No. 3 Carolina Under The Lights At Furman On Friday

Friday, March 6

Greenville, SC

6 p.m. ET

North Carolina

Furman

Will Nicklaus, Harrison Schertzinger

Photo by: Rebecca Lawson

March 5, 2020 | Men's Lacrosse

Live Results Watch (ESPN3)Game Notes

DENVER, Colo. – The North Carolina men's lacrosse team will wrap up a three-game road series on Friday when the Tar Heels play the Furman Paladins under the lights at 6 p.m. in Paladin Stadium in Greenville, South Carolina.

No. 3 North Carolina is now 5-0 following back-to-back wins in its first two ranked matchups of the season. The Tar Heels most recently held on to best the Denver Pioneers, 15-13, in Colorado one week after a historic 17-10 victory over Johns Hopkins. Senior midfielder and tri-captain Justin Anderson had a career-best seven points (5g, 2a), including a career-high five goals at Denver to help the Heels snap a two-game losing streak in the programs' all-time series. Carolina's 15 goals against the Pioneers are the team's most in over a decade; UNC bested Denver 20-7 in Chapel Hill in 2009.

The Furman Paladins are 1-4 heading into Friday's matchup. The Paladins' are on a three-game losing streak following a 6-19 loss at Duke, and the team earned its lone victory of the season when they defeated Hampton, 19-4 at home.

The Tar Heels lead the all-time series with the Paladins, 6-0. Carolina most recently beat Furman, 14-10, last season at Kenan Stadium. UNC's largest margin of victory in the series (16 goals) came in the programs' first-ever matchup in 2014 when the Heels downed the Paladins, 19-3. In 2018, the Paladins forced the Heels into overtime, but UNC came out victorious in the contest, 15-14.

After Furman, North Carolina will return to Dorrance Field for four more non-conference games over a 12-day span. The Tar Heels will then open up ACC play with back-to-back Thursday night games. Carolina will stay local for its first conference matchups, driving eight miles down Tobacco Road to face Duke on March 26 before hosting Virginia on April 2.

HOW TO FOLLOW
The North Carolina men's lacrosse game against Furman will be aired on ESPN3.

Links to live results and live streams of North Carolina men's lacrosse games are available at GoHeels.com.

Fans can also follow @UNCMensLacrosse on Twitter and Instagram for updates throughout the meet. UNC Men's Lacrosse is also on Facebook. A recap of games and results will be posted on GoHeels.com following the conclusion of each competition.

Live Results | Watch (ESPN3) | 2020 Schedule | 2020 Roster

LAST TIME OUT
The No. 4 North Carolina men's lacrosse team held on for a 15-13 win over the No. 11 Denver Pioneers on Sunday afternoon at the Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium.

With Sunday's victory, the Tar Heels break a two-game losing streak in the series and wins its second-consecutive game at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. Carolina's 15 goals against the Pioneers are the most since their 20-7 victory in Chapel Hill in 2009. The matchup's 15-13 result also marks the most combined goals between the two teams since they scored 30 total goals in the 2012 NCAA Tournament. Denver won that contest, 16-14.

Senior midfielder and tri-captain Justin Anderson highlighted the day with a career-best, seven points (5g, 2a), including a career-high, five goals. Carolina's depth in the offensive zone once again proved to be an issue for its opponent early in the game with eight different goal scorers and four players with at least two assists. North Carolina's perfect performance on the transition (18 of 18) undoubtedly helped the Tar Heel offense secure much-needed opportunities towards the end of the game.

The national leader in extra-man opportunities, the Tar Heels went two-of-three in EMOs. However, Carolina committed seven penalties – the team's most since 11 against Duke in 2019 – and Denver was able to take advantage of five of their seven man-up chances.

The Tar Heels remains undefeated with a 5-0 start to the 2020 season. Bill Tierney and his Pioneers fall to 3-2 on the season with 13-15 home losses in both of their ACC matchups – first to Duke on February 15 and now to Carolina.

Carolina breaks a two-game loss streak to the Pioneers to go up 11-7 in the all-time series. In the last five matchups between the two programs, the visiting team has left victorious.

Now 5-0, the Tar Heels head south to Furman University on March 6 before returning to Dorrance Field for a four-game home series.

Key Moments
» Carolina held Denver scoreless through the first quarter, going up 4-0 with four different goal scorers – Henry Schertzinger (from William Perry), Brian Cameron (from Justin Anderson), Harrison Schertzinger and Justin Anderson.
» The Tar Heels again had a different goal scorer for each of its five goals (three assisted) in the second period, their best offensive quarter of the game. Carolina created its largest lead of the day after going up 9-1 with 6:21 left in the half, but Denver responded with two goals to head into halftime trailing 9-3.
» For the third-straight quarter, each Tar Heel goal was scored by a different player while Chris Gray tallied both of his assists for the day. Carolina extended the lead to eight (13-5) by the end of the third.
» Carolina held on for the victory as Denver made a run in the fourth quarter, scoring eight goals to UNC's two. Justin Anderson's back-to-back goals for his career-best performance kept the Tar Heels in the lead as they ended up besting Denver by a two-goal margin.

Notable Team Achievements
» The Tar Heels totaled 15 goals – two man-up – and nine assists for 24 points on 43 shots. The team also combined for 33 ground balls and four Heels forced four turnovers in their second ranked matchup of the season.
» The Tar Heels' 15 goals against the Pioneers are the most since their 20-7 victory in Chapel Hill in 2009. Sunday's matchup also marks the most combined goals between the two teams since the teams faced off in the 2012 NCAA Tournament (30 goals). Denver won that contest, 16-14.
» UNC breaks a two-game losing streak in the series and wins its second-consecutive game at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium.
» Carolina was perfect on the transition, successfully moving the ball into their offensive zone on all 18 of its clear attempts.
» A promising sign for Carolina's future, five sophomores scored seven of the team's 15 goals and four underclassmen forced all four of team's caused turnovers. Nicky Solomon and Brian Cameron had two goals a piece while Jacob Kelly, Henry Schertzinger and Harrison Schertzinger all scored a goal. Sophomores Kelly and Connor Maher each forced turnovers while redshirt freshman Will Bowen and freshman Matt Wright both had one CT.