Senior James Matan scooped up a rebound right in front of the Virginia goal and buried it to give the third-ranked Carolina men’s lacrosse team a 16-15 overtime win in Charlottesville on Saturday.
The win keeps the Tar Heels (11-2, 2-1 ACC) in contention for a share of the conference title heading into their regular season finale against #16 Duke on April 25. It also marks the first time they’ve beaten Virginia in back-to-back games since doing so in the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
The #11 Cavaliers (7-6,
2-2) staged a late rally to force OT, erasing a 15-11 UNC lead in the final 5:28 of regulation and scoring the game-tying goal with just one second on the clock. Virginia did not possess the ball during the extra period; Carolina won the opening faceoff and took the shot clock down to 10 seconds before the game-winning sequence.
Junior Owen Duffy led the Tar Heels with three goals and five assists, with redshirt junior Dominic Pietramala tallying three goals and one assist (Pietramala also took the initial shot that led to Matan’s goal). A week after Carolina lost the faceoff battle for the first time this season against Notre Dame, junior Brady Wambach dominated at the X, winning 23 and losing 10.
UNC outshot the Cavaliers 52-40, including a 30-18 advantage in shots on goal. The Tar Heels committed 11 turnovers to Virginia’s 13 and lost the ground ball battle 38-31.
Carolina’s game against Duke starts at 12:00 PM ET and will be broadcast on ESPNU.
