked sixth in the U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association coaches poll this week and is rated seventh in the Inside Lacrosse Maverik media poll.
Saturday's game at the Carrier Dome will be nationally televised on ESPNU with Anish Shroff on the play by play and Quint Kessenich providing color analysis.
Live Twitter updates during the game will be available via @uncmenslacrosse.

GAME DETAILS FOR SENIOR DAY ON SATURDAY, APRIL 21: After Carolina's trip to Syracuse on Saturday, the Tar Heels will return home to Chapel Hill for their regular season finale on Saturday, April 21 when the Tar Heels host the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at 12 noon at Kenan Stadium.
That game will be nationally televised on ESPNU. Admission will be free.
It will be Senior Day in Chapel Hill, honoring the 13 senior members of Carolina's squad in pregame ceremonies. It is also Alumni Weekend in Chapel Hill for the Tar Heel men's and women's lacrosse programs.
That Saturday's game is part of a doubleheader with the UNC women playing Duke at 3 p.m. at Kenan Stadium after the men's game between UNC and Notre Dame kicks off the day at 12 noon.
For the doubleheader games on Saturday, April 21, fans will now be sitting on the North side of the stadium in the new individual chairback blue seats. Both gates 2 and 5 will be open for entry for fans to Kenan Stadium.
Fan parking is at Bell Tower Deck and is free of charge in a first come, first serve basis. Backup parking is at Rams Head Parking Deck (an hourly fee in Rams Head). Fans are encouraged to come early in order to obtain the best parking as there are multiple events on campus that day.
Chapel Hill Sportswear and concessions will now be open on the North side of stadium only.

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE TAR HEELS: The 20th-ranked University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team returned to Kenan Stadium for the first time in 33 days Saturday, April 7 but fell to Atlantic Coast Conference rival Virginia 15-12. The win for the 11th-ranked Cavaliers was their first over Carolina since April of 2014.
Virginia, one of the nation's most improved teams, improved to 9-3 overall and 1-2 in the ACC. Carolina dropped its sixth game in a row and now stands at 6-6 overall and 0-2 in the ACC.
The Tar Heels led only twice in the game – at 1-0 and at 2-1. Virginia scored eight of the last 10 goals of the first half to take a 9-4 lead into intermission. That scoring run included the last four goals of the first half with Michael Kraus scoring twice and assisting on another. The Cavaliers took their biggest lead of the game as Mike D'Amario scored with 9:38 left in the third quarter to make the advantage 10-4.
Matt Gavin scored back-to-back goals for UNC and then William Perry added a man-up goal to pull the Tar Heels within 10-7 with 2:58 left in the third quarter. Virginia scored just 10 seconds later, sparking a three-goal run in just 1:31 that put Virginia up 13-7. Timmy Kelly and Matt Gavin scored goals in the last minute of the third quarter but the Heels never got closer than three goals after that when Tanner Cook tallied an extra-man goal with 1:02 left in the final period.
Timmy Kelly, Matt Gavin and William Perry all had four-point games for UNC. Gavin's four points were a career high while Kelly and Perry both matched their career highs for points in a game. The three goals by Gavin were a career high while the three assists by Kelly and the two assists by Perry equaled their career highs. The only other Tar Heel with a multi-point game was Chris Cloutier with two assists.
Michael Kraus led the Wahoos' offense with seven points on three goals and four assists. Mike D'Amario had four goals for Virginia and Ian Laviano tallied three times for the Wahoos who had nine assists on their 15 goals. Mikey Herring had one goal and three assists and Matt Moore and Dox Aitken each scored two times.
Virginia outshot the Tar Heels 38-34 and had a 34-31 edge in ground balls. Virginia had just 10 turnovers while UNC had 11, three above their season average. Each team failed on four clearing attempt with Virginia going 15 of 19 and UNC going 20 of 24.
Charles Kelly won a career high 16 face-offs going 16 of 28 at the X. His previous career high was 15 face-off wins against Lehigh on February 17. Kelly shared the team lead in ground balls for Carolina with Jack Rowlett as each had five. Justin Schwenk led the Cavaliers with six ground balls.
Virginia goalkeeper Alex Rode made 10 saves while playing all 60 minutes. Alex Bassil started for the Tar Heels and played 42:09, making 10 saves and allowing 10 goals. Jack Pezzulla made two saves and allowed five goals in 17:51 of action.
The Tar Heels will be back in action next Saturday when UNC plays at Syracuse at 4 p.m. The game at the Carrier Dome will be nationally televised on ESPNU.

DUKE HANDS TAR HEELS TIGHT LOSS: Carolina turned in one of its two most impressive performances of the 2018 season but fifth-ranked Duke scored four goals over a span of 5:45 late in the third quarter and early in the fourth quarter to ease past North Carolina 11-10 in men's lacrosse action before 4,000 fans at Koskinen Stadium and a national television audience on ESPNU on Friday, March 30.
Duke improved to 9-2 on the season and 1-1 in the ACC while North Carolina fell to 6-5 and 0-1 in the ACC.
Arguably it was one of Carolina's best efforts this season, topped only by a 13-11 win at Johns Hopkins (currrently the nation's #5-ranked team) on Friday, February 23. In that game, North Carolina handed the Blue Jays one of only two losses they have experienced this year and their only loss at home in Baltimore. The only other loss for Hopkins came at Loyola.
Against the Blue Devils, offensively, Chris Cloutier had three goals and an assist for the Tar Heels while Timmy Kelly scored three times. Both Andy Matthews and Justin Anderson had a goal and two assists.
Duke was powered by basicalluy a two-man offense. Justin Guterding had four goals and three assists for the Blue Devils while Brad Smith had four goals and two assists. Those two players accounted for eight of the Blue Devils' 11 goals and five of their eight assists. Only two of Duke's nine goals did not involve a goal or an assist by Guterding and Smith.
UNC outshot Duke 36-33. Both starting goalkeepers – Alex Bassil for UNC and Danny Fowler for Duke – made nine saves while playing all 60 minutes in the game.
Duke led in ground balls 32-24, including a key edge in the fourth quarter when the Blue Devils had 12 ground balls to UNC's five. The Blue Devils won 17 of 24 face-offs in the game. During UNC's five-game losing streak both of those areas have been problematic for the Tar Heels.

CAROLINA'S SECOND TRIP TO PACIFIC COAST LAX SHOOTOUT ENDS IN HARD FOUGHT LOSS: On Saturday, March 24, the Tar Heels, then ranked 19th, fell against the #2-ranked and defending NCAA champion University of Maryland Terrapins by an 11-7 score in the 2018 Pacific Coast Lax Shootout.
UNC trailed the entire game and fell behind by as much as 8-2 early in the third quarter. But Breschi's troops staged a furious rally and cut the lead to 9-7 with approximately five minutes left in the game. But that was as close as the Tar Heels would get and the Terps eventually pulled away for an 11-7 triumph and their fourth straight regular-season win over Carolina.
Still, the effort against the Terps was markedly improved over the last couple of games and the Tar Heels will have some momentum to build on as they head into the ACC schedule.
Saturday's game in California marked the second time the Tar Heels played in the Pacific Coast Lax Shootout. The Tar Heels also played in the event on March 21, 2015 when the Maryland Terrapins beat Carolina 10-8 in a match played in Santa Ana, Calif. Following are the year-by-year results of the Pacific Coast Lax Shootout.
2014-Denver 10, Notre Dame 7
2015-Maryland 10, North Carolina 8
2016-Notre Dame 9, Maryland 4
2017-Virginia 19, Cornell 18 (OT)
2018-Maryland 11, North Carolina 7

UNC-SYRACUSE GAME DETAILS: After starting the season with six straight wins, the Tar Heels head to Syracuse looking to end a six-game losing streak, Carolina's longest losing streak since it dropped nine games in a row in 2006. The 6-6 Tar Heels opened the campaign with successive wins over Lafayette, Furman, Lehigh, at Johns Hopkins, Mercer and St. John's before dropping a 10-6 home game against Denver on March 5. In their past five games, thr first four away from home, the Tar Heels fell at Hofstra 12-6 on March 10, at Richmond 11-10 on March 14, against #2 Maryland by an 11-7 score at Costa Mesa, Calif. on March 24 and at fifth-ranked Duke 11-10 on Friday, March 30 before losing at home against Virginia 15-12 last Saturday in Chapel Hill.
The game against Maryland ended the non-ACC portion of the season for the Tar Heels who now play nothing but conference opponents the rest of the way beginning with the loss at Duke.
Both of the remaining games on the Tar Heel schedule will be played teams currently ranked in the Top 10 of the NCAA RPI. Syracuse is currently third in the NCAA RPI and Notre Dame is ranked seventh in the NCAA RPI. Carolina stands 19th in the latest NCAA RPI.
Despite being on a six-game losing streak, the Tar Heels enter the Syracuse game in virtually the exact same position as they were the past two seasons as far as the chance to play their way into berths in the ACC and NCAA Tournaments.
UNC enters this last stretch of games with a 6-6 record, having played against one of the toughest schedules in the country to date.
In 2016, UNC was 5-4 entering the ACC portion of its schedule and went 3-2 against ACC opponents to finish 8-6 and earn an NCAA bid that eventually led to the a national championship.
In 2017, Carolina was again 5-4 entering games against ACC opponents and it went 3-3 the rest of the way and earned an NCAA Tournament bid at 8-7.
So this year's situation is no different. The Tar Heels can still play their way into post-season play. UNC's regular season records (prior to ACC and NCAA Tournaments) over the past three seasons have been 8-5 in 2016, 6-7 in 2017 and 6-6 so far in 2018. Each of the previous two years resulted in championships for Carolina - an NCAA title in 2016 and an ACC crown in 2017.

