University of North Carolina Athletics
A Rivalry Renewed
March 31, 2015 | Men's Lacrosse
By Turner Walston
CAROLINA THE MAGAZINE
It was a game that kept topping itself. Fourth-ranked Carolina and #6 Duke combined for 29 goals and countless thrills in front of the largest Fetzer Field in more than three decades in another installment of this classic rivalry.
Sunday in Chapel Hill, the pendulum of momentum kept swinging back and forth. Carolina took an early 2-0 lead, but Duke scored seven of the game's next eight goals to take a 7-3 lead. The Tar Heels netted two before halftime to stop the Blue Devil momentum, and those scores turned out to be part of a 7-1 run for the Tar Heels. Late in the third quarter, the two early goals were the difference and Carolina led 10-8. Duke scored three straight to take the lead into the fourth quarter, but then the Tar Heels went on a 5-1 run, including three straight markers from Chad Tutton, to lead 15-12. Duke scored two to pull within a goal with fewer than three minutes remaining, then won a ground ball and called timeout with 1:47 on the clock. Out of the stoppage, the Blue Devils got a terrific chance from Myles Jones, who shot for the top corner of the net. Carolina goalie Kieran Burke's 11th save of the day was his most important, and the Tar Heels salted the game away for a 15-14 win.
In their final regular season meeting with Duke, the Tar Heel seniors showed up to play. Attackers Jimmy Bitter and Joey Sankey scored three goals each, and Tutton's accuracy from distance keyed the Tar Heel comeback in the fourth quarter. His teammates found him in the offense, and he found shooting lanes. “That was just in the flow,” Tutton said. “There were no set plays, nothing like that. Metzy (offensive coordinator Dave Metzbower) really likes us to just kind of play, and that's what we were doing out there. In the middle of the game, we kind of got away from that and were trying to make selfish plays, and as a result of that we were kind of struggling. In the fourth quarter and in the end of the third, we saw us get back to how we play Carolina lacrosse, and that's real good.”
Carolina now sits at 10-1, with wins over perennial thorns Denver and Duke behind them. “I think it's a big win simply because it's the first ACC game,” Tar Heel head coach Joe Breschi said. “For us to get a win on Fetzer, at home against your rival is a big deal for the team in general.”
“We had a big emphasis on this game, because it's the start of ACC play, and you always want to start off strong,” Bitter said. “There are so many good teams in the ACC, and to get a win over Duke in our first ACC game is huge for us.”
The Tar Heels are 1-0 in a tough Atlantic Coast Conference, with a trip to #8 Virginia on Friday, a visit from #2 Syracuse next weekend and the regular season finale at 2014 ACC Tournament champion and top-ranked Notre Dame remaining. With just five men's lacrosse teams in the ACC, it will be a battle for four spots in the conference tournament in late April (the fifth-place team will play the University of Pennsylvania in the ACC-Penn Classic). “We came off of last year where we didn't get in,” Breschi said. “So, we've got a lot in front of us. It's a nice win, there's no question about it. Every win is big at this point in the season, and we'll try to continue to get better for Virginia Friday.”
