Lacrosse pummels in victory

It was only a matter of time before the No. 4 North Carolina men’s lacrosse team made its move on Lehigh.

A minute and six seconds, to be exact.

UNC junior midfielder Chris Hunt capitalized on a Lehigh turnover to fire a shot past Lehigh’s defenders, placing UNC on the scoreboard and sending both teams back to the X for another faceoff.

And 10 seconds later, it happened again.

Fellow midfielder Tyler Morton scored an almost immediate second goal with the help of face-off participant Michael Burns and set an early offensive pace for the Tar Heels. North Carolina went on to win 17-5.

Fresh off an injury and two weeks away from practice, Burns made a last-second decision to play in Saturday’s game and led the Tar Heels in face-offs, winning 9 of 16.

Lehigh tried to fight off North Carolina’s early lead and managed to tie the score at 2-2 at the end of the first quarter, but it just wasn’t enough to settle the Tar Heels’ offense.

UNC was quick to answer, firing off seven goals in the second quarter alone, with another five goals following in the third period.

“We did have a slow start the first two games,” All-American attackman Billy Bitter said. “We weren’t really producing offensively, but it was only a matter of time, and then we started feeling that confidence level.”

Twenty-four of North Carolina’s 45 shots were on target, with Lehigh’s goalie only managing to stop seven of those attempts.

Bitter led the Tar Heels with six points from two goals and four assists, with sophomore Thomas Wood not far behind at five points from two goals and three assists of his own.

“The other two games I felt like we didn’t get off to the quickest start,” Wood said.

“We got shots off against Bryant and Jacksonville, but some of them didn’t fall, so I think it’s huge, especially with a transition, up-and-down team like us, to get those first two goals and just get rolling.”

Transition play was key for UNC’s defense, which focused on speed and continual movement to keep the ball in the offense’s territory.

“I’d rather have to rein them in than try to speed them up,” UNC coach Joe Breschi said of his team’s pace. “We’ve been pushing them to really be aggressive in transition.”

Despite a lack of action, goalie Chris Madalon recorded three saves. His late-game substitute, freshman Steven Rastivo, made two saves for North Carolina as well.

“From the goalie play all the way through to the attack, I thought we did a great job of dominating across the board, and the statistics showed it,” Breschi said.

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.