No. 5 UNC men's lacrosse dominates Jacksonville, 20-7, behind Owen Duffy's career day

The No. 5 UNC men’s lacrosse team (6-1) defeated the Jacksonville Dolphins (5-3), 20-7, on Sunday afternoon at Dorrance Field. 

Behind six goals from sophomore attacker Owen Duffy, North Carolina dominated Jacksonville throughout the entire game. 

“He let the game come to him and he's been managing the game really well,” head coach Joe Breschi said. “He did a terrific job.”

After a scramble for the opening draw, UNC’s first shot was blocked. After gaining possession, Jacksonville raced down the field and scored the first goal of the game. 

The Tar Heels leveled the score on their next opportunity. First-year attackman Mason Szewczyk crashed the circle and snuck the ball past the goalkeeper. 

The goal kicked off a 5-0 Tar Heel run. Duffy led the pack, notching two goals — including one behind the back — and one assist. 

The Dolphins then surged for a run of their own. Scoring on back-to-back possessions, they fought back to bring the score to 5-3. 

Junior attackman James Matan ended Jacksonville’s scoring run by running in his third goal of the season. As the seconds wound down in the first quarter, Duffy found the goal again to bring North Carolina to a 7-3 advantage at the break.  

“[The defense] got us going,” senior midfielder Ty English said. “Every time they went on a run or got a good stop, that kind of domino effect let the offense see that and be able to take it to the other end and score goals.”

Duffy wasted no time to score again in the second frame following an assist and a step inside from graduate midfielder Spencer Wirtheim. 

On UNC’s next possession, senior midfielder Ryan Levy capitalized off an assist from Matan, who found Levy from behind the goal. The Dolphins called a timeout after Matan scored again. 

After a penalty on graduate goalkeeper Michael Gianforcaro, junior goalkeeper Kent Goode stepped in. He saved the first and only shot the Dolphins attempted with Goode in the cage. 

During the Tar Heels’ next possession, Matan found Wirtheim from behind the goal. Wirtheim then launched the ball into the top left corner of the goal for his second of the day. 

Jacksonville gained a man-up opportunity on their next possession. They came crashing at Gianforcaro in-goal, and he couldn’t do anything to stop the ball from going in. 

From the sideline on the next opportunity, Jacksonville’s Drew Kessenich rolled the ball into the goal past UNC. 

Duffy attacked again on the next possession, bringing his total to five goals by halftime. Senior midfielder Ty English also tallied a goal with less than two minutes left. 

At halftime, North Carolina led 13-5. 

Redshirt sophomore Dominic Pietramala got on the board halfway through the third quarter with an assist from Harshbarger. 

The third quarter saw quiet dominance from North Carolina. English and Pietramala each tallied one goal, bringing the score to 16-5 entering the final 15 minutes.  

UNC continued their dominance in the final quarter. First-year faceoff Parker Hoffman scored one, and Duffy claimed his sixth of the day. In the final two seconds, junior attackman Matt Wrede capitalized. Junior faceoff Colin Hannigan scored his first goal and UNC’s final of the game. 

“This group is really a special group,” Breschi said. “They keep working their tails off and getting better every day in practice and their focus. We're playing hard.”

Jacksonville scored for the first time in the half with nine minutes remaining, but it was not enough to overcome the deficit. With 46 seconds left, they scored again. 

UNC will play the Panthers in High Point on Friday evening. Game is set to start at 7 p.m. 

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