SCOUTING CUSE: Carolina will be facing a Syracuse team that has been up and down in 2018 but is in a good position to earn yet another bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The Orange opened the season with wins in three of its first four games, beating Binghamton 21-4, losing to Albany 15-3, defeating Army 11-10 in triple overtime and prevailing against Virginia 12-11.
The Orange lost its next two games, falling at the Carrier Dome 18-7 against Johns Hopkins before losing at Rutgers 14-10.
Three successive wins followed for the Orange as it won at Duke 15-14 and had back-to-back wins in the Carrier Dome against Notre Dame 10-6 and Hobart 11-4.
In its most recent game, the Orange fell at Cornell in a rivalry game in Ithaca this past Tuesday with the Big Red triumphing 13-8.

CAROLINA VERSUS SYRACUSE THE SERIES: North Carolina and Syracuse will play for the 25th time on the lacrosse field on Saturday when the squads tussle at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse. North Carolina won the first meeting in Chapel Hill in 1981 in the NCAA quarterfinals by a 13-6 score. Altogether, Syracuse leads the series 16-8. The two teams have played each other seven times since Syracuse joined the ACC in 2014 with the Orange winning five of those seven meetings.
ALL-TIME MEETINGS
May 20, 1981 - UNC 13, Syracuse 6 - NCAA Quarterfinals - Navy Field, Chapel Hill
March 10, 1984 - Syracuse 10, UNC 9 - played in Baltimore, Md.
March 5, 1985 - Syracuse 14, UNC 13 - overtime - at Carrier Dome
May 19, 1985 - Syracuse 14, UNC 13 - overtime - NCAA semifinals - at Carrier Dome
March 12, 1986 - UNC 9, Syracuse 8 - Fetzer Field, Chapel Hill
March 14, 1987 - UNC 13, Syracuse 11 - Fezter Field, Chapel Hill
March 12, 1988 - Syracuse 12, UNC 11 - overtime - at Carrier Dome
March 11, 1989 - Syracuse 11, UNC 7 - Fetzer Field, Chapel Hill
March 10, 1990 - Syracuse 14, UNC 9 - at Carrier Dome
May 26, 1990 - Syracuse 21, UNC 10 - NCAA Semifinals - Rutgers Stadium, Piscataway, N.J.
March 9, 1991 - UNC 10, Syracuse 3 - Fetzer Field, Chapel Hill
March 25, 1991 - UNC 19, Syracuse 13 - NCAA Semifinals - at Carrier Dome
March 7, 1992 - Syracuse 15, UNC 10 - at Carrier Dome
March 6, 1993 - UNC 14, Syracuse 10 - Fetzer Field, Chapel Hill
May 31, 1993 - Syracuse 13, UNC 12 - NCAA championship game - Byrd Stadium, College Park, Md.
March 5, 1994 - Syracuse 17, UNC 10 -at Carrier Dome
May 11, 1996 - Syracuse 19, UNC 12 - NCAA Quarterfinals - Rutgers Stadium, Piscataway, N.J.
April 12, 2014 - Syracuse 11, UNC 10 - double overtime - at Carrier Dome
April 11, 2015 - UNC 17, Syracuse 15 - Fetzer Field, Chapel Hill
April 24, 2015 - Syracuse 9, UNC 8 - ACC Tournament Semifinals - Chester, Pa.
April 16, 2016 - Syracuse 13, UNC 7 - at Carrier Dome
April 29, 2016 - Syracuse 10, UNC 7 - ACC Tournament semifinals - Kennesaw, Ga.
April 15, 2017 - Syracuse 12, UNC 11 - overtime - Fetzer Field, Chapel Hill
April 28, 2017 - UNC 16, Syracuse 15 - ACC Tournament semifinals - Koskinen Stadium, Durham, N.C.

REVIEWING 2017 REGULAR SEASON MEETING BETWEEN UNC AND SYRACUSE: The top-ranked Syracuse University men's lacrosse team scored seven of the last eight goals of the game to rally past 17th-ranked North Carolina 12-11 in overtime before a crowd of 4,338 fans at Fetzer Field Saturday afternoon, April 15, 2017.
The Orange scored the last four goals of regulation and then won the game on an extra-man goal by Sergio Salcido 1:18 into the overtime period.
The furious Orange rally sent the home fans to the exits unhappy on what had been a festive day at Fetzer Field. The game marked the final regular-season game scheduled to be played at the edifice, which has been home to UNC lacrosse since 1949. Fetzer Field will be razed next month and a new soccer and lacrosse stadium will be built on the same site with opening scheduled for August 2018. I was also Alumni Weekend for the Tar Heel lacrosse program and the final home regular-season games for 10 Carolina senior players.
Syracuse improved to 10-1 with the win while finishing with a perfect 4-0 ACC regular season record. All four ACC wins for the Orange came by one goal. Syracuse improved to 7-1 this year in games decided by one goal. North Carolina fell to 6-6 with the loss. The Tar Heels are now 1-2 in the ACC. All six Tar Heel losses this year have come in Chapel Hill.
Salcido led Syracuse with a hat trick while Stephen Rehfuss had two goals and two assists. Nick Mariano and Paolo Ciferri each scored two goals for the victorious Orange while Nate Solomon notched a goal and two assists.
Luke Goldstock had a brilliant game for the Tar Heels on his Senior Day as he had three goals and three assists. The three goals by Goldstock move him into sixth place all-time in goal scoring at 112 tallies. He passed both John Webster and Mac Ford on the Tar Heel goal-scoring chart on Saturday. Goldstock has 164 career points, the 13th highest total in Tar Heel lore. Brian Cannon and Tanner Cook each scored two goals for Carolina while Chris Cloutier and Andy Matthews each had a goal and an assist.
Syracuse outshot the Tar Heels 41-37 on the day and had a decided edge in ground balls at 34-23. Given the pace of the game, it was relatively turnover free with the Orange making just eight miscues and the Tar Heels committing 10 turnovers.
North Carolina goalkeeper Brian Balkam made 11 saves in goal for UNC while Evan Molloy made six saves for the Orange.
It was a game of runs as Syracuse jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first quarter, including back-to-back goals by Sergio Salcido. Brian Cannon's unassisted goal on a bounce shot with 1:40 left in the first quarter started a five-goal run by the Tar Heels. UNC scored all four goals in the second quarter, by four different players. William McBride's unassisted goal put the Tar Heels up 6-4 with 3:56 to play before halftime.
Syracuse opened the scoring in the third quarter, but UNC ran off four goals in a span of just 4:12 to go up 10-5 with 5:26 left in the third quarter. Goldstock had back-to-back goals with 7:52 and 6:20 left in the third quarter and he then assisted William Perry's extra-man goal with 5:26 left in the quarter.
Syracuse cut the Tar Heel lead to 10-7 heading into the fourth quarter but the Tar Heels answered with an extra-man goal by Tanner Cook assisted by Luke Goldstock with 12:49 left in the period.
Nick Mariano pulled the Orange within three goals at 10:55 and then back-to-back unassisted goals by Stephen Rehfuss pulled the Orange back within 11-10 with 4:57 left on the clock.
The Tar Heels had possession in the last two minutes but the Syracuse defense forced a turnover and Paolo Ciferri scored an unassisted fast break goal with 1:19 left to even the game.
Carolina never touched the ball again after the turnover with 1:24 left in regulation. Syracuse's Ben Williams won the ensuing face-off and Syracuse called timeout. With 11 seconds left in regulation, Brian Balkam made a brilliant one-on-one save on the doorstep on a shot by SU's Nate Solomon and the game went to overtime, where Syracuse is now 4-0 all-time against Carolina after Saturday's win.
Williams, who won 15 of 25 face-offs on the day, again won the overtime face-off and 54 seconds into the extra period, UNC's Jack Lambert was called for a push against Nate Solomon. Syracuse executed the extra-man opportunity to perfection with Salcido scoring the game-winning goal from the left side at 2:42 off an assist by Brad Voigt.

CAROLINA VERSUS SYRACUSE IN 2017 ACC TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS: The 18th-ranked North Carolina men's lacrosse team built a nine-goal halftime lead and held on for a wild 16-15 ACC Championship semifinal game victory over top-ranked Syracuse Friday night, April 28, 2018 at Koskinen Stadium.
With the win, the Tar Heels advanced to the ACC Championship game Sunday at noon against Notre Dame who beat Duke 7-6 in the second semifinal game. The game will be nationally televised on ESPNU.
With the victory, North Carolina improved to 7-7 on the season while Syracuse fell to 11-2 on the campaign. With the win, the Tar Heels avenged a 12-11 overtime loss to the #1-ranked Orange at Fetzer Field on April 15. Also with the triumph, Carolina improved to 14-21 all-time against #1-ranked teams in the USILA poll in its history, including a mark of 8-4 in its last 12 games since 2012. UNC is 2-1 against #1-ranked teams in 2017.
UNC also avenged back-to-back ACC Tournament semifinal losses to the Orange in both 2015 and 2016.
Friday's game was one of wild emotional swings with UNC building a nine-goal lead at halftime before Syracuse stormed back with an eight-goal run in the third quarter. That cut UNC's lead to 13-12 heading into the final quarter. The Tar Heels never surrendered the lead, however, and held on for the 16-15 win to reach their first ACC Tournament final since 2013.
Ten different Tar Heels scored in the game and five different players had assists. Chris Cloutier led the Tar Heels with three goals and an assist while Luke Goldstock also had a four-point game with two goals and two assists. Andy Matthews had a goal and three assists. Michael Tagliaferri and Tanner Cook each scored twice for the Tar Heels. Senior long-stick midfielder Jack Lambert, who came into the game with one career goal, had two goals in the first half for the Tar Heels. Timmy Kelly added a goal and an assist while Justin Anderson, Jack Rowlett and Brian Cannon had single goals.
Jordan Evans led the Orange offensively with a goal and a career-high six assists. Sergio Salcido had three goals and two assists for Syracuse while Nick Mariano added a hat trick. Jamie Trimboli and Brendan Bomberry each added two goals for the two-time defending ACC Tournament champion Orange.
UNC had advantages in most statistical areas. UNC outshot the Orange 47-41 and had a 36-31 edge in ground balls. Stephen Kelly won 18 of 32 face-offs for the Tar Heels and had a game-high 11 ground balls.
Brian Balkam played 55:49 in goal for the Tar Heels and made 10 saves while allowing 14 goals. Freshman Jack Pezzulla played the last 4:11 for the Tar Heels and made two saves while allowing a single extra-man goal. Evan Molloy made seven saves for Syracuse while allowing all 16 Tar Heel goals.
Given the frenetic pace of the game, it was relatively turnover free as North Carolina committed just nine turnovers and the Orange had 11 miscues. In the clearing game, UNC went 11 for 13 and Syracuse was 16 for 18. The Orange was three-for-three on the EMO while UNC was two for four.

