UNC junior attackman Dominic Pietramala rewrote several record books in a 24-6 Tar Heel win against Albany in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Saturday in Chapel Hill. The win was the Tar Heels’ first in the NCAA Tournament since 2021.
After UNC star and Tewaaraton Award finalist Owen Duffy was ruled out shortly before the opening faceoff with a lower body injury, Pietramala took matters into his own hands. He opened the scoring less than five minutes in and secured an early hat trick with one second left in the first quarter, giving UNC a 7-1 lead after 15 minutes.
Pietramala would outdo himself in the second quarter, scoring 56 seconds into the period and then finding the back of the net three consecutive times across a span of 10:48. UNC led 12-2 at halftime, and Pietramala had scored seven of the Tar Heels’ goals. He was back at it in the second half, scoring three more times as Carolina padded its already substantial lead.
When the dust had settled, Pietramala had set two records at once: his 10 goals set both a UNC single-game record and an NCAA Tournament single-game record. And finally, Pietramala’s 136 career goals across just three seasons are a new UNC program record. As a team, the Tar Heels’ 24 goals were their most in a single game since 2023.
With Saturday’s win, UNC has now advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals for the first time since 2021. The Tar Heels will face either Yale or No. 6 overall seed Syracuse next Saturday, May 16 in Hempstead, N.Y. The Orange – who UNC has already beaten twice this season – and the Bulldogs will face off Sunday.
Featured image via Chapel Hill Media Group/Jonathan Aldrich
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