Graduate attackman Chris Gray of the UNC men’s lacrosse team put together one of the best performances of his career Sunday, scoring seven goals to lead No. 10 Carolina past No. 13 Johns Hopkins at Dorrance Field.

Four of Gray’s goals came in a back-and-forth first half, one which saw the Blue Jays erase a 5-2 deficit with three straight goals, then Carolina restore it with a 4-1 run to end the second quarter. Nicky Solomon, Lance Tillman and Jacob Kelly each also recorded goals in the first half, which ended with UNC on top, 9-6.

Carolina came out hot in the second half, scoring five unanswered goals over the third and early fourth quarters. Gray’s sixth punctuated what ended up being a 9-1 UNC run going back to the second quarter. Johns Hopkins answered with three straight goals of its own, but Gray’s seventh just eight seconds later put to rest any hopes of a Blue Jay comeback.

“I love the way we came out in the second half because we haven’t been a second-half team so far this season,” said UNC head coach Joe Breschi. “It was awesome to come out of the break and shut them out 3-0 in the third quarter. It just felt like the momentum swung in our favor and being able to pour it on there was really good.”

Gray, unsurprisingly, led the team in points with nine (he added two assists to his seven goals). Solomon wasn’t far behind, with a hat trick and three assists, while Tillman and Kelly each had three points.

The win marks UNC’s first over a ranked opponent this season. Two more chances will come in the next two games, as No. 14 Denver will visit Chapel Hill on Saturday, and No. 2 Virginia will come to town the following Thursday.

 

Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Jeffrey A. Camarati

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