Luke Goldstock's two goals in the game moved him into fifth place all-time in the category in Tar Heel history. He now has 114 career goals, moving past Jed Prossner, who was fifth previously with 113.
The 18 face-off wins by Kelly were the eighth time he has won 18 or more face-offs in his career. Kelly now has 697 career face-off wins and 363 career ground balls.
After Jamie Trimboli opened the scoring for Syracuse, the Tar Heels ran off the last four goals of the first quarter. Justin Anderson and Michael Tagliaferri scored back-to-back unassisted goals, putting the Tar Heels ahead for good in the game at 2-1 with 5:39 left in the first quarter. At 3:58, Chris Cloutier scored a highlight reel goal off an assist by Luke Goldstock while the 30-second shot clock was on and then Andy Matthews tallied off an assist by Timmy Kelly with 1:37 left in the quarter.
UNC opened the scoring in the second quarter on a man-up goal by Brian Cannon, assisted by William McBride, and Timmy Kelly then made it 6-1 in favor of the Tar Heels with 13:22 left in the half with an unassisted tally. Syracuse answered with a transition goal by Peter Dearth, assisted by Salcido just shortly afterwards before the Tar Heels went on another scoring run.
Carolina answered the Dearth goal with a pair of goals by long-stick players in just 24 seconds with Jack Lambert scoring at 12:12 and Jack Rowlett scoring his goal at 11:58. It took just another 13 seconds for the Heels to make it 9-2 when Luke Goldstock scored off an assist by Andy Matthews with 11:45 left in the half. An unassisted goal by Tanner Cook made it 10-2 at 10:39 and then Chris Cloutier notched his second goal, assisted by Goldstock, and it was 11-2 with 8:05 left in the half.
Syracuse scored back-to-back goals before Lambert scored his second goal of the second quarter at 2:49 of the period. Michael Tagliaferri scored five seconds before halftime, assisted by Matthews, and UNC went to the break ahead 13-4.
But as is the case in ACC lacrosse action, a game is never really over and Syracuse went on a furious 8-0 scoring run. Back-to-back goals by Nick Mariano pulled the Orange within 13-10 with 6:35 left in the third quarter. Salcido scored at 3:14 and then a fast break goal with 13 seconds left in the period by Tyson Bomberry cut Carolina's lead to just 13-12 entering the final period.
Carolina freshman Tanner Cook broke the long scoring drought for the Heels by tallying with 10:58 to play in the game off an assist by Andy Matthews. Matt Lane then tallied for Syracuse at 8:05 to again pull the Orange within a single goal.
UNC got two key goals at 5:56 and 5:21 of the fourth quarter to go back up by three goals. Chris Cloutier scored unassisted at 5:56 and then the Tar Heels tallied in a man-up situation at 5:21 with Goldstock scoring his second goal of the game off an assist by Cloutier.
Syracuse pulled within two goals on a tally by Salcido at 4:11. At that point, Tar Heel head coach Joe Breschi subbed in Jack Pezzulla at goal and he made two key saves in the closing minutes. Brendan Bomberry tallied with 27 seconds left on an extra-man situation to pull the Orange within a single goal. The Orange won the ensuing face-off but did not get off a shot as the clock ran out and Carolina earned its spot in the ACC Championship game.
After losing three one-goal decisions earlier this year, Carolina prevailed against Syracuse and can now earn its way into the NCAA Tournament with a win on Sunday.

POTENTIAL STARTING LINEUP: North Carolina's tentative starting lineup against Syracuse could look something like the following:
Attack – #15 Timmy Kelly (Jr.), #45 Chris Cloutier (Sr.), #12 Andy Matthews (Jr.)
Attack Reserve — #55 Matt Cunningham (Sr.)
1st Midfield — #77 Tanner Cook (So.), #3 William Perry (So.), #11 Brian Cannon (Sr.), #32 Matt Gavin (So.)
2nd Midfield — #17 Alex O'Connell (Fr.), #16 Sean Morris (Fr.), #1 Alex Trippi (Fr.)
Short Stick Defensive Midfielders — #11 William McBride (Sr.), #28 Cam Macri (So.), #40 Cole Haverty (Jr.), #19 Timmy Gehlbach (Sr.), #23 Parker Alexander (Fr.)
Long Stick Defensive Midfielders — #4 Jack Halpert (Jr.), #88 Kyle Mathie (Sr.), #0 Jake Peden (Jr.)
Face-Offs — #26 Charles Kelly (Jr.), #17 Ryan O'Connell (Fr.), #25 Riley Graham (Sr.), #22 Jack Rowlett (Jr.)
Close Defense Starters — #22 Jack Rowlett (Jr.), #20 Ryan Macri (Sr.), #43 Michael Nathan (Jr.)
Close Defense Reserves – #0 Jake Peden (Sr.), #29 Patrick Lyons (So.), #50 Kevin Walker (Jr.)
Goalkeeper — #48 Alex Bassil (Jr.)
Backup Goalkeeper — #42 Jack Pezzulla (So.)

UNC HEAD COACH JOE BRESCHI: Joe Breschi, UNC Class of 1990, leads the Tar Heels in his 10th season at Carolina. Breschi is 108-54 in his 10 years at Carolina, a winning percentage of 66.7 percent. He also coached 11 years at Ohio State and is 200-117 overall in 21 seasons as a collegiate head coach. His overall winning percentage at Ohio State and UNC combined is 63.1 percent. On April 9, 2017, UNC head coach Joe Breschi won his 100th game at Carolina. His 100th win as the Tar Heel head mentor came in Carolina's 15-12 victory against Virginia at Klockner Stadium in Charlottesville, Va.
His 200th overall coaching victory came in a 9-8 victory over St. John's on March 3, 2017 in Kenan Stadium.
Breschi Coaching Facts:
• 108-54 in 10 seasons at UNC (66.7)
• 200-117 in 21 seasons overall (63.1)
• 24-21 in one-goal games at UNC
• 7-6 in overtime games at UNC
• 57-46 versus ranked teams at UNC; 51-8 versus unranked teams at UNC
• 85-25 versus non-conference teams at UNC
• 65-18 in home games at UNC

UNC VERSUS?RANKED?OPPONENTS UNDER?COACH?BRESCHI: North?Carolina has played nationally-ranked (based on the USILA coaches poll) opponents 103 times in Joe Breschi's 10-year coaching tenure. UNC?is 57-46 in those games, a winning percentage of 55.3 percent. Conversely, and as would be expected, the Tar Heels are 51-8 against unranked opponents in Breschi's 10 seasons for an outstanding winning percentage of 86.4 percent. Breschi is 108-54 overall at Carolina in his 10 seasons as head coach. During Breschi's tenure, UNC's only losses to unranked teams came at Ohio State in 2011, at home to Lehigh in 2012, at Pennsylvania in 2012, at home to Hofstra in 2016, at Massachusetts in 2016, at home against Hofstra in 2017 and at Hofstra and at Richmond in 2018.

TAR HEELS IN OVERTIME UNDER BRESCHI: Carolina's 12-11 win over Lehigh on February 17 marked the 13th time the Tar Heels have played an overtime match in Coach Joe Breschi's 10 seasons as head coach. UNC is 7-6 in those 13 overtime contests. Carolina has won four of the last five games that have gone to extra time dating to a 17-16 win at Duke on April 1, 2016.

CAROLINA'S IMPROVEMENT IN ONE-GOAL DECISIONS: Prior to Joe Breschi taking over as head coach in 2009, UNC went just 1-7 in games decided by one goal from midway through the 2004 season through the end of the 2008 campaign.
Carolina has improved tremendously in one-goal games since Breschi arrived for the 2009 season. UNC is 24-21 in games decided by one goal over the past 10 years with Breschi at the helm, a winning percentage of 55.3 percent. UNC is 3-2 in games decided by one goal in the 2018 season with wins over Furman, Lehigh and St. John's and losses to Richmond and Duke.

