Tar Heels claim share of men’s lacrosse ACC crown
The Tar Heels last won an ACC title in 2017 when then claimed the tournament championship. They last shared a regular-season title in 2016.
How’s this sound for a good afternoon?
Upset your biggest rival and avenge an overtime loss to claim a share of the conference championship and close out the regular season in front of thousands of fans cheering from the Carolina blue seats.
That was Sunday for the Carolina men’s lacrosse team, as the third-ranked Tar Heels beat No. 2 Duke 15-12 before a crowd of 4,050 at Kenan Stadium. With the win, Carolina improved to 11-2 overall and 4-2 in Atlantic Coast Conference play. Duke fell to 12-2 and 4-2 in the ACC, so the rivals share this year’s conference title.
There is no ACC Tournament for men’s lacrosse this year, so the Tar Heels now look ahead to the announcement of the 2021 NCAA Tournament field on May 9.
Senior attackman Chris Gray scored three goals and added three assists to lead the Tar Heels. Senior midfielder Justin Anderson also registered a hat trick and the Tar Heels got two each from junior Henry Schertzinger and sophomore Lance Tillman.
Freshman goalkeeper Collin Krieg finished with 11 saves.
Junior Zac Tucci and sophomore Andrew Tyeryar combined to win 16 of 31 faceoffs, including seven of eight in a second quarter that saw Carolina outscore Duke 7-0. The Tar Heels outshot the Blue Devils 22-4 in that period and led 13-1 in ground balls.
The teams met April 1 in Durham, with both undefeated. Duke won that game 12-11 in overtime.
The Tar Heels last won an ACC title in 2017 when then claimed the tournament championship. They last shared a regular-season title in 2016.
