The 8th-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels overcame early offensive woes, and the Pioneers could not withstand a late charge, as UNC left Denver on Saturday with a 6-5 comeback victory in front of 1,800 fans at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium.
Defense dominated much of the game, with North Carolina ultimately having the narrow but decisive edge.
“I think we played really hard, played really good defense, and I have to give credit to North Carolina,” said Head Coach Jamie Munro. “They played great defense and held down our best players.”
What looked in the first half to be a second straight home upset by the Pioneers quickly turned after halftime.
Despite the Tar Heels winning the opening face-off, DU powered down the field a couple minutes later and Kyle Widerstedt dished a pass to Emerson Eichler, who drilled a shot into the back of the net for a 1-0 Denver lead. Jamie Lincoln added a man-up goal later in the quarter to give the Pioneers a two-goal lead.
The Tar Heels appeared more comfortable and accustomed to the altitude in the second quarter, especially when Gavin Petracca scored the first of two goals on the afternoon, off an assist from Bart Wagner from right outside of the crease.
The Pioneers committed two quick penalties and looked to be the ones out of breath as they were two-men down, but Brett Koll drove into the circle and scored shorthanded and top shelf on UNC goalie Grant Zimmerman.
Denver held a 3-2 halftime advantage, but it didn’t last for long, as Petracca found the net again to tie the game early in the third quarter. The momentum continued for North Carolina as Mathias McCall and Rob Driscoll netted goals to gain a 5-3 lead.
Denver cut the Tar Heels’ advantage to 6-5 with 30 seconds remaining, but failed to win the ensuing faceoff, as UNC held on for the triumph.
“I thought that they were pretty explosive at the offensive end, and our defense held them in check,” said Tar Heels Head Coach John Haus. “Our goalkeeper played well. We struggled a little bit at the offensive end, but our defense stepped up.”
Zimmerman stopped 10 of 15 shots for UNC, while Austin Konkel put aside 16 of 22 for the Pioneers.
“He is a great athlete and a great leader and came up with big time saves for us,” Munro said of Konkel. “You have to have that support to be a great team.”
The Pioneers will hit the road for the first time this season, battling No. 19 UMBC on Saturday and No. 14 Towson on Sunday, in what continues to be a challenging schedule.
Munro took the disappointing loss philosophically.
“I want to keep getting better. We have so many games, I am not going to lose sleep over this,” he said. “I am disappointed that the result didn’t favor us, but we have a great group of guys.”
The Pioneers finished a disappointing 9-7 last season.
After a dominating 15-5 victory over then No. 16 Colgate last week, Denver looked primed for a second straight upset.
Although DU lost to the Tar Heels, the Pioneers lacrosse team has still shown to the country that DU is a force to be reckoned with this season in Division I play.
