When the No. 4 North Carolina men’s lacrosse team went to Durham to take on the No. 5 Duke Blue Devils, the hype to the much-anticipated rivalry game was matched and maybe even surpassed by the game itself.
From the defenses halting two of the top offenses in the nation to a freshman besting a first team All-American, the 9-8 overtime loss for UNC was anything but what one might have expected from the matchup.
Here are a few of the things that might have slipped through the cracks in the midst of the excitement and adrenaline of the rivalry matchup:
Freshmen stepping up
Along with face-off man Stephen Kelly giving a strong outing- to UNC Saturday, with 13 wins on 20 face-offs, redshirt freshman Michael Tagliaferri proved his worth to the second-line offensive midfield.
Tagliaferri, who was redshirted last season due to injury, had Duke goalie Luke Aaron’s number scoring every time his shot was on goal and earning a hat trick.
While two of his goals were long rifles that were well placed, the youngster showed he wasn’t afraid to take on multiple defenders in the tight ball game.
Putting the team on his back, Tagliaferri scored his only unassisted goal of the game in a 7-7 tie ball game with 5:13 left in the fourth quarter when he drove through the teeth of Duke’s defense.
Holding his stick tight to his body and taking on checks left and right, Tagliaferri ran right up to the cage and jammed one home to give UNC its final lead of the game.
First-line struggles
Tagliaferri may have been on top of his game Saturday, but his team’s first-line offensive midfielders were anything but that against Duke.
In the first six games of the season, UNC’s normal starters, Steve Pontrello, Chad Tutton and Shane Simpson, had a combined 26 points, led by Tutton’s 11 goals and two assists.
Duke held the usually tantalizing trio to 16 shots, only 5 of which were even on goal.
Tutton, who is known for his shifty dodging and finishing ability, only had two shots on goal out of 10 total and saw his 19-game goal scoring streak end.
Transition kills Tar Heels
There’s no denying that Jordan Wolf is one of greatest attackmen in the country. He was a second-team All-American in 2013 and is poised to move up to the first team this season.
But three of his three goals were handed to him on a silver platter.
Ugly turnovers in the transition game by UNC gave the Blue Devils multiple opportunities in early offense could have been avoided had UNC’s midfielders avoided mental mistakes.
With players like Greg McBride unnecessarily taking on double teams and Steve Pontrello throwing errant passes into a slew of white jerseys, Wolf was given one-on-one chances against Kieran burke, threw a fake or two, and found the net.
With UNC now 0-2 in ACC play, losing by one point in each game, the Tar Heels will need to find a way to prevent mental mistakes in transition if they want to turn things around and make the four-team ACC Tournament.
To get the day's news and headlines in your inbox each morning, sign up for our email newsletters.