NEW HOME PLAYING VENUE FOR 2018: At the conclusion of the 2017 lacrosse season, historic Fetzer Field was razed. Construction on a new Fetzer Field, which will house the men's and women's soccer and men's and women's lacrosse programs at Carolina, began in May 2017. The new Fetzer Field will reopen in August 2018 in time for the Tar Heels' upcoming men's and women's soccer seasons. UNC men's and women's lacrosse will return to the new Fetzer Field in the spring of 2019.
In the interim, North Carolina will play all eight of its home games in 2018 in Kenan Stadium, the Tar Heels' historic football stadium which opened 91 years ago in 1927. All home games will be free of charge in 2018. Fans are encouraged to sit on the North Side of the stadium and enter through gates 2 and 5 as stadium improvements are being made on the South Side of the stadium.
Parking for weekend games is free in the Bell Tower Parking Deck. Parking will also be available in the Rams Head Parking Lot for an hourly fee on game days and for weekday games. The Rams Head Deck is on the East side of the stadium.
Concessions on game days will only be available on the North Side of the stadium. Seating on the South Side of Kenan Stadium is not available the remainder of this spring as new seats are being installed in the historic football edifice.
The original Fetzer Field was built in 1935 and had served as the home of the Tar Heel men's lacrosse program since 1949, its first varsity campaign. The original Fetzer Field was built as a Works Progress Administration program during the Great Depression.
The original Fetzer Field housed the following sports:
Track and Field -1935-2017
Men's Soccer - 1947-2016
Men's Lacrosse - 1949-2017
Women's Soccer - 1979-2016
Women's Lacrosse - 1996-2017

TAR HEELS AT KENAN STADIUM: Because of field improvements last spring at Kenan Stadium, 2017 marked the first year since 2015 that the Tar Heels did not play a game at Kenan Stadium, the home of the football Tar Heels. UNC is back in Kenan Stadium on a full-time basis in 2018 for eight home games as the new Fetzer Field in being completed on campus. North Carolina had a 6-0 mark in games played at Kenan Stadium from 2013-16 after beating Notre Dame 17-15 there on April 23, 2016.
UNC's last loss in the Tar Heel football stadium came on April 7, 2018 when Virginia defeated the Tar Heels 15-12. It marked just the second loss for Carolina at Kenan Stadium since April 26, 2009 when the Tar Heels lost to Duke 15-13 at Kenan Stadium in the ACC Tournament championship game.
The Tar Heels defeated Virginia twice (2013 ACC Tournament championship game & 2016 regular season game) and Duke (2013 ACC Tournament semifinals), Johns Hopkins (2013 regular season), Maryland (2014 regular season), Notre Dame (2016 regular season), Lafayette (2018 regular season), Furman (2018 regular season), Lehigh (2018 regular season), Mercer (2018 reguar season) and St. John's (2018 regular season) once each in the 12 games at Kenan Stadium played between March 30, 2013 and March 3, 2018.
Since his arrival as UNC head coach for the 2009 season, Coach Joe Breschi's teams are 12-4 in games played in Kenan Stadium. UNC hosted the ACC Tournament in Kenan Stadium in both 2009 and 2013 during Breschi's tenure. UNC has won 12 of its past 15 games played at Kenan Stadium dating to the 2009 ACC Tournament semifinals against Maryland on April 24, 2009, losing only to Duke in the 2009 ACC Tournament finals, to Denver on March 5, 2018 and to Virginia on April 7, 2016.

TWO TAR HEELS NAMED PRESEASON ALL-ACC: A pair of Tar Heel veteran players and two-year starters at their positions were named to the preseason All-Atlantic Coast Conference Team selected by the league's five head coaches and released by the conference office on Tuesday, January 30. Senior attackman Chris Cloutier and junior close defenseman Jack Rowlett were named to the preseason All-ACC Team. Both are entered their third years as starters for the Tar Heels in 2018. Cloutier was the Most Valuable Player of the 2017 ACC Tournament when the Tar Heels won their 13th league title in history.

CLOUTIER NAMED TO TEWAARATON TROPHY WATCH LIST: University of North Carolina men's lacrosse senior attackman Chris Cloutier was named to the 2018 Tewaaraton Trophy Watch List on Thrusday, March 1. A total of 50 NCAA Division I men's lacrosse players were named to the list. Cloutier is Carolina's leading scorer in 2018 with 28 goals and nine assists for 37 points. He is a senior from Kitchener, Ontario. He was the Most Valuable Player of the 2016 NCAA Tournament and the 2017 ACC Tournament. Cloutier was tabbed as a third-team USILA All-America attackman in 2017.

CLOUTIER'S GOAL SCORING & POINTS STREAKS: Senior attackman Chris Cloutier saw a 31-game goal scoring streak come to an end in Carolina's 15-12 loss against Virginia on April 7 at Kenan Stadium.
With two goals against Maryland on March 24, Cloutier broke the school record for most consecutive games scoring a goal. He added to his streak by scoring three times against Duke on March 30.
The previous school record was 29 games held by Marcus Holman. Holman's 29-game scoring streak began against Detroit Mercy on February 18, 2012 and extended through a game against Duke on April 26, 2013.
During Cloutier's 31-game scoring streak (four games in 2016, 16 games in 2017, 11 games in 2018), he scored 83 goals, an average of 2.68 goals per game. Cloutier had the second longest active goal scoring streak in NCAA Division I lacrosse when it ended against UVA. The only player with a longer streak is Duke's Justin Guterding who has scored goals in 39 straight games dating back to March 26, 2016. Cloutier's current goal-scoring binge began on May 14, 2016 against Marquette in the first round of that year's NCAA Tournament.
Cloutier has recorded at least one point in 32 successive games. That is tied the 12th longest point production streak in Tar Heel lore with a 32-game streak by Marcus Holman (February 18, 2012 to May 19, 2013). During those 32 games, Cloutier has been responsible for 109 points on 83 goals and 26 assists. Cloutier's 32-game point streak is the 12th longest streak amongst current streaks in NCAA Division I.

CHRIS CLOUTIER ON CAREER CHARTS: Senior attackman Chris Cloutier (Kitchener, Ontario) has scored 108 career goals at Carolina heading into the Syracuse game. Cloutier became the 14th player in UNC history to score 100 goals in his career when he tallied with 1:28 left in the third quarter in the March 5 game against Denver. Cloutier is in a tie for ninth place in UNC goal scoring history. With two goals against Maryland he passed fellow Canadian Chad Tutton (2012-15) into 10th place. Tutton is now in 11th place with 104 goals.
Cloutier is tied with Dennis Goldstein for ninth place in Tar Heel career goal scoring. Goldstein had 108 goals in his career from 1987-91. John Webster ranks eighth with 109 goals from 1990-93.
Cloutier is currently in 21st place in points in Carolina history with 145. He has 108 goals and 37 assists in his career. Next up on the career points chart is Matt Crofton in 20th place with 149 points from 1997-2000.

KELLY NAMED ACC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK ON FEBRUARY 26: University of North Carolina junior attackman Timmy Kelly of Lutherville, Md., was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Week on Monday, February 26. Kelly scored a career-high four goals as North Carolina earned a 13-11 victory at No. 13/14 Johns Hopkins, giving the Tar Heels their fifth straight win over the Blue Jays in Baltimore. With the game tied at 9-9, Kelly put North Carolina ahead for good with a man-up goal with 8:11 left in the game. He scored again 15 seconds later to give the Tar Heels a two-goal lead and then scored with 5:09 left in the match for the eventual game-winning goal in UNC's 13-11 victory. Kelly's previous career high was three goals in a game, achieved on a trio of occasions - once in 2017 and twice in 2018.

CLOUTIER & KELLY NAMED TO USILA TEAMS OF THE WEEK: The United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association has instituted a 10-man National Team of the Week for the first time in 2018. The initial Tar Heel tapped for the team is senior attackman Chris Cloutier of Kitchener, Ontario. Cloutier was named to the team on February 12 after scoring five goals and adding an assist in the Tar Heels' 15-14 overtime victory over Furman.
Cloutier forced overtime with a goal with 1:16 to play in regulation and sophomore Justin Anderson won the game for the Tar Heels 31 seconds into overtime.
Timmy Kelly was named to the USILA Team of the Week on Tuesday, February 27. Kelly scored a career high four goals in Carolina's 13-11 win at Johns Hopkins on February 23. With the game tied at 9-9 in the fourth quarter, the junior attackman scored three straight goals to put the Tar Heels up 12-9 en route to a 13-11 triumph over the Blue Jays.

ANDY MATTHEWS ASSIST STREAK COMES TO END: Junior attackman Andy Matthews recorded at least one assist in 16 successive games before that streak was ended on March 10 against Hofstra. Matthews had begun his assist streak against Dartmouth on March 18, 2017 and it extended for 16 games through the contest against Denver on March 5, 2018. His 16-game assist streak equaled the fifth longest streak in UNC lacrosse history. Players with assist streaks longer than Matthews included Bruce Ledwith (1972-73) at 22 games, Michael Burnett (1980-82) at 21 games, Dennis Goldstein (1990-91) at 18 games and Joey Sankey (2015) at 17 games while Brendan Carey (1996) also had a 16 game assist streak.
Matthews also recorded points in 19 straight games beginning on March 4, 2017 and extending through the game on March 5, 2018.
With points in 22 straight games, Matthews recorded a streak that matched the 22nd longest streak in UNC history.
Matthews curently ranks 62nd in career points at Carolina with a total of 67 and he is 26th in career assists with 48.

