The UNC men’s and women’s lacrosse teams each picked up Top 5 wins on Saturday, with the women dominating No. 4 Syracuse in Chapel Hill 16-8 and the men holding off No. 3 Johns Hopkins on the road by a score of 13-12.

Against the Orange at Dorrance Field, the Tar Heels used a dominant first quarter to quickly distance themselves from the visitors. After Syracuse scored to cut an early UNC lead to 3-2, the Tar Heels scored five unanswered goals to end the quarter and two more to begin the second, ballooning the advantage to 10-2 in just 10:30 of game time. Syracuse wouldn’t get any closer for the remainder of the afternoon.

Junior Kiley Mottice and freshman Eliza Osburn each recorded hat tricks for Carolina. Osburn had only scored once in UNC’s first three games of the season. Sisters Chloe and Ashley Humphrey added two goals apiece, with Chloe Humphrey accounting for 12 of UNC’s 51 total shots. Overall, the Tar Heels outshot the Orange 51-27 overall and 32-17 in shots on goal. Carolina goalie Betty Nelson tied her season high with eight saves to keep the Orange at arm’s length.

The win improves UNC to 4-0 overall and 1-0 in ACC play on the season and is Carolina’s third ranked win already. The Tar Heels will be back in action when they visit Louisville on Friday at noon.

In Baltimore, the men’s team also got out to a quick start against the Blue Jays. Owen Duffy, Dominic Pietramala and Leif Hagerup each scored inside the game’s first minute, giving the Tar Heels a lightning-quick 3-0 lead. Duffy and Pietramala would each register hat tricks before the first half was over, but Johns Hopkins closed strong to cut UNC’s lead to 8-7 at halftime and tied the game at 10-10 entering the fourth quarter.

The Blue Jays took their first lead early in the final period, but UNC responded with three unanswered scores, including Pietramala’s sixth of the game which gave the Tar Heels the lead back at 12-11. Caden Harshbarger added critical insurance less than a minute later. Johns Hopkins cut the lead to 13-12 with 2:08 to go but could not find the equalizer. UNC goalie Michael Gianforcaro made a critical save with 1:15 to go to preserve the slim lead.

Pietramala and Duffy combined for 10 of UNC’s 13 goals, with Pietramala finding the back of the net a career-high six times. He now has 15 goals in three games.

The win improves Carolina to 3-0 on the young season and is the Tar Heels’ second already against a ranked opponent. UNC will host No. 17 Penn at Dorrance Field on Friday night at 5 p.m.

 

Featured image via UNC Women’s Lacrosse on Twitter

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