Coming off an upset of then No. 1 Denver in Colorado last weekend, the fourth-ranked UNC men’s lacrosse entered its home game against unranked Hofstra riding a bit of a high, so to speak.
Whatever it was came to a screetching halt on Saturday, however, as Hofstra came up big in the second half on the way to an 11-9 upset over the Tar Heels at Fetzer Field.
Trailing 8-7, the Pride reeled off four consecutive goals during a six-minute stretch spanning the end of the third quarter and early minutes of the fourth.
Midfielder Alex Moeser scored twice during the rally, with Hofstra’s leading scorer Josh Byrne capping things off for the visitors with his third goal of the day.
The Tar Heels (4-2) put themselves in position to win by tallying more shots on goal and dominating in the faceoff circle throughout the game, but they weren’t able to find the back of the net when it mattered most.
Chris Cloutier, Luke Goldstock and Andy Matthews each scored twice for UNC, but each player was shut out in the fourth quarter–with the Tar Heels getting just a single goal in the period from Michael Tagliaferri.
Although Hofstra entered the game as the first team on the outside looking into the rankings, the undefeated Pride (5-0) certainly showed enough ability on Saturday to change that fact next week.
UNC, meanwhile, still has time–three games to be exact–on its current five-game homestand to correct its wrongs before ACC play gets underway in April.
Up Next:
The Tar Heels will return to action on Monday with a visit from the Richmond Spiders, who–like Hofstra–were among the unranked teams receiving votes in this past week’s top 20.
Game Notes:
- UNC had 17 turnovers in the game, compared to Hofstra’s nine. This helped offset the Tar Heels’ 15-8 advantage in faceoffs.
- The Pride also converted on each of their two extra-man opportunities, while UNC failed on all four of its chances.
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