The No. 4 North Carolina men’s lacrosse team (5-0) took its offensive arsenal out west on Sunday and extended its undefeated start to the 2020 season with a 15-13 road victory over No. 11 Denver (3-2).
What happened?
The altitude did little to slow UNC early on, as the Tar Heels' balanced offensive attack quickly jumped out to a 5-0 lead.
Denver wasn’t able to run a settled offensive set until the second quarter and wasn't able to put points on the board until it was given the opportunity to rest the defense and play a slower game.
While Denver demonstrated flashes of potential — with goals from senior third team All-American Ethan Walker — UNC’s control over the pace of play kept such moments few and far between to begin the game.
Highlighted by a flashy behind-the-back goal from sophomore Nicky Solomon, head coach Joe Breschi’s team played this season’s most complete half of lacrosse on its way to a 9-3 lead at the break.
The third quarter was more of the same for the UNC, as it stretched its lead out to eight goals, entering the fourth quarter with a 13-5 lead. Junior Chris Gray found the back of the net after a relatively quiet first half, and it appeared that the Tar Heels’ went into cruise control.
However, a fourth-quarter blitz by the Pioneers injected some drama into what had been an otherwise uneventful 2020 campaign for the UNC men's lacrosse program. The Tar Heels began to give multiple possessions in a row to the home team, allowing Denver to settle into its offense.
After leading by eight goals with 11 minutes left in the game, a four-goal flurry cut North Carolina's lead to four in just under three minutes. Noticing their control was slowly slipping away, the Tar Heels regrouped for a final offensive outburst, notching two final goals to propel them to a 15-9 lead that would prove insuperable in the final six minutes.