CAROLINA SQUAD CHOOSES FIVE CAPTAINS FOR 2018 TEAM: The University of North Carolina men's lacrosse program, under the leadership of Tar Heel head coach Joe Breschi, elected five players to serve as team captains for the 2018 season. The 2018 Tar Heel team captains include:
• Senior attackman Chris Cloutier of Kitchener, Ontario
• Senior defenseman Joe Kenna of Chantilly, Va.
• Senior defenseman Ryan Macri of Hamilton, Mass.
• Senior defenseman Kyle Mathie of Smithtown, N.Y.
• Senior midfielder William McBride of Baltimore, Md.
McBride is the second member of his family to serve as a Tar Heel captain. His brother Greg McBride served as a team captain in 2014.
Macri served as a team captain on the Tar Heels' ACC championship winning team in 2017. He is one of just eight individuals to serve as a team captain in multiple years for the Tar Heel program, joining the following players who were all two-time team captains in their own right.
• Ryan Macri, 2017-18
• Austin Pifani, 2016-17
• Mark Rizzo, 2016-17
• Marcus Holman, 2012-13
• Mike Munnelly, 2007-08
• Austin Garrison, 2002-03
• Joey Seivold, 1986-87
• Lew Floyd, 1953-54

TAR HEELS ON TV IN 2018: Carolina will have four of its 14 regular season games televised on ESPNU in 2018. The second of the four games to air on ESPNU came last Friday when the Tar Heels played at fifth-ranked Duke.
In addition to that, seven more games will be televised on ACC Network Extra with live streaming on WatchESPN and the ESPNApp. Games at Hofstra and Richmond and against Maryland were on other networks.
The 2018 ESPNU schedule is as follows:
• Friday, February 23, 5 p.m., North Carolina at Johns Hopkins
• Friday, March 30, 5 p.m., North Carolina at Duke
• Saturday, April 14, 4 p.m., North Carolina at Syracuse
• Saturday, April 21, 12 p.m., Notre Dame at North Carolina
The 2018 ACC Network Extra schedule is as follows:
• Saturday, February 3, 12 p.m., Lafayette at North Carolina
• Saturday, February 10, 12 p.m., Furman at North Carolina
• Saturday, February 17, 12 p.m., Lehigh at North Carolina
• Wednesday, February 28, 4 p.m., Mercer at North Carolina
• Saturday, March 3, 10:30 a.m., St. John's at North Carolina
• Monday, March 5, 4 p.m., Denver at North Carolina
• Saturday, April 7, 6 p.m., Virginia at North Carolina
The UNC-Hofstra game was televised on LSN and Pride Productions. The UNC-Richmond game was televised on NBCSW+ and NBCSPhiladelphia+. The UNC versus Maryland game aired on YouTube.

TAR HEELS IN THE POLLS: North Carolina entered the 2018 season coming off an 8-8 campaign in 2017 in which it won the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship and earned an NCAA Tournament bid for the 11th straight season. Carolina began the 2018 campaign ranked ninth in the Inside Lacrosse Maverik preseason media poll. Coach Joe Breschi's Tar Heels were also ranked ninth in the preseason United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association preseason coaches' poll. The first regular season polls were released on February 12. After starting the season 6-6, Carolina is currently receiving votes in the USILA coaches poll and is receiving votes in the Inside Lacrosse Maverik media poll this week. The Tar Heels have been ranked in the USILA poll every week since the preseason poll except on two occasions - March 26, 2018 and April 9, 2018.

CAROLINA PICKED TO FINISH THIRD IN ACC: The North Carolina men's lacrosse team was picked to finish third in the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2018. The preseason poll voted on by the league's five head coaches was released on Tuesday, January 30. The Tar Heels are the defending Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament champions after having finished fourth in last year's ACC regular season standings. Duke and Notre Dame are tied atop the 2018 preseason poll with 17 points each in the rating. The Tar Heels are picked third with 12 poll points. Syracuse is fourth with nine poll points and Virginia is fifth with six poll points.

CONGRATULATIONS MARCUS: The U.S. men's lacrosse national team named its 23-player travel roster that will represent the United States in the Federation of International Lacrosse Men's World Championship July 12-21 in Netanya, Israel. The U.S. team will again include 2013 University of North Carolina alumnus Marcus Holman, who also played on the National Team when the World Championships were held in Denver, Colo., in 2014. The U.S. Team won a silver medal in that event.

28 TAR HEELS NAMED TO ACC ACADEMIC HONOR ROLL IN 2016-17: A record 385 University of North Carolina student-athletes were named to the 2016-17 Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Honor Roll, announced on July 13, 2017 by the league. It was the second year in a row and the fourth time in the past five years that UNC had established a new high and the fifth year in a row that more than 300 Tar Heel student-athletes have been honored. Coach Joe Breschi's North Carolina men's lacrosse team was responsible for 28 of the 385 Tar Heels on the Honor Roll during the last school year. Fifty-six percent of the team's 50 members were tapped for the Honor Roll. The ACC champion 2017 Tar Heels placed four more members on the team than the outstanding number of 24 tapped from 2016's NCAA championship squad for the 2015-16 Honor Roll. Overall, the 2016-17 school year honorees included freshman Justin Anderson, senior Brian Balkam, sophomore Alex Bassil, junior Bug Carper, freshman Tanner Cook, junior Matt Cunningham, junior Mike D'Alessandro, senior Luke Goldstock, junior Riley Graham, sophomore Jack Halpert, sophomore Cole Haverty, senior Stephen Kelly, sophomore Timmy Kelly, senior Peyton Klawinski, senior Jack Lambert, freshman Patrick Lyons, freshman Cam Macri, junior Ryan Macri, junior Kyle Mathie, sophomore Andy Matthews, junior Patrick McCormick, sophomore Michael Nathan, senior Austin Pifani, sophomore Jordan Prysko, senior Mark Rizzo, freshman Tyler Seminetta, sophomore Kevin Walker and senior Luke Walsh.

CAROLINA'S STELLAR MARK IN NON-CONFERENCE GAMES: UNC's record in non-conference games continues to be one of the best in the nation over the past 13 seasons, dating back to late in the 2006 season. The Tar Heels have won 106 of their last 135 games against non-conference teams dating back to April 15, 2006 when the Tar Heels beat Fairfield 18-9 at Kenan Stadium. In Joe Breschi's 10 seasons as head coach, the Tar Heels are a brilliant 85-25 against non-conference teams, a winning percentage of 77.3 percent. The only non-conference losses were to Notre Dame in 2009, to Ohio State and Johns Hopkins in 2011, to Lehigh, Pennsylvania and Denver in 2012, to Massachusetts, Notre Dame and Denver in 2013, to Denver in 2014, to Maryland twice in 2015, to Hofstra, Denver, Massachusetts and Maryland in 2016 and to Johns Hopkins, Hofstra, Richmond, Maryland and Albany in 2017 and to Denver, Hofstra, Richmond and Maryland in 2018.

NEAR DOMINANCE AT HOME UNDER BRESCHI: UNC?is 65-18 in home games in Coach Joe Breschi's 10 years at the helm of the Tar Heels. That's a winning percentage of 79.3 percent. UNC's only home losses during Breschi's 10-year tenure include regular-season and ACC Tournament games to Duke in 2009, a regular-season loss to Duke in 2011, an NCAA Tournament loss to Maryland in 2011, regular-season losses to Lehigh and Virginia and an NCAA Tournament loss to Denver in 2012, a regular-season loss to Duke in 2013, a regular-season loss to Notre Dame in 2014, regular-season losses to Hofstra and Denver in 2016, regular-season losses to Johns Hopkins, Hofstra, Richmond, Maryland, Duke and Syracuse in 2017 and regular season losses to Denver and Virginia in 2018. The Tar Heels had won 17 successive home games under Breschi's tutelage from 2014-16 before being upset at home by Hofstra on February 20, 2016. That 17-game home winning streak had begun against Bucknell with a 20-4 win on March 11, 2014.

CAROLINA IN HOME GAMES: North?Carolina has an all-time record of 290-130-2 in home games. That included a perfect 11-0 record in 2015. In Joe Breschi's 10-year tenure as head coach, he has twice led Carolina to unbeaten records at home – 7-0 in 2010 and 11-0 in 2015. Since 1949, UNC has had eight undefeated home seasons, two under the tutelage of Breschi. UNC?has a 69.3 percent winning percentage all-time in history in home games.

THE ALL-TIME RECORD: North Carolina has an all-time record of 492-302-2 in the sport of men's lacrosse. That is a winning percentage of .624.
The Tar Heels need eight wins to reach the 500-win plateau in school history. The team's 300th all-time loss came against Maryland by an 11-7 score on March 24, 2018 in Costa Mesa, Calif.

CAROLINA'S DOUBLE DIGIT SCORING GAMES: In Coach Joe Breschi's 10 years as head lacrosse coach at UNC, Carolina's success has in large part been tied to hitting the 10-goal plateau in a game. In fact, UNC's 15-12 loss to Virginia on April 7, 2018, marked only the 20th time in Breschi's coaching tenure that the Tar Heels have lost when they have reached the 10-goal plateau. UNC has scored at least 10 goals in a game in 119 of 162 games under Coach Breschi's direction dating back to the opening game of the 2009 season. That's 73.1 percent of the time. Carolina is 99-20 in those 119 games, a winning clip of .853. As would be expected, in the 43 games under Coach Breschi's tutelage in which the Tar Heels have not reached the 10-goal mark, UNC has not fared nearly as well as when it scores in double figures. In fact, the Tar Heels' record in those 43 games?is just 9-34, a winning percentage of .209.
Carolina's last win in which it was held to single digits in goals came against St. John's 9-8 at Kenan Stadium on March 3, 2018. That marked the first game the Tar Heels had won in which both teams scored in single digits since downing Furman in a 7-3 decision on February 11, 2017 at Greenville, S.C. The 10 goals in the UNC-Furman game on February 11, 2017 were the fewest combined goals in a Tar Heel game since Februrary 13, 2010 when UNC beat Bryant 5-4 in Chapel Hill at Navy Field. In 2017, UNC was 6-3 when scoring in double digits and 1-5 when being held in single digits. The Tar Heels are 5-2 in games in which they have scored in double digits in 2018 and 1-3 in which they have scored in single digits.

