The No. 20 North Carolina men’s lacrosse team fell to the No. 2 Maryland Terrapins, 11-7, on Saturday in Costa Mesa, Calif., for its fourth consecutive loss.
What happened?
The Tar Heels (6-4) were dominated by the Terrapins (7-1) for majority of the game — going into halftime with a 5-2 deficit and starting the fourth quarter in a 9-4 hole. UNC rallied and made a comeback effort in the final 15 minutes, but it was too little, too late.
Maryland scored eight of the game’s first 10 goals. The only North Carolina players that put points on the board until the midway point of the third quarter were first-year midfielder Ryan O'Connell and senior attackman Matt Cunningham.
The Tar Heels then went on to score the next two goals. Sophomore midfielder William Perry scored at the 6:39 mark of the third quarter on an assist from junior attackman Andy Matthews. Then, senior attackman Chris Cloutier scored with 5:33 remaining in the third quarter.
Cloutier’s goal came off of an assist from junior attackman Timmy Kelly and marked the 30th consecutive game in which he has scored — a new school record.
Maryland then scored a goal of its own in the last four minutes of the frame to take a five-point lead into the final quarter.
North Carolina mounted a comeback and began cutting into the deficit — scoring three straight goals to start the fourth quarter. Matthews connected with Perry again, assisting the sophomore for another goal with 12:42 remaining in the contest. Less than two minutes later, Perry found Kelly, who scored his first goal of the game.
With 5:12 left in the contest, Cloutier found the back of the net again, cutting the Tar Heels’ deficit to two. However, the Terrapins scored two goals in the last five minutes to seal the deal.
