University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
2-0
Furman
0-3
Tar Heels Outlast Furman To Improve To 2-0
February 11, 2017 | Men's Lacrosse
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Brian Balkam made 12 saves and allowed just one goal in the final three quarters to lead the No. 1-ranked University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team to a 7-3 victory over the Furman Paladins before 507 fans at Paladin Stadium. The Tar Heels improved to 2-0 with the victory while Furman is now 0-3.
Balkam, who came into the game with a career high of 14 saves, allowed a pair of goals in the first quarter, which ended in a 2-2 tie. Over the last three quarters, however, he made eight saves and allowed only one goal as the Tar Heels eventually pulled away for the win, outscoring the Paladins 5-1 over the final three quarters. Balkam's career high for saves is 14 set in games against Virginia and Notre Dame in his sophomore year.
Chris Cloutier and Justin Anderson each scored two goals for the Tar Heels while Brian Cannon had a goal and an assist. Sophomore attackman Andy Matthews had a pair of assists while Timmy Kelly and William Perry each recorded single goals for UNC. Peyton Klawinski and Michael Tagliaferri each had single assists in the match.
For Furman, William Holcomb scored two goals while Lou Yovino had a single tally. Graham Dabbs and Gus Pinsoneault had assists for the Paladins.
Tar Heel senior Stephen Kelly won 11 of 14 face-offs in the game and had a game-high 10 ground balls. Senior Austin Pifani led the Tar Heels defensively with three ground balls and three caused turnovers.
Carolina outshot Furman 38-26 and had a 32-24 edge in ground balls. Both goalies played spectacularly with Balkam recording 12 saves for UNC and Alec Van de Bovenkam making 16 saves for the Paladins.
UNC was 17 for 20 in the clearing game and Furman was 17 of 19 in that area. The Tar Heels committed 16 turnovers and Furman had 14. Carolina had the edge in extra-man play as the Tar Heels scored twice on three opportunities while Carolina's man-down defense was outstanding, holding the Paladins to an 0-for-5 stat in the category. In fact, the man-down unit play may have been the difference in the game, along with Balkam's goalkeeping.
The two teams traded goals in the first quarter. Justin Anderson opened the scoring 1:16 into the match off an assist by Andy Matthews, but after a Tar Heel turnover on the ensuing face-off, Furman's Lou Yovino scored a fast break, unassisted goal to quickly equalize the score. Carolina retook the lead 2-1 on an extra-man goal by Brian Cannon, assisted by Michael Tagliaferri, with five minutes left in the first quarter only to see the game tied with 32 seconds left in the frame on a Furman goal by William Holcomb, off an assist by Gus Pinsoneault.
The Tar Heels scored both goals in the second quarter. Chris Cloutier scored an assisted goal at 10:09 with the helper from Andy Matthews. Then with 2:16 left in the period, Justin Anderson scored an unassisted fast break goal after a tremendous save by Brian Balkam on the other end and a successful clear by the Tar Heels. Anderson's goal proved to be the eventual game winner.
Neither team scored for nearly 15 minutes before the Tar Heels upped their lead to 5-2 with 2:48 left in the third quarter on an extra-man goal by Chris Cloutier, assisted by Brian Cannon.
The Paladins narrowed the gap to 5-3 with 11:29 left in the game as William Holcomb scored his second goal of the game, assisted by Graham Dobbs. It was the first Furman goal since the last minute of the first quarter. The Paladins had a chance to pull within one goal about three minutes later but UNC forced a turnover on a Furman extra-man opportunity and then scored twice to put the game away in the following minutes.
Timmy Kelly scored an unassisted goal with 6:13 to play in the game to make the score 6-3 and then freshman William Perry scored off an assist by Peyton Klawinski with 4:25 to play to notch the game's final tally.
The win by Carolina was its first in a game in which both teams scored in single digits since March 10, 2012 when UNC beat Princeton 9-8 in Baltimore, Md. The 10 goals scored between the two teams were the fewest combined in a Tar Heel game since February 13, 2010 when UNC beat Bryant 5-4 in Chapel Hill.
The Tar Heels will be back in action again next Saturday when they play host to Lehigh at Fetzer Field at 1 p.m. The Mountain Hawks are 2-0 on the season after beating Jacksonville 13-12 on Saturday.