UNC CLAIMS ANOTHER SEASON OPENING WIN: The Tar Heels beat Lafayette 17-10 in their 2018 season opener on February 3. UNC has won every season opener since the 1999 season, running its streak to 20 seasons in a row with the win over the Leopards. Carolina's last loss in a season opener came on February 22, 1998 when the Tar Heels fell to Butler 13-12 at Fetzer Field.

CAROLINA VERSUS NUMBER ONE: During the 2017 season, North Carolina played against the team ranked #1 in the nation in the USILA coaches poll a total of three times.
North Carolina played against the #1-ranked team in the USILA coaches poll that third time when it defeated Syracuse 16-15 on Friday, April 28 in the ACC Tournament semifinals. That was also the 12th time UNC had played the nation's #1-ranked team since midway through the 2012 season.
With a 13-9 victory over top-ranked Denver on March 4, 2017, the University of North Carolina recorded a victory against a team ranked #1 in the USILA coaches' poll for the sixth straight year. UNC would go on to play Syracuse twice in the 2017 when the Orange was ranked #1, losing an overtime game in the regular season before winning against the Orange in the ACC Tournament semifinals.
Since beating Johns Hopkins 13-9 on April 1, 2012 at the Meadowlands, UNC is now 8-4 against the nation's top-ranked teams in its last 12 games against teams ranked at the top of the USILA coaches rankings.
Altogether, UNC played #1 teams thrice each in both the 2016 and 2017 campaign.
According to research by UNC Athletic Communications, UNC is now 14-21 all-time against teams ranked #1 in the USILA coaches poll after the April 28, 2017 victory against Syracuse. Carolina's first meeting against a #1 USILA ranked team came in 1974.
Carolina has had wins against #1 teams in each of the six years from 2012-17. Those wins came against Johns Hopkins 13-9 on April 1, 2012, against Maryland 10-8 on March 23, 2013, against Maryland 11-8 on March 22, 2014, against Denver 12-10 on February 27, 2015, against Notre Dame 17-15 on April 23, 2016, against Maryland 14-13 in overtime on May 30, 2016, against Denver 13-9 on March 4, 2017 and against Syracuse 16-15 on April 28, 2017.
Prior to the win against Johns Hopkins in 2012, Carolina had not beaten a #1-ranked team since April 6, 1996 when UNC beat Virginia 19-18 at Fetzer Field.
UNC VERSUS #1 TEAMS ALL-TIME IN USILA POLL (14-21)
March 13, 1974 - Maryland 16, UNC 8 (at Chapel Hill, N.C.)
May 24, 1980 – Virginia 11, UNC 10, two overtimes (at Charlottesville, Va.)
May 30, 1981 – UNC 14, Johns Hopkins 13 (at Princeton, N.J.)
May 21, 1983 – Johns Hopkins 12, UNC 9 (at Baltimore, Md.)
April 6, 1985 – UNC 11, Johns Hopkins 10 (at Chapel Hill, N.C.)
May 19, 1985 – Syracuse 14, UNC 13, overtime (at Syracuse, N.Y.)
May 24, 1986 – UNC 10, Johns Hopkins 9, overtime (at Newark, Del.)
April 8, 1989 – Johns Hopkins 16, UNC 10 (at Chapel Hill, N.C.)
May 26, 1990 – Syracuse 21, UNC 10 (at Piscataway, N.J.)
March 9, 1991 – UNC 10, Syracuse 3 (at Chapel Hill, N.C.)
March 6, 1993 – UNC 14, Syracuse 10 (at Chapel Hill, N.C.)
March 3, 1994 – Syracuse 17, UNC 10 (at Syracuse, N.Y.)
April 6, 1996 – UNC 19, Virginia 18 (at Chapel Hill, N.C.)
March 12, 1997 – Princeton 10, UNC 9 (at Chapel Hill, N.C.)
May 8, 1999 – Loyola 10, UNC 7 (at Chapel Hill, N.C.)
April 19, 2002 – Virginia 10, UNC 3 (at Durham, N.C.)
March 29, 2003 – Johns Hopkins 11, UNC 10 (at Chapel Hill, N.C.)
May 22, 2004 – Johns Hopkins 15, UNC 9 (at Charlottesville, Va.)
April 2, 2005 – Johns Hopkins 7, UNC 5 (at Chapel Hill, N.C.)
April 8, 2006 – Virginia 21, UNC 13 (at Chapel Hill, N.C.)
March 15, 2008 – Duke 19, UNC 9 (at Durham, N.C.)
April 6 2009 – Virginia 11, UNC 10 (at East Rutherford, N.J.)
April 10, 2010 – Virginia 7, UNC 5 (at East Rutherford, N.J.)
April 1, 2012 – UNC 13, Johns Hopkins 9 (at East Rutherford, N.J.)
April 7, 2012 – Virginia 15, UNC 10 (at Chapel Hill, N.C.)
March 23, 2013 – UNC 10, Maryland 8 (at College Park, Md.)
March 22, 2014 – UNC 11, Maryland 8 (at Chapel Hill, N.C.)
February 27, 2015 – UNC 12, Denver 10 (at Chapel Hill, N.C.)
April 18, 2015 – Notre Dame 15, UNC 14 (at Notre Dame, Ind.)
March 5, 2016 – Denver 13, UNC 12, Overtime (at Chapel Hill, N.C.)
April 23, 2016 – UNC 17, Notre Dame 15 (at Chapel Hill, N.C.)
May 30, 2016 - UNC 14, Maryland 13 - overtime, (at Philadelphia, Pa.)
March 4, 2017 – UNC 13, Denver 9 (at Denver, Colo.)
April 15, 2017 – Syracuse 12, UNC 11 – overtime (at Chapel Hill, N.C.)
April 28, 2017 – UNC 16, Syracuse 15 (at Durham, N.C.-ACC Tournament Semifinal)

THE FINAL GAME AT THE OLD FETZER: Fetzer Field had served as the primary home of the University of North Carolina men's lacrosse program since the varsity program's founding in 1949. Despite exhaustive efforts at research, an exact record for games played at Fetzer is not fully known or researchable due to gaps in athletic communications records from the 1940s to 1970s. The all-time home record for UNC lacrosse since 1949 was 285-128-2 at the end of the 2017 season and now stands at 290-129-2 overall. That includes games played at Fetzer Field, Kenan Stadium, Navy Field, Henry Stadium and Finley Field.
Fetzer Field was built as a track and field facility in 1935 as a Works Projects Administration (WPA) project during the President Franklin Delano Roosevelt Administration in the Great Depression.
Over the decades, several more sports began to compete at Fetzer Field - men's soccer in 1947, men's lacrosse in 1949, women's soccer in 1979 and women's lacrosse in 1996.
Fetzer Field was torn down in May 2017. A new soccer/lacrosse specific stadium is b being built on the same spot with opening planned for August 2018 in time for the 2018 men's and women's soccer campaigns. A new track and field facility is being built on Old Mason Farm Road in Chapel Hill near the Ronald McDonald House and a new field hockey stadium is being built on Ehringhaus Field. An indoor practice facility for football and outdoor football practice fields are also a part of the overall athletics construction project and those are located on the previous site of Navy Field and Henry Stadium.

LOOKING FOR ANOTHER DOUBLE DIGIT WIN SEASON UNDER COACH BRESCHI: Despite playing against one of the nation's toughest schedules in 2016, the Tar Heels reached a double digit win total for the eighth successive year under the tutelage of head coach Joe Breschi, who was hired in June 2008. The win over Notre Dame on May 22, 2016 gave UNC eight successive seasons with 10 or more wins.
Breschi was the first head coach in UNC history to post double digit win totals in each of his first eight years mentoring the Tar Heels. Other than Breschi, Dave Klarmann (1991-94) is the only other coach to win 10 or more games in each of his first four seasons as the Tar Heel head coach. Under Breschi's leadership, UNC went 12-6 in 2009, 13-3 in 2010, 10-6 in 2011, 11-6 in 2012, 13-4 in 2013, 10-5 in 2014, 13-4 in 2015 and 12-6 in 2016.
The 2009-16 streak marked the first time that UNC has won 10 or more games in a season in eight straight years in Tar Heel history. UNC won 10 or more games in six straight seasons from 1989-94, the first two seasons under head coach Willie Scroggs and the last four under head coach Dave Klarmann.
After going 8-8 in 2017, the Tar Heels are off to a 6-6 start in 2018. Four more wins this season would give the Tar Heels 10 or more wins in a season for the ninth time in head coach Joe Breschi's 10-year coaching tenure.

EARLIEST START TIME IN TAR HEEL HISTORY: The North Carolina versus St. John's game on March 3 faced off at 10:30 a.m. That was the earliest start time to a game in UNC men's lacrosse history dating back to the 1949 season.
The previous earliest starting time to a game came on March 10, 2012 when UNC defeated Princeton 9-8 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md. That game started at 11 a.m.
Almost excatly six years apart, both of those historically early games ended up in 9-8 Tar Heel victories in regulation time.

EARLIEST GAME DATE WISE IN CAROLINA HISTORY: When North Carolina played Lafayette in Kenan Stadium on February 3, 2018, it marked the earliest date on which the Tar Heels have ever played a game in their history dating back to 1949. The previous earliest game ever played was on February 4, 2017 when UNC defeated UMBC 17-6 in Raleigh, N.C. at Cardinal Gibbons High School.

