The No. 12 UNC men’s lacrosse team avoided its second consecutive loss Wednesday afternoon at Dorrance Field, but it wasn’t always a sure thing. The Tar Heels and Brown went at it for a full 60 minutes, and only a career performance from sophomore midfielder Cole Herbert allowed Carolina to escape with a 14-11 win.

Herbert netted a career-high four goals Wednesday, the last two of which came in a critical 3-0 run in the fourth quarter to give the Tar Heels the lead for good.

Herbert’s first goal of the game opened the scoring, and was part of a trio of unanswered goals from Carolina in the first quarter. But the UNC lead wouldn’t survive the period, as the Bears scored four of the next five goals, and the teams entered the second quarter deadlocked at 4-4. Senior attackmen Chris Gray and Jacob Kelly would each find the back of the net on go-ahead goals in the quarter, but once again Brown had an answer for each one, sending the game to halftime tied at 7-7.

Herbert’s second goal of the day tied the game at 9-9 in the third, and Gray’s second followed less than two minutes later to give Carolina the lead again. Kelly scored once more to open the fourth quarter, and Carolina had its first multi-goal lead since the first quarter. But Brown struck twice in the span of 21 seconds to tie it at 11-11, setting up a nervy final 10 minutes in Chapel Hill.

More than six minutes would pass before Herbert’s third and fourth goals, each on man-advantage plays for the Tar Heels, restored the two-goal lead. Kelly would ice the game with 52 seconds left, completing a hat trick and putting the finishing touches on an outstanding performance. Herbert led the team in goals, but Kelly doubled him up in points with three goals and a career-high five assists. Gray had five points with his two goals and three assists while taking a team-high 10 shots. Goalie Collin Krieg made a season-high 17 saves on the defensive end.

Wednesday’s game was the fourth in a seven-game homestand to open the season for Carolina. It will conclude with three straight visits from ranked opponents. No. 13 Johns Hopkins will face off with the Tar Heels Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. Eight goals from Gray helped UNC earn a win in its last meeting with the Blue Jays in 2020.

 

Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Anthony Sorbellini

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