Anderson’s Goal The Difference In Tar Heels’ Sudden Victory Win Over Furman

Saturday, February 10

Chapel Hill, N.C. (Kenan Stadium)

12 Noon

North Carolina

2-0

Furman

0-2

Furman

North Carolina

William Perry and Justin Anderson celebrate the game-winning goal

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

Anderson’s Goal The Difference In Tar Heels’ Sudden Victory Win Over Furman

February 10, 2018 | Men's Lacrosse

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Tar Heels host Lehigh next Saturday

By: Dave Lohse

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The ninth-ranked University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team weathered a furious second half rally by Furman Saturday afternoon to win 15-14 on a Justin Anderson goal just 31 seconds into the sudden victory period at Kenan Stadium before a crowd of 845 rain-soaked fans.

Anderson, a sophomore from Las Vegas, Nev., assisted on Chris Cloutier's game-tying goal with 1:16 left in regulation and then he scored the game-winner with 3:29 left in the first overtime period to lift the Tar Heels to 2-0 on the season. Despite trailing by six goals with less than four minutes left in the third quarter, the Paladins (now 0-2) scored eight of the next nine goals of the game and took a 14-13 lead on an extra-man goal by Mike Liscombe with 2:09 to play in the game.

It was the first overtime game for the Tar Heels since May 30, 2016 when UNC beat Maryland 14-13 in an extra session in the NCAA championship game at Philadelphia, Pa.

Senior attackman Chris Cloutier led the Tar Heels offensively with five goals and an assist while sophomore midfielder Tanner Cook scored five goals, including four in the first half, on just seven shots. The sophomore midfielder's previous career high for goals in a game was three last Saturday versus Lafayette. Justin Anderson had the game-winning goal and his three assists were a career high. He had never had more than one assist in a game in his career prior to Saturday. Sophomore midfielder William Perry had two goals and an assist for Carolina while Andy Matthews had a pair of assists and Timmy Kelly had a goal and an assist.

Furman was led by a seven-point performance by Jonah Moore as he had a goal and six assists. William Holcomb had a hat trick for the Paladins while David Williamson had two goals and an assist. Both Zach Scott and Chad Kreuzer had a pair of goals for Furman and Jarrett Birch had a goal and an assist.

UNC dominated the game statistically but it was never able to put the Paladins away in the second half. The Tar Heels outshot Furman 45-36, won the ground ball battle 43-26 and was in control at the face-off X, winning 21 of 32 draws. But the Tar Heels committed 17 turnovers to just 14 for Furman and the Paladins' made 13 saves in goal while a pair of UNC goalkeepers combined for just nine.

Both Charles Kelly and Riley Graham were above 50 percent at the face-off X to help lead Carolina to the win. Kelly won 11-of-14 draws and Graham won 10-of-18. The two Tar Heels tied for the game-high ground ball total on the day with six each. Cloutier had five ground balls for Carolina and defenseman Brandon Bank led Furman with five ground balls.

After Cook scored off an assist by Anderson 2:44 into the game, the Paladins ran off four goals in a row, including a pair by Holcomb, to take a 4-1 lead with 3:32 left in the opening period. Carolina answered with eight straight goals and 10 of the game's next 11 tallies, taking an 11-5 lead midway through the third quarter.

Carolina got a pair of goals in the final minute of the opening period to cut Furman's lead to 4-3 at the end of the quarter. Timmy Kelly scored a man-up goal off an assist by William Perry with 44 seconds left in the quarter and then Tanner Cook had his second goal of the period, off an assist by Cloutier, with one second left. Cloutier earned a tough ground ball with four seconds left and his feed led to an acrobatic finish for the tally by Cook in the final second.

The Tar Heels ran off the first six goals of the second period, including three goals by Cloutier and two by Cook. Defenseman Jack Rowlett had the other goal of the second period as he scored on a fast break clear 2:27 into the quarter. Carolina scored all six of its second quarter goals in just the opening 9:02 of the period and eventually took a 9-5 lead into the half.

Cook scored at 13:39 of the third quarter and that goal was followed by an extra-man tally by William Perry, assisted by Colin Munro, at 7:07. That latter goal gave the Heels their largest lead of the game at 11-5. The two teams traded goals before Furman scored four goals in a row over a span of 5:55 late in the third quarter and early in the fourth period. Perry stopped the bleeding for Carolina, assisted by Anderson, to give the Tar Heels a 13-10 lead with 10:01 to play. But Furman would not go away and with three goals in less than four minutes the Paladins tied the score at 13-13 with 5:09 left in the fourth quarter.

The Tar Heels won the ensuing face-off but Cook turned the ball over and eventually William Perry was sent off for slashing with 2:27 left in the quarter. The Paladins converted just 18 seconds into the extra-man opportunity as Mike Liscombe scored off the sixth assist of the game by Jonah Moore. The score gave Furman's its first lead of the game since early in the second quarter.

Charles Kelly, who won his last four face-offs of the game, won the ensuing draw and Anderson fed Cloutier as he tip-toed the crease to tie the game at 14-14 with 1:16 left. The Tar Heels again won the face-off and held for one shot but turned the ball over with four seconds to play. The Heels won the overtime face-off on a loose ball push and 31 seconds into the overtime period Anderson came from behind the crease and scored on a shot from the left alley to give the Tar Heels the win.

NOTING THE TAR HEELS

North Carolina improved to 5-0 all-time against Furman
Chris Cloutier scored five goals in the game. He has scored at least one goal in 22 successive games. Cloutier's 22-game scoring streak is the second longest active streak in the country and it is tied for the sixth-longest goal scoring streak in UNC history.
Andy Matthews had two assists against the Paladins. He now has at least one assist in 11 successive games. That equals the eighth longest assist streak in UNC history.
Chris Cloutier has now scored 87 goals in his career. That ranks him 22^nd in Tar Heel history. He is now 30^th in career points at UNC with 118.
Tar Heel head coach Joe Breschi needs four more victories to reach 200 career wins.
Carolina has won 102 of its last 127 games against non-conference opponents.
The Tar Heels have won 22 of 41 games decided by one goal during Coach Breschi's 10 years as head coach.

Next up for the Tar Heels is a game against Lehigh next Saturday at 12 noon at Kenan Stadium. The game will be webcast nationally on ACC Network Extra with Dean Linke on the play by play and Willie Scroggs serving as the analyst.