2018 GAME SUMMARIES

TAR HEELS IMPROVE TO 6-0 WITH WIN OVER ST. JOHN'S: William Perry's goal from a near impossible angle with 6.8 seconds to play lifted the 10th-ranked University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team past St. John's 9-8 on March 3 at Kenan Stadium. In the process, the Tar Heels rewarded head coach Joe Breschi with his 200th collegiate career coaching win. He won 92 games in his 11 seasons as Ohio State's head coach from 1997-2008 and Saturday's win was his 108th in 10 seasons with the Tar Heels.
Perry's goal ended a scoring drought of 28 minutes and 45 seconds for the Tar Heels in the second half of the game. After leading at halftime 7-5, UNC's Timmy Kelly scored off an assist by Perry 1:08 into the second half to put the Heels up 8-5. But St. John's scored the next three goals of the game and tied the contest at 8-8 with 7:08 to play in the fourth quarter on an unassisted goal by Ryan Schaeffer.
Both teams had opportunities over the next several minutes of the game before Jason DeBenedictis took a shot for the Red Storm with 34 seconds left in the game that went wide right. UNC's William McBride backed up the shot and the Heels successfully cleared the ball before Breschi called timeout with 19 seconds left. Coming out of the timeout, freshman Alex Trippi carried the ball to the center from the right side, dodged down the left side alley and fed Perry who was positioned at goal line extended 10 yards out on the left side. Perry stung the net into the upper right corner just inside the pipe to put the Heels up 9-8. Carolina then won the ensuing face-off off the stick of Charles Kelly with Jack Halpert on the ground ball pickup and the Heels killed the clock.
North Carolina improved to 6-0 on the season for the first time since 2015 with the victory while St. John's fell to 2-2. Carolina now has a two-goal win against Johns Hopkins to go along with three one-goal wins this campaign, including a pair of overtime triumphs. Only two of Carolina's six wins have been by more than two goals.
Eight different Tar Heels scored goals in the game with Perry scoring twice and adding an assist. Justin Anderson had a goal and an assist for the Tar Heels and Andy Matthews contributed a pair of assists.
UNC outshot the Red Storm 45-28 but struggled much of the day to get the ball past Red Storm goalkeeper Matt Hanley who played spectacularly. Hanley made 15 saves, including eight on 10 shots on goal by the Tar Heels in the second half. UNC goalkeeper Jack Pezzulla made five saves altogether.
UNC's Charles Kelly won 12 of 21 face-offs against a pair of St. John's face-off men. Kelly led the Tar Heels with five ground balls as the Tar Heels led the Red Storm in that category 32-26. Timmy Kelly and Jack Rowlett each had four ground balls for Carolina.
St. John's committed 12 turnovers and was 16 of 20 in the clearing game. Carolina had just eight turnovers and was 20 of 21 in the clearing game. Both teams had one extra-man opportunity with the Tar Heels scoring the only man-up goal of the contest.
NOTING THE TAR HEELS
• Saturday marked the first ever meeting between North Carolina and St. John's.
• Chris Cloutier scored one goal in the game. He has scored at least one goal in 26 successive games. Cloutier's 26-game scoring streak is the second longest active streak in the country and it is now the third-longest goal scoring streak in UNC history. The only Tar Heels with longer goal scoring streaks are Marcus Holman at 29 games (2012-13) and Mac Ford at 27 games (1983-85).
• Andy Matthews had two assists against the Red Storm. He now has at least one assist in 15 successive games. That is the sixth longest assist streak in UNC history.
• Chris Cloutier has now scored 98 goals in his career. He is now tied for 16th in career goal scoring at Carolina. He is tied for 25th in career points at UNC with 130.
• Tar Heel head coach Joe Breschi now has 200 career wins on the collegiate level. He was 92-63 in 11 seasons at Ohio State from 1997-2008. Breschi is 108-48 in 10 seasons at UNC.
• Carolina has won 106 of its last 131 games against non-conference opponents dating back to April 15, 2006. UNC has won 85 of 106 non-conference games since Breschi became the head coach in 2009.
• UNC is 24-19 in games decided by one goal in Coach Breschi's 10-year tenure.
• The win marked only the ninth time in the last 40 games in which Carolina has scored in single digits and still prevailed. The last time came on February 11, 2017 when UNC beat Furman 7-3.

TAR HEELS RACE PAST BEARS IN RETURN TO KENAN: Behind a six-goal effort by senior attackman Chris Cloutier, the University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team improved to 5-0 on the season with a 14-7 win over the Mercer Bears on February 28 at Kenan Stadium.
Cloutier led the Tar Heels with six goals while eight other Tar Heels each scored a single goal. The six goals by Cloutier were the second most he has ever had in a game in his career, topped only by the nine goals he scored against Loyola in the NCAA Tournament semifinals on May 28, 2016.
The win was the 199th of Tar Heel head coach Joe Breschi's collegiate coaching career which includes 11 seasons at Ohio State and 11 years at North Carolina. He gets his first chance at win No. 200 Saturday when the Tar Heels host St. John's.
Freshmen Alex Trippi and Sean Morris and sophomore William Perry joined Cloutier as Tar Heels with multiple points in the game. Trippi had a goal and two assists while both Morris and Perry had a goal and an assist. The Bears (1-4 on the season) got three goals from Scott Baird and a pair of tallies by Matt Quinn.
The Tar Heels outshot the Bears 42-34 in the match and the home side had a slight edge in ground balls at 28-24. Junior Jack Halpert led the Tar Heels with a career-high six ground balls.
Junior Charles Kelly won 14 of 21 face-offs, the second most draws he has won in a game in his career. He also had five ground balls while Ryan Macri had four ground balls and Jack Pezzulla and Alex Trippi had three each. The only game in which Kelly has won more face-offs came against Lehigh on February 17 when he won 15. Kiel Brennan took all 24 face-offs for Mercer, winning nine.
Bradley Hodoval played all 60 minutes in goal for the Bears, making 16 saves while allowing 14 goals. Pezzulla started his third straight game in goal for the Tar Heels and played 47:53, making 10 saves and allowing just four goals. Junior Alex Bassil played the last 12:07 of the match and made four saves while allowing three goals.
UNC was a perfect 17 for 17 in the clearing game while Mercer was 16 for 21. The Bears committed 12 turnovers while UNC had just 10 turnovers but five of those came in the fourth quarter when Mercer outscored Carolina 3-1.
UNC's extra-man offense continued to thrive on the young season, going three for four. Mercer did not score on its four extra-man chances.
After Tanner Cook of Carolina and Scott Baird of Mercer exchanged goals, Cloutier scored a man-up goal with 4:19 left in the first quarter, a tally which put the Tar Heels up for good in the game. Cloutier's goal was the first of eight successive tallies by Carolina. The Canadian senior had three of those eight goals. Mercer retaliated with a pair of goals before Cloutier finished the scoring in the first half with 55 seconds left, giving the Tar Heels a 10-3 lead at intermission.
UNC outscored the Bears 3-1 in the third quarter with two of the three goals coming from Cloutier. UNC achieved its biggest lead of the game at 14-4 with 12:07 left in the fourth quarter on an extra-man goal by William Perry. Mercer scored the last three goals of the contest, including back-to-back goal by Matt Quinn at 5:53 and 3:01 of the final period.
NOTING THE TAR HEELS
• Carolina played a season-high 34 players in the game.
• North Carolina improved to 2-0 all-time against Mercer. The Tar Heels won the previous meeting 20-7 on February 12, 2012 in Atlanta.
• Chris Cloutier scored six goals in the game. He has scored at least one goal in 25 successive games. Cloutier's 25-game scoring streak is the second longest active streak in the country and it is tied for the third-longest goal scoring streak in UNC history. The only Tar Heels with longer goal scoring streaks are Marcus Holman at 29 games (2012-13) and Mac Ford at 27 games (1983-85).
• Andy Matthews had one assist against the Bears. He now has at least one assist in 14 successive games. That is tied for the sixth longest assist streak in UNC history.
• Chris Cloutier has now scored 97 goals in his career. He is now 17th in career goal scoring at Carolina. He is now 26th in career points at UNC with 129.
• Tar Heel head coach Joe Breschi needs one more victory to reach 200 career wins on the collegiate level.
• Carolina has won 105 of its last 130 games against non-conference opponents dating back to April 15, 2006.

