UNC held off a furious rally from No. 10 Syracuse at the JMA Wireless Dome Saturday afternoon and beat the Orange 14-12 in the regular-season finale. Carolina’s win clinches a share of the ACC regular-season title, which is the program’s first since 2021 and 14th overall.
Dominic Pietramala paced the Tar Heels on offense, tying his career high with six goals on the day. Pietramala secured a hat trick in a span of less than five minutes in the second quarter, scoring three goals in rapid succession to help UNC push through an early Syracuse surge which saw the Orange lead 4-2. Pietramala’s third goal gave UNC a 6-4 advantage which would carry into halftime.
Pietramala was back to his old tricks again in the third quarter, scoring two more goals to help UNC extend its lead to 9-5. His sixth and final score, which came at the 4:57 mark of the fourth, made the score 13-8. Brevin Wilson scored less than two minutes later to give the Tar Heels a 14-8 lead with 3:01 to go, seemingly icing the game.
But Carolina had to hold off one final push from the Orange, who scored four goals in less than two minutes to cut the deficit to 14-12 with 37 seconds remaining. Syracuse would win the ensuing face-off, but would not send another shot toward the UNC net before time ran out.
Pietramala finished with six goals, one assist and a whopping 20 total shots, more than a third of his team’s final tally. Owen Duffy was held scoreless, but did lead the Tar Heels with four assists. Goalie Michael Gianforcaro made 10 saves.
With the win, UNC finishes the regular season 10-3 overall and 3-1 in ACC play. The Tar Heels will be the No. 2 seed in the four-team ACC Tournament, which will begin Friday, May 2 in Charlotte. UNC will face No. 3 seed Duke in its first game, which is scheduled for 8 p.m. The Tar Heels defeated the Blue Devils 8-7 in the two teams’ regular-season meeting in Durham on April 12.
Featured image via Syracuse Athletic Communications
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