Carolina’s return to the top of the men’s lacrosse rankings will be short-lived, as the Tar Heels were completely shut down in a 10-5 loss at #2 Notre Dame on Saturday.
UNC held the Fighting Irish scoreless in the first quarter and took a 2-0 lead on a pair of man-up goals. Notre Dame flipped a switch in the second, though, scoring four straight and taking a 4-3 lead into halftime. The Tar Heels tied it 12 seconds into the third, but were outscored 6-1 the rest of the game, and did not score in the fourth
quarter.
The Tar Heels’ five goals and 25 ground balls were both season lows; they had been averaging nearly 15 goals and more than 38 ground balls entering the game. Additionally, they lost the faceoff battle for the first time this year (10-8) and put less than half of their shots on goal for only the second time.
The loss dropped Carolina to 10-2 overall and 1-1 in ACC play, while Notre Dame improved to 8-1 and 1-1. The Irish, who beat then-#1 Richmond on April 4, became the first team ever to defeat the #1 team in back-to-back games and extended their winning streak against UNC to six.
The Tar Heels travel to #13 Virginia (7-5, 2-1) on Saturday for their second-to-last game of the regular season. The game starts at 12:00 PM ET and will be broadcast on ACCNX.
