No. 15 DU men’s lacrosse team fell Saturday to the No. 8 University of North Carolina Tar Heels 20-7 at Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Senior James Murray led the Pioneers with three goals and one assist, and freshman Mark Matthews contributed with two goals and one assist in his first spring collegiate game.
Also adding to the box score for the Pioneers were Charley Dickenson and Andrew Lay, who both sniped one goal apiece.
The Pioneers got off to a slow start in their first game of the season, yielding six goals in the first 11 minutes of play, including a one-man advantage Tar Heel goal with just over eight minutes remaining in the first period.
The Pioneers finally put a tally on the scoreboard when Murray lit up the Tar Heels’ goalie for an unassisted goal with 3:37 remaining.
At the close of the first period the Pioneers faced a deficit of 6-1.
“I think that we underestimated the Tar Heels’ transition game and face-off ability,” said senior midfielder Joey Murray of the tempo of the game. “We did not get back in the hole, and they put the game away with their transition. We knew that their face-off guy, Walterhoffen, was good but we thought that we could handle him. It was difficult to attain possession when he won most of the face-offs.”
At the start the second, period the Pioneers fed off of Murray’s lone goal as Matthews scored his first goal of the season during a Denver man-up advantage.
The first half comeback didn’t stop there either. The Pioneers cut the Tar Heels’ lead to one at 6-5 with goals from Matthews, Lay and Murray once again.
But, UNC battled right back, scoring two goals in just 16 seconds to take an 8-5 lead.
The Pioneers ended the first half down 8-6 after Murray added his third goal of the game with just over five minutes remaining.
After hearing what must have been the best halftime speech of the decade in the home locker room, the Tar Heels dominated the Pioneers in the second half, scoring 12 goals while holding the Pioneers to only one.
The props for this sole second half goal go to Denver junior Charley Dickenson.
“I think that the slow start did attribute to our loss even though we came?back to within 2 goals by halftime (8-6),” Murray said of the Pioneer’s slow start in both the first and third periods. “We were down by 6 and chipped away at their lead until half. I think our slow start in the second half was what killed us.”
While the season opener for the Pioneer men team most likely did not play out the way the team expected, this game marks only the start of a rigorous schedule in which they will have many shots at redemption.
The Pioneers continue on the road next weekend as they travel to Albany, N.Y. to take on Albany Saturday.
