#4 Virginia Edges #18 Tar Heels 11-10

Saturday, April 6

Charlottesville, Va.

1 p.m.

North Carolina

7-4, 1-1ACC

Virginia

9-2, 3-0ACC

North Carolina

Virginia

Andy Matthews recorded his 100th career point against Virginia Saturday.

April 6, 2019 | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score Watch Highlights on YouTube Box Score (pdf)Play By Play (pdf)

UNC hosts Syracuse next Saturday in Chapel Hill

By: Dave Lohse

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. – Despite a staggering statistical advantage in the game in favor of the Cavaliers, the contest between fourth-ranked Virginia and 18^th-ranked North Carolina went down to the wire Saturday afternoon with the Wahoos prevailing 11-10 at Klockner Stadium before a crowd of 3,086 fans. The win by UVA clinched the #1 seed in the upcoming ACC Tournament for the Cavaliers who have won eight games in a row and are now 9-2 overall and 3-0 in the ACC. Carolina fell to 7-4 overall and 1-1 in the ACC with the loss.

Dox Aitken scored an unassisted goal for the Cavaliers with 1:34 left in the game and that proved to be the winning goal as Carolina was unable to convert on an extra-man opportunity in the final minute of the game.

Virginia outshot the Tar Heels 52-34 in the game and also had a ground ball advantage of 40-20. The Cavaliers won 17 of the game's 23 face-offs as well. Nevertheless the Tar Heels hung in until the end of the game.

Virginia has been a second half team all season and it was again on Saturday as it outscored Carolina 8-5 in the second half of the game, including 4-1 in the third quarter of the game, erasing a 5-3 UNC halftime advantage.

Michael Kraus carried the Cavaliers offensively with five goals and an assist while Matt Moore had two goals and an assist. Aitken finished with two goals for the Cavaliers, the first of the game and the last of the contest.

Nicky Solomon had three goals for Carolina for his first career hat trick. He has scored in every goal of his freshman season. Timmy Kelly scored a pair of goals for UNC and he has recorded a point in 16 successive games dating back to March 24, 2018. Brian Cameron and Alex Trippi each had a goal and an assist for the Tar Heels while William Perry, Justin Anderson and Matt Gavin each scored goals. Jacob Kelly, Cam Macri, Andy Matthews and Will Nicklaus had single assists for UNC.

Six of UNC's 10 goals in the game were assisted while Virginia scored 11 goals while recording just three assists.

Alex Rode finished with 14 saves for UVA while Caton Johnson, making his second career start, had 12 saves for UNC.

UNC committed 13 turnovers in the game, including five on failed clears. The Tar Heels were 14 of 19 in the clearing game while UVA finished 11 of 12 in clearing. The Tar Heels were more successful in extra-man offense, finishing three of five while UVA was zero of 5 in extra-man opportunities.

Carolina got three goals in the first half from Nicky Solomon and built a three-goal lead at 5-2 with 2:31 left in the first half. But Kraus scored with 1:45 left in the second quarter, sparking a 5-1 scoring run that put Virginia up 7-6 at the end of the third quarter. Carolina scored the opening three goals of the fourth quarter with tallies by Timmy Kelly, Brian Cameron and Matt Gavin. But the Tar Heels' lead was short-lived. Virginia scored three quick goals, including two tallies by Matt Moore, to go up 10-9 with 8:45 to play in the game. UNC tied the game on an extra-man goal by Timmy Kelly with 6:35 to play before Aitken scored the game-winner, his 25^th goal of the season, with 1:34 to play.

Carolina will be back in action next Saturday at UNC Lacrosse & Soccer Stadium in Chapel Hill. The North Carolina women and men will play Syracuse in an ACC doubleheader at the new facility. The women play at 12 noon and the men at 3 p.m. General admission tickets are on sale now at the Ticket Center on GoHeels.com. The game will be nationally televised on the ACC Network extra.

GAME NOTES

Andy Matthews' fourth-quarter assist gives him 100 points for his career (32 goals, 68 assists).
Timmy Kelly has points in 16 straight games dating back to March 24, 2018.
Nicky Solomon has scored a goal in each of his 11 games as a freshman. He had his first career hat trick Saturday against the Cavaliers.
Timmy Kelly increased his career point total to 97 and his career goal total to 65.