University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Fall At Syracuse 13-7
April 16, 2016 | Men's Lacrosse
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Sergio Salcido and Nick Mariano each scored three goals and Dylan Donahue added four assists to lead 10th-ranked Syracuse to a 13-7 win over 11th-ranked North Carolina in men's lacrosse action before 4,830 fans at the Carrier Dome.
With the win Syracuse improves to 7-4 overall and 2-2 in the ACC and the Orange clinches a spot in the ACC Tournament semifinals April 29 in Kennesaw, Ga. The Tar Heels are now 7-5 overall and 2-1 in the ACC. Next up for Carolina is top-ranked Notre Dame who the Tar Heels will play in Kenan Stadium next Saturday at 12 noon. A win by Carolina over the Fighting Irish would give the Tar Heels the #1 seed in the ACC Tournament.
UNC was led by Michael Tagliaferri who scored a career high four goals while recording his fifth career hat trick. Luke Goldstock had two goals and an assist for the Heels and Jake Matthai had a goal and an assist. With his three-point performance Goldstock has now recorded at least one point in 29 successive games.
Syracuse outshot the Tar Heels 39-24 in the game and had a 28-20 edge in ground balls. In the face-off circle, Ben Williams won 16 of 24 face-offs for Syracuse while Stephen Kelly finished 8 for 24 in the face-off circle for UNC.
Evan Molloy made his second start of the season in goal for Syracuse and made nine saves while Brian Balkam went the whole way for UNC and made 10 saves.
The two teams traded goals in the early going before the Orange went on a six-goal run to end the first half. The Syracuse defense held UNC scoreless over the last 21:23 of the first half.
In the first half, Syracuse outshot the Tar Heels 23-11 and had a 14-8 edge in ground balls. The two teams combined for 18 turnovers in the opening 30 minutes with UNC committing eight and Syracuse 10.
The Orange opened the scoring on a fast break goal by Tim Barber 1:11 into the game. UNC answered with an unassisted goal by Michael Tagliaferri with 9:11 left in the quarter but Sergio Salcido scored to give the Orange the lead 39 seconds later. Tagliaferri scored his second goal of the quarter off an assist by Shane Simpson with 6:37 left in the period but Carolina would not score again in the first half and had limited possession of the ball in the last 22 minutes of play.
The Orange regained the lead on goals by Sergio Salcido and Nick Mariano off assists by Derek DeJoe and Tim Barber, respectively. The Syracuse passing game was working to perfection in the opening 30 minutes as its last six goals of the first half all were assisted.
Dylan Donahue had back-to-back assists on goals by Joe Gillis and Tim Barber at 13:29 and 9:49 of the period. The latter was a man-up goal, the first of two in the half for Syracuse. Sergio Salcido then recorded assists on successive goals by Nick Mariano and Dylan Donahue at 6:02 and 3:26. Donahue's goal was a man-up tally as Syracuse went 2-for-2 on the EMO in the first half against the nation's #2-ranked man-down unit.
After going more than 22 minutes without a goal, UNC got on the scoreboard 1:05 into the third period when Luke Goldstock picked up a loose ball and scored from in front of the cage. The goal gave Goldstock a point in 29 straight games, matching the 13th longest streak in UNC history. Salcido scored his third goal of the game a little over two minutes later before the Tar Heels responded with a goal by Jake Matthai, his second of the season, assisted by Goldstock, with 6:57 to play in the third period.
The Tar Heels would go on to score a pair of goals in the final two minutes of the third quarter to pull within 9-6 heading into the final 15 minutes. Michael Tagliaferri scored off an assist by Jake Matthai with 1:14 left in the period. The goal gave Tagliaferri his fifth career hat trick and matched his career high for goals in a match. Then with 18 seconds left in the period, Luke Goldstock scored his second goal of the third period off an assist by Steve Pontrello.
Tagliaferri scored for the Tar Heels 2:37 into the fourth quarter to pull the Heels within 9-7. It was his career high frourth goal of the game. The Heels got another look at the goal but Goldstock's shot was turned away by Syracuse goalkeeper Evan Molloy. UNC forced a turnover on the ensuing possession but a failed clear by Carolina and a goal by Jordan Evans made it 10-7 Syracuse with 9:11 left. The Orange then stretched its lead back to four goals on a tally by Nick Weston with 6:56 left in the period. Nick Mariano then scored his third goal of the game with 1:56 to play to make it 12-7 and Jordan Evans scored a behind-the-back goal with 1:01 to play off an assist by Donahue to make it a six-goal lead for SU. It was the fourth goal in a row by Syracuse after the Tar Heels had pulled within two goals early in the fourth quarter.
