The No. 20 Virginia men’s lacrosse team fell against No. 11 North Carolina at Kenan Stadium Sunday afternoon, 16-8. The loss snapped a three game win streak for the Cavaliers (6-6, 0-3 ACC) and allowed the Tar Heels (7-4, 2-0 ACC) to maintain their unbeaten conference record.
North Carolina struck quickly, scoring a goal just 29 seconds into the game. Just minutes later though, junior midfielder AJ Fish tied the game for Virginia to bring the score to 1-1.
However, the Tar Heel offense caught momentum shortly after with a 9-0 run, holding the Cavaliers scoreless for 21:46.
Senior attackman Steve Pontrello rounded out the run for North Carolina before Virginia answered with a 3-0 run of its own. Cavalier senior attackman James Pannell tallied two goals and Fish added another score to bring the score to 10-4.
But Virginia could not keep up the momentum, and North Carolina reached its largest lead of the game with a 4-0 run to bring the score to 14-4 in the fourth quarter.
Despite a goal from senior midfielder Greg Coholan with 9:41 left in the game, Virginia was never able to recover from the Tar Heel run. Pannell and junior attackman Ryan Lukacovic finished out the scoring, as the Cavaliers went on a 4-2 run in the final 10 minutes to end the game with a score of 16-8.
Junior goalie Matt Barrett made 12 saves, while North Carolina’s goalies — sophomore Brian Balkam and freshman Colin Reder — combined for 15 saves on the afternoon. The Tar Heels also dominated in ground balls, 31-17, and shots, 56-33.
Virginia has a chance to bounce back and earn its first ACC win of the season when No. 13 Duke visits Charlottesville Sunday, April 17 at noon.
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