University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina Edges Marquette In NCAA First Round
May 14, 2016 | Men's Lacrosse
MILWAUKEE, WIS. – North Carolina won a back-and-forth battle in the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament first round, beating sixth-seeded and host Maquette 10-9 at Valley Fields before a sold out crowd of 2,053.
Carolina built its biggest lead of the game at three goals early in the fourth quarter before the Golden Eagles scored twice to cut the lead to 10-9 with a minute to play. But the Tar Heels held on to improve to 9-6 and they will now face either Notre Dame or Air Force in the NCAA quarterfinals on May 22 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.
Michael Tagliaferri led the Tar Heels with three goals while Steve Pontrello and Chris Cloutier each had two scores. Tagliaferri and Pontrello each added assists to their goal totals and Patrick Kelly had two helpers to lead the Heels. Brian Cannon, Shane Simpson and Timmy Kelly each had single goals for the Tar Heels. Marquette, the Big East Conference Tournament champion, ended its season at 11-5. The Golden Eagles were led by three goals from Tanner Thomson while Ryan McNamara had two goals and an assist. Blaine Fleming had a pair of first half goals for the Golden Eagles.
UNC finished with a 37-26 edge in shots while also leading in ground balls 27-20. Stephen Kelly won 12 of 21 face-offs for UNC and led Carolina with four ground balls. Cole Blazer finished with 10 saves for Marquette while Brian Balkam had eight saves for the Tar Heels.
The teams traded goals in the first quarter with Michael Tagliaferri and Steve Pontrello matching goals by the Golden Eagles. But a turnover in the final minute of the quarter led to a Marquette goal by Kyran Clarke that put Marquette up 3-2 at the end of the period. UNC outshot Marquette 9-6 in the first quarter and had an 8-6 edge in ground balls.
The Tar Heels outshot the Golden Eagles 9-5 in the second quarter and outscored Marquette 4-2 in the period to take a 6-5 lead into the locker room. Goals by Shane Simpson, Michael Tagliaferri and Timmy Kelly put Carolina up 5-3 with five minutes left before halftime. Blaine Fleming then wrapped unassisted goals around an extra-man tally by Chris Cloutier as the Heels led by a goal at the half.
After Steve Pontrello put the Tar Heels up by two goals with 11:33 left in the third quarter, Marquette answered with two goals and had a great look to take the lead but Brian Balkam stopped a transition shot on the door step by Conor Gately and Brian Cannon scored on the ensuing possession to put UNC up 8-7 with a little over seven minutes remaining in the third period. Tagliaferri then scored his third goal of the game, assisted by Pontrello, to give the Tar Heels a 9-7 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Balkam made four saves in the third quarter while the Tar Heels scored on all three of their shots on goal in the period.
Chris Cloutier scored his second EMO goal of the game with 10:36 to play in the fourth quarter, giving UNC its first three-goal lead of the match. Tanner Thomson then scored his third goal of the game to pull the Golden Eagles within 10-8 with 7:36 left in the fourth quarter. Marquette pulled with a single goal at 10-9 with 1:07 to play, a extra-man tally by Ryan McNamara. Marquette won the ensuing faceoff but Carolina was able to kill off the clock and hold on for the 10-9 victory.
