University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Richmond
Third Quarter Spurt Lifts Tar Heels Past Richmond
March 14, 2015 | Men's Lacrosse
RICHMOND, VA. - Second-ranked North Carolina broke open a close game with a 6-1 third-quarter run to power the Tar Heels past Richmond 16-11 at Robins Stadium Saturday afternoon in men's lacrosse action.
The Tar Heels' powerful attack unit combined for nine goals, nine assists and 12 ground balls in the game while the first midfield unit totaled six goals and four assists in a game that was nip and tuck for the entire first half.
North Carolina sophomore attackman Luke Goldstock had six goals in the game to lead the Tar Heels. He also added an assist. The six goals matched his career high, which was set last Tuesday against Bryant in a 10-9 Tar Heel victory. In the past three games against Manhattan, Bryant and Richmond, Goldstock has combined to score 17 goals and he now has 29 goals on the season. Goldstock's 17 goals qual the most in a three-game stretch by any Tar Heel in UNC history and his 22 points fell one short of the school record for points in a three-game span. Goldstock has recorded hat tricks in six of Carolina's eight games this season.
Senior attackman Jimmy Bitter's five assists were a career high. He had four assists against both Denver and Manhattan earlier this year. Bitter ran his consecutive game streak with a point to 49, one short of the school record shared by Dennis Goldstein and Ryan Wade, a streak that is the second longest active one in the nation. Bitter did not score a goal in the game and saw his 21-game goal scoring streak end. He had scored a goal in every game he had played in since February 16, 2014. Nevertheless, he matched his career high for ground balls in a game with seven, which he had against Denver on February 27. He also caused two turnovers and ran his season assist total to 22, the most he has ever had in a single season in his Tar Heel career.
Joey Sankey had three goals and three assists for the Tar Heels, running his successive game streak with a point to 44 in a row. That equals the third longest streak active in NCAA Division I and it matches the fifth longest streak in UNC history. Sankey recorded his fourth hat trick of the campaign and he has had six or more points in four games this season. He has 15 goals and 20 assists this season.
Peyton Klawinski had three goals and an assist for the Tar Heels and Chad Tutton had two goals and two assists. Klawinski matched his career high for goals in a game. He also had hat tricks against High Point and UMass earlier this year. Klawinski tied his career high for points in a game with four and Tutton had a season high for points with four.
Midfielder Patrick Kelly had a goal and an assist and Michael Tagliaferri also scored for the Heels.
UNC's passing game was in top mode on Saturday as the Tar Heels recorded assists on 87.5 percent of their goals (14 of 16). Carolina's shooting was also especially accurate as it placed 33 of its 44 shot attempts on goal (75 percent).
Four different Spiders scored two goals and added an assist to lead the Richmond offense – Mitch Goldberg, Alex Hatem, Corey Palmer and Mickey Hofmeister.
UNC outshot Richmond 44-40 and had an edge in ground balls 49-31. Jimmy Bitter and Stephen Kelly each had seven ground balls to lead the Tar Heels. Starting defensemen Austin Pifani, Jake Bailey and Zach Powers each had four ground balls as did defensive short stick midfielders Michael Tagliaferri and Tate Jozokos. The four ground balls by Tagliaferri were a career high.
Kieran Burke had a solid game in goal for the Heels, making 15 saves and allowing 11 goals. He made 10 of his season-high 15 saves in the second half. The 15 saves by Burke were the most he has had in a game since March 15, 2014 when he recorded 15 versus Duke. Benny Pugh tied his school record with 17 saves for the Spiders.
The teams were practically even at the X with UNC winning 16 and Richmond 14. Stephen Kelly took all 30 draws for UNC and Garrett Smith took all 30 for Richmond.
Carolina committed a season high 19 turnovers in the game as the entire contest was played at break neck speed despite torrential rains throughout the contest. Richmond committed 20 turnovers, 13 of which were caused with nine different Tar Heels being credited with forced turnovers.
After Peyton Klawinski and Luke Goldstock scored in the opening two minutes to give the Tar Heels a 2-0 lead, the Spiders scored three of the next four goals to tie the game at 4-4 with 5:21 left in first period on a goal by Cory Palmer. Michael Tagliaferri then scored with nine seconds left in the period off a Joey Sankey to put the Heels up 4-3 after one quarter.
Each team scored four goals in the second quarter. Richmond tied the game at 4-4 and again at 5-5 before back-to-back goals by Luke Goldstock just 24 seconds apart put the Tar Heels up 7-5 with 6:24 left in the half. Richmond tied the game for the fifth time with unassisted goals by Alex Hatem and Mickey Hofmeister but a goal by Joey Sankey, assisted by Luke Goldstock, in an unsettled situation, with 2:33 left in the half put the Heels up 8-7 at the half. It would be a lead the Tar Heels never relinquished. Goldstock finished the first half with four goals and an assist, continuing his recent torrid scoring pace.
The Tar Heels outscored the Spiders 6-1 in the third quarter. Peyton Klawinski opened the scoring 54 seconds into the quarter on only the second unassisted goal of the game before Dean Roseman answered six seconds later for Richmond off a face-off win. UNC then ran off the last five goals of the third quarter with Joey Sankey scoring two of the goals. The five-goal run essentially put the game away for UNC as it built its lead to 14-8 after the third quarter, its largest margin of the game. Klawinski scored his third goal of the game off a Patrick Kelly assist at 10:23 before Joey Sankey scored just 15 seconds later off a Billy Bitter assist. Kelly scored a goal of his own at 7:27 and Sankey tallied a man-up goal at 6:20 off Tutton's second helper of the match. With 1:32 left in the period, Luke Goldstock scored his fifth goal of the game off the fourth assist of the match by Jimmy Bitter.
The Spiders outscored the Tar Heels 3-2 in the fourth quarter to bring the final score to 16-11. Richmond cut the lead to 14-10 on goals by Palmer and Goldberg before Chad Tutton and Luke Goldstock scored at 5:50 and 3:11 to boost the lead back to six. Sankey assisted on Tutton's goal. Goldstock's goal at 3:11 was his sixth of the game, matching his career high set last Tuesday versus Bryant. Jimmy Bitter assisted for the fifth time in the game, establishing a new career high. Richmond finished off the scoring with 2:50, getting its only man up goal of the game off the stick of Alex Hatem.
NEXT UP: North Carolina will play host to 10th-ranked Harvard Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Fetzer Field in a match to be televised nationally on ESPN3. The Crimson will be looking to bounce back from a 14-9 loss at Brown Saturday.
