The No. 9 UNC men’s lacrosse team picked up its second consecutive ranked win Saturday afternoon at Dorrance Field, defeating No. 19 Denver on a goal from star attackman Chris Gray in the final minutes.

The Tar Heels and Pioneers traded punches in a back-and-forth first half, one which saw ties at 1-1, 2-2, 4-4, 5-5 and 6-6. Gray secured a first half hat-trick by scoring a go-ahead goal for Carolina with 1:41 left in the second quarter, sending UNC into the locker rooms up 7-6.

It appeared the Tar Heels may run away with the game early in the third, as Carolina scored five straight goals to open the quarter and lead 12-6. Going back to the second quarter, it was a 7-0 UNC run. But the Pioneers answered in breathtaking fashion, going on a 5-1 run to end the third quarter and then another 5-1 run to begin the fourth. The 10-2 Pioneer stretch, which took roughly 11 minutes of game time, turned the afternoon on its head and had Carolina staring down the barrel of its second loss of the season.

But the team buckled down in the final nine minutes, stopping the bleeding with a goal from senior Nicky Solomon to cut the deficit to 16-15. The goal earned Gray his second assist of the day, but he would do the dirty work himself on the next two scores. He took advantage of a Denver penalty and a man-up situation to tie the game at 16-16 with 5:35 remaining, then stuck the dagger into the Pioneers on the game-winning goal with fewer than 90 seconds to go. His final two scores were Nos. 100 and 101 for his career.

Gray ended Saturday with six goals against the Pioneers. Combined with his explosive performance against No. 13 Johns Hopkins last weekend, Gray has now scored 13 goals in his last two games. Junior Lance Tillman also earned himself a hat trick and tied with Solomon and midfielder Harrison Schertzinger for second on the team with five points. Schertzinger dished out a team-high four assists on the day.

Carolina has won three in a row since falling to Ohio State in February, and are now 5-1 this season. All six games have come at home, and one more is still to come before UNC makes its first road trip of the year. That final home game is the biggest of the season so far, and the team’s ACC opener: a Thursday night showdown with No. 2 Virginia. The Cavaliers knocked off Carolina in last season’s Final Four on their way to the national championship. Thursday’s game is scheduled for 8 p.m. and can be seen on ACC Network.

 

Featured image via UNC Men’s Lacrosse on Twitter

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