Luke Goldstock emerges as North Carolina men's lacrosse giant

When opponents prepare for the North Carolina men’s lacrosse team, their chief concern is UNC’s relentless offense attack.

Defenders and goalkeepers alike worry about names like Bitter, Sankey and Tutton.

But after the No. 2 Tar Heels’ three wins in one week to improve their season record to 8-0, there’s a new name to fear: Goldstock.

While students were sitting in the sand and enjoying cold drinks, sophomore attackman Luke Goldstock was making UNC men’s lacrosse history.

Goldstock tallied a UNC lacrosse record of 17 goals in the teams’ three game stretch over spring break.

He started with a career game against Manhattan. Goldstock netted five goals and added four assists to lead the Tar Heels to a dominant 26-6 win over the Jaspers.

The nine points were the most by a UNC player since Marcus Holman’s 10-point performance in 2012, and the 26 goals by the Tar Heels were the most against a Division I opponent since UNC beat Virginia Military Institute 26-8 in 1995.

“When they play zone defense it just happens — you get a lot of shots,” Goldstock said. “A lot of guys were drawing doubles, so I got a lot of open shots, and I’m just glad they went in.”

The blowout win gave the Tar Heels a chance to put a lot of players on the field. Fifteen different Tar Heels scored, including Brian Cannon, Luke Walsh, Chris Cloutier, Timmy Gehlbach and Brett Bedard, who each notched their first career goals.

Goldstock was back at it three days later when the Tar Heels took on a talented Bryant squad at home.

UNC led 2-1 before the Bulldogs scored five unanswered goals to take a 6-2 lead into halftime. Goldstock scored three of his six goals in the first four minutes of the third quarter, bringing the Tar Heels within one before taking an 8-7 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Bulldogs fought back to take a 9-8 lead with 9:26 to play, but Goldstock refused to be stopped. Seniors Joey Sankey and Jimmy Bitter fed Goldstock on separate plays to tie the game and eventually win 10-9 to keep the Tar Heels unbeaten.

Goldstock capped off his record-setting week with another six goals and an assist against the Richmond Spiders in UNC’s first road test of the year. Again, the Tar Heels used the third quarter as their spark plug.

UNC led 8-7 at halftime before outscoring Richmond 6-1 in the third quarter to build a comfortable lead. To go with Goldstock’s half dozen goals, Sankey had a six-point day with three goals and three assists.

Bitter failed to score for the first time in 22 games but added a career-high five assists to push his consecutive points streak to 49, just one away from tying the UNC school record.

But over the break, that record didn’t matter — few things did besides Goldstock’s emergence.

sports@dailytarheel.com