HEELS HIT ROAD AND EMERGE WITH COME-FROM-BEHIND WIN AT JOHNS HOPKINS: The 12th-ranked University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team never led until midway through the fourth quarter but three successive goals by junior attackman Timmy Kelly gave the Tar Heels the lead for good in an eventual 13-11 victory over 13th-ranked Johns Hopkins before 1,383 fans and an ESPNU national television audience at Homewood Field on Friday evening, February 23.
With the win, the Tar Heels started the season 4-0 for the first time since 2015 and Coach Joe Breschi's team has already won a two-goal game on the road and a pair of overtime games, playing extremely well in tight games in the young 2018 campaign. UNC has now won its last five games against the Blue Jays at Homewood Field and has cut the Blue Jays' all-time lead in the series to 25-22.
Kelly notched a career-high four goals in the game, including three straight in the fourth quarter that broke a 9-9 tie and lifted the Heels to a three-goal lead. Sophomore midfielder Tanner Cook matched his career high for points in a game with five as he scored four goals, all in the first half, and added an assist. Chris Cloutier added two goals, running his goal scoring streak to 24 successive contests. Both Andy Matthews and William Perry had a goal and two assists. Matthews has now recorded assists in 13 consecutive games.
Tar Heel sophomore goalkeeper Jack Pezzulla stood on his head for long stretches during the night, making a career high 13 saves. Hopkins led 5-3 at the end of the first period but Pezzulla made five saves in the opening 15 minutes and prevented the early deficit from growing greater. Hopkins placed 10 of its 11 shots in the first quarter on goal and had leads of 2-0, 3-1 and 5-3 in the quarter.
Hopkins led in most statistical categories except saves where Brock Turnbaugh had nine for the Blue Jays. Hopkins led in shots 39-37 and in ground balls 29-20. This marked the second straight game in which the Tar Heels have earned just 20 ground balls (Lehigh had 30 to UNC's 20 in the previous game), but in both cases UNC has pulled out tight victories.
Hopkins face-off man Hunter Moreland was outstanding as he won 18 of 27 draws at the X and had a game-high 10 ground balls. Four of his nine losses at the X were due to face-off violations.
Both teams committed 13 turnovers and both squads were excellent in the clearing game with just one failed clear each. UNC's extra-man offense, which has been a highlight of its early-season play, was three of four while Hopkins scored twice on four chances.
Hopkins opened the game with a pair of goals in the first 1:15 of play before Tanner Cook got the Tar Heels on the board with 3:10 elapsed. After the Blue Jays again went up by two goals, tallies by Cook and Chris Cloutier tied the game at 3-3 with 5:41 left in the period. Hopkins, however, regained the momentum with unassisted goals at 1:05 and 0:14 of the period and led 5-3 at the first break.
Cook scored back-to-back goals at 13:52 and 5:28 of the second period and the Heels were back in a tie at 5-5. Cole Williams put the Blue Jays back ahead 4:53 before halftime but he was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for tossing his stick in the air in celebration and Carolina capitalized with Kelly's first goal, an extra-man tally off an assist by Andy Matthews just 27 seconds later.
Coming out of halftime, Hopkins seized the momentum. A pair of unassisted goals gave the Blue Jays an 8-6 lead 3:55 into the second half. Carolina bounced back and goals by Cloutier at 5:42 and by William Perry in a man-up situation with 2:27 left saw the game tied at 8-8 heading into the final period.
Patrick Fraser regained the lead for Johns Hopkins with 12:39 left in the game with an EMO goal but momentum shifted to Carolina about three minutes later. An unassisted goal by Andy Matthews tied the game at 9-9 with 9:46 to play and started a four-goal run for the Tar Heels. At 8:11, Kelly gave UNC its first lead of the game, scoring man-up off an assist by Cook. Jack Rowlett then forced a turnover by Hunter Moreland eight seconds later and the junior defenseman fed Kelly for a two-goal lead with 7:56 to play.
Charles Kelly was called for a penalty on the ensuing face-off but Pezzulla saved a shot by Fraser on the Hopkins EMO. UNC cleared the ball and called timeout and a minute and a half later, Kelly notched his fourth goal of the game to put the Heels up 12-9 with 5:09 to play.
Hopkins scored a pair of goals to cut UNC's lead to 12-11 with 3:06 to play. Carolina won the next face-off but turned the ball over and Hopkins had two shots to tie the game, both off cage, before Jack Keogh turned the ball over with 1:53 to play. After the Tar Heels were hit with a shot clock warning with 1:08 to play, Justin Anderson scored six seconds later to restore a two-game lead for the Tar Heels. Hopkins had two more shots and an EMO in the final minute but it turned the ball over with one second left.
Next up for Carolina is a match against Mercer on Wednesday, February 28 at 4 p.m. at Kenan Stadium. Admission is free. The game will be webcast nationally on ACC Network Extra.
NOTING THE TAR HEELS
• North Carolina improved to 22-25 all-time against Johns Hopkins. The Tar Heels have won 10 of the last 12 meetings between the two teams and they have won the past five games between the two teams played at Homewood Field.
• Chris Cloutier scored two goals in the game. He has scored at least one goal in 24 successive games. Cloutier's 24-game scoring streak is the second longest active streak in the country and it is tied for the fifth-longest goal scoring streak in UNC history.
• Andy Matthews had two assists against the Blue Jays. He now has at least one assist in 13 successive games. That is the seventh longest assist streak in UNC history.
• Chris Cloutier has now scored 91 goals in his career. He is now tied for 20th in career goal scoring at Carolina with Ryan Wade (1991-94). He is now 28th in career points at UNC with 123.
• Tar Heel head coach Joe Breschi needs two more victories to reach 200 career wins on the collegiate level. He has 92 wins in 11 seasons as head coach at Ohio State and he has 106 wins in 10 seasons as head coach at North Carolina.
• Carolina has won 104 of its last 129 games against non-conference opponents dating back to April 2006. That's a winning percentage of 80.6 percent in those 129 games.
• Timmy Kelly scored four goals against the Blue Jays, a career high. He had a trio of three-goal games previously in his career, against UMBC in his sophomore year and against Lafayette and Lehigh ealier this season. Kelly's four points matched his career high previously set against Virginia on April 10, 2016 and matched against Lafayette on February 3, 2018
• Tanner Cook matched his career high for points in a game with five. He also had five points against Furman on February 10, 2018
• Jack Pezzulla had a career high 13 saves. His previous career high was eight against Lehigh on February 17, 2018.

TAR HEELS CLAIM THRILLING WIN AGAINST LEHIGH: For the second straight Saturday, the 13th-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 on February 17.
Just seven days previous to that game, 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 the fourth quarter, earned a tying score with less than 2 1/2 minutes remaining in regulation 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 wins 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.

GAME OF RUNS ENDS IN OVERTIME WITH TAR HEELS TOPPING PALADINS: The ninth-ranked University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team weathered a furious second half rally by Furman on February 10 to win 15-14 on a Justin Anderson goal just 31 seconds into the sudden victory period at Kenan Stadium before a crowd of 845 rain-soaked fans.
Anderson, a sophomore from Las Vegas, Nev., assisted on Chris Cloutier's game-tying goal with 1:16 left in regulation and then he scored the game-winner with 3:29 left in the first overtime period to lift the Tar Heels to 2-0 on the season. Despite trailing by six goals with less than four minutes left in the third quarter, the Paladins (now 0-2) scored eight of the next nine goals of the game and took a 14-13 lead on an extra-man goal by Mike Liscombe with 2:09 to play in the fourth quarter.
Senior attackman Chris Cloutier led the Tar Heels offensively with five goals and an assist while sophomore midfielder Tanner Cook scored five goals, including four in the first half, on just seven shots. The sophomore midfielder's previous career high for goals in a game was three the previous Saturday versus Lafayette. Justin Anderson had the game-winning goal and his three assists were a career high. He had never had more than one assist in a game in his career prior to Saturday. Sophomore midfielder William Perry had two goals and an assist for Carolina while Andy Matthews had a pair of assists and Timmy Kelly had a goal and an assist.
UNC dominated the game statistically but it was never able to put the Paladins away in the second half. The Tar Heels outshot Furman 45-36, won the ground ball battle 43-26 and was in control at the face-off X, winning 21 of 32 draws. But the Tar Heels committed 17 turnovers to just 14 for Furman and the Paladins made 13 saves in goal while a pair of UNC goalkeepers combined for nine.
Both Charles Kelly and Riley Graham were above 50 percent at the face-off X to help lead Carolina to the win. Kelly won 11-of-14 draws and Graham won 10-of-18. The two Tar Heels tied for the game-high ground ball total on the day with six each. Cloutier had five ground balls for Carolina.
The 11 face-off wins by Kelly versus Furman were the most he has had in a game in his career. His previous career high was seven versus Michigan on February 6, 2016.

CAROLINA OPENS WITH WIN OVER LEOPARDS: Ten different Tar Heel players scored goals on February 3 as the ninth-ranked University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team defeated Lafayette 17-10 in both team's season openers at Kenan Stadium. The Tar Heels' balanced scoring effort was led by hat tricks by attackman Timmy Kelly and midfielder Tanner Cook as the Tar Heels won their season opener for the 20th year in a row in front of a crowd of 1,112 fans.
Lafayette outshot the Tar Heels 46-38 in the game and the Leopards won the battle at the face-off X by a margin of 19-12. But Carolina shot the ball with more accuracy, tallying 17 goals on 27 shots on goal. While Carolina committed 16 turnovers, the Leopards had 24 turnovers and that negated much of the Leopards' edge in face-offs. UNC had 33 ground balls to 29 for Lafayette. Seventeen different Tar Heels recorded ground balls for UNC led by Riley Graham with five and Ryan Macri with four.
Jonathan Anastos played the whole game in goal for the Leopards and made 10 saves while allowing 17 goals. UNC played two goalkeepers. Freshman goalie Luke Millican played the first 50:48 and made eight saves while allowing seven goals. Jack Pezzulla played the final 9:12 in the cage and had three saves and three goals allowed.
Carolina was led in scoring by Timmy Kelly and Chris Cloutier with four points each as Kelly had three goals and an assist and Cloutier rung up two goals and two helpers. Tanner Cook added a hat trick for Carolina and William Perry and Brian Cannon each scored twice. Freshman Colin Munro had a goal and an assist for the Tar Heels in his Tar Heel debut while Andy Matthews added a pair of assists for UNC.
With two goals in the game, Chris Cloutier scored a goal in his 21st straight game, matching Jimmy Bitter for the seventh longest goal scoring streak in Tar Heel history. Andy Matthews had two assists for the Tar Heels and he has now posted helpers in 10 straight games, matching John Webster for the ninth longest streak in UNC history.