The No. 7 North Carolina men’s lacrosse team (4-0) continued its impressive start to the season with a standout 17-10 win over No. 15 Johns Hopkins (1-2) on Saturday at Homewood Field.
What happened?
After conceding the first goal of the game to the Blue Jays, the Tar Heels were able to bounce back and reclaim a lead that Johns Hopkins wouldn't see again for the rest of the game. A hat trick in the first quarter for junior attackman Chris Gray helped UNC get its offense going.
Gray’s offensive production wouldn’t stop there, though. He finished the game with a career-high eight goals and threw in an assist.
The game remained tight throughout the first quarter, but a staunch defensive effort and a string of unanswered goals for the Tar Heels in the second quarter allowed them to create a more comfortable lead on the Blue Jays.
A goal early in the quarter by senior Tanner Cook sparked a four-goal scoring streak that would give North Carolina a 9-5 lead going into the half. Cook would finish the game with a hat trick and one assist.
Gray started off the second half with yet another goal to extend the Tar Heels’ lead even further. From then on, the combination of UNC’s defensive effort and the scoring separation proved insurmountable for the Blue Jays. From the midway point of the third quarter until the final buzzer sounded, the North Carolina lead wasn't cut to within five goals for the rest of the game.
Who stood out?
UNC's scoring efforts ended just as they began for the Tar Heels: with a goal by Gray. He had his fingerprints all over this game after scoring a career-high eight goals, almost half of the total scores from North Carolina.
