University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Hofstra
Hofstra Attack Duo Leads Way In Win Over #5 Tar Heels
February 20, 2016 | Men's Lacrosse
UNC (2-1) had defeated Michigan and Furman in its opening two games of 2016 before falling to the Pride Saturday. Saturday marked the first ever meeting between the two teams at Fetzer Field.
Hofstra had the edge in the game statistically as it outshot UNC 35-25 and won the ground ball battle 35-23. Brian Balkam made 10 saves for the Tar Heels in a solid performance for the homestanding Tar Heels while Jack Concannon had an outstanding game in goal for the Pride as he made 11 saves and allowed only five goals in recording the victory. Concannon also had four ground balls. Face-offs between the two teams were 8 apiece.
Llinares led the Pride with five goals on 12 shots while Byrne had four goals on nine shots to go with his two assists. UNC had five different goal scorers in the game. It is rare that Carolina has lost to unranked teams at Fetzer Field in Coach Joe Breschi's eight-year tenure as the last such loss was nearly four years ago, a 9-8 loss to Lehigh on March 3, 2012.
After the Tar Heels turned the ball over on its opening possession of the game, Hofstra went ahead 1-0 on a goal by Josh Byrne with 12:25 to play in the quarter. UNC tied the game four minutes later on a Chris Cloutier goal, assisted by Luke Goldstock. But Byrne's second unassisted goal of the game at 7:15 of the first period gave the Pride the lead for good, a lead which eventually reached as big as seven goals.
Llinares scored off an assist by Korey Hendrickson with 1:10 left in the first quarter and Dylan Alderman's goal midway through the second half made it 4-1 Hofstra. UNC got an unassisted goal from Luke Goldstock 4:38 before the half but Llinares answered that goal just 46 seconds later to push the Pride ahead at intermission 5-2.
Carolina began the second half on a man up chance but turned the ball over on the possession just 19 seconds into the half. Instead of pulling within striking distance, the Tar Heels saw Hofstra go on a 4-0 run in the third quarter. The four goals came in a span from 11:21 of the quarter to 6:31 of the period with Byrne scoring the first two and Llinares the second two. The goal by Llinares, off a fast break face-off win by Kris Clarke, gave Hofstra its biggest lead of the game at 9-2 with 6:31 to play in the third quarter.
Carolina rallied with three of the last four goals of the game but it proved to be too little, too late for the Tar Heels. UNC had five different goal scorers in the game, including Luke Goldstock, who tallied a goal in his 20th successive game.
The Tar Heels will look to bounce back against Johns Hopkins, which lost a heartbreaker to Loyola on Saturday, in their next game and first road contest of the season. The Tar Heels travel to Baltimore and will play the Blue Jays on Sunday, February 28 at 12 noon.
