The No. 9 North Carolina men’s lacrosse team (7-3, 0-2 ACC) fell to No. 15 Duke (9-4, 1-1 ACC), 15-6, in a Saturday afternoon bout at Dorrance Field.
What happened?
Duke got the early lead in Saturday’s game, quickly going up 2-0 in the first quarter thanks to two goals by sophomore attackman Brennan O’Neill. O’Neill continued his rampage into the second quarter, opening up the period with an unassisted goal to notch an early hat trick.
After another Blue Devil goal from graduate attackman Joe Robertson, UNC finally answered on a extra-man opportunity thanks to a goal from senior midfielder Henry Schertzinger. A goal by Duke’s Nakeie Montgomery in the closing seconds of the second quarter put Duke up 5-1 at the half.
By the third period, the floodgates were opened. Duke outscored UNC 5-1 in this quarter, behind three goals from O’Neill and two from Montgomery. UNC’s Jacob Kelly was the only Tar Heel to score in this period, with an unassisted goal off of a ground ball pickup.
The fourth period of play was much closer between the two teams. After Duke won the face-off to begin the quarter, junior attackman Dyson Williams was able to sling one in at point blank range off of the feed from Montgomery. The Blue Devils kept their streak alive with two more combined goals from O’Neill and Robertson to put Duke up 13-2.
Graduate attackman Chris Gray answered with his first goal of the game, firing an unassisted shot into the back of the net. Gray also assisted the next North Carolina goal by defensive midfielder Dominic Pryor to cut Duke’s lead to nine. Ultimately, this is as close as the Tar Heels would come in Saturday’s game. Each team notched two more goals in the second half of the fourth quarter for a final score of 15-6.
Who stood out?
Brennan O’Neill’s impact on Saturday’s game is evident, whether you were at Dorrance to watch him work, or took a quick glance at the stat sheet. With just under two minutes left in the third quarter, O’Neill had already notched a sock trick against the Tar Heels, and would end the game with seven goals.