UNC men's lacrosse beats No. 3 Notre Dame in overtime

After giving up three goals in the final minute and a half to allow No. 3 Notre Dame to tie the game, the No. 12 North Carolina men’s lacrosse team once again found themselves in a compromising situation.

Just two weeks earlier, UNC (10-5) gave up a five-goal lead in the fourth quarter and lost to Maryland 7-6 in the ACC Tournament semifinals.

But the Tar Heels simply weren’t ready to suffer back-to-back last-minute heartbreakers. It was senior night at Fetzer Field, but the North Carolina coaches had faith that freshman attackman Pat Foster could be the answer to the Tar Heels’ prayers.

“I turned to Coach Meyers and I said ‘What do you think? Do you need a timeout to organize?’ and he said ‘No. He’s got it,’” Joe Breschi said. “Pat’s a 6-foot-3, solid dodger, (with) great hands and he scored a big goal earlier in the game. He’s tough to defend back there.”

With just more than a minute left in the first overtime period, Foster scored the game-winning goal to lift the Tar Heels to a 9-8 win against the Fighting Irish (10-2).

Foster said it was the biggest game of his life, but as he stood behind the cage as the seconds ticked off the clock, his nerves weren’t a factor.

“Our plan was just that I was going to go behind (the goal) with Billy (Bitter), and just kind of run a two-man game,” Foster said. “I just kind of took the eye to the goal and shot it and just let it fly.”

The Tar Heels dominated the Fighting Irish early, and freshman R.G. Keenan won 15 of 21 face-offs during the matchup – including the final victory at the X which gave UNC possession in overtime.
North Carolina led Notre Dame 8-4 heading into the fourth quarter, but during the last fifteen minutes of play, the Tar Heels’ momentum came to a screeching halt.

Prior to Friday’s matchup, North Carolina averaged a little more than 12 turnovers per game. But in the fourth quarter against the Fighting Irish, the Tar Heels coughed up the ball eight times. The slipups gave Notre Dame ball control during the final period, and the Fighting Irish outshot UNC 19-3 in the fourth quarter.

Notre Dame’s Colin Igoe earned the tying goal with 13 seconds left in regulation, sending UNC into overtime for the second time in five games.

Breschi said he was most proud of his team’s resiliency and perseverance. Though six of UNC’s nine goals were scored by freshmen, the coach credited the success of the underclassmen to their senior leaders.

“The seniors led, there’s no doubt,” Breschi said. “Those guys made plays across the board and the freshmen followed. We’re a senior-led team…for those guys to go out on top with a win here in dramatic fashion, it’s just terrific.”

Attackman Marcus Holman missed games against Presbyterian and Maryland due to a high ankle sprain but in his first game back against Notre Dame, the sophomore was determined to make up for lost time. Holman led the Tar Heels against the Fighting Irish with three goals.

Postseason matchups will be announced Sunday at 9 p.m., and Breschi said he hopes to curb the late-game errors in the future by continuing to stress the significance of playing complete games.

Even when UNC led the Fighting Irish 3-0 in the first quarter, the coach preached to his huddled players about the importance of a full-game effort.

Only this time, it took a little more than 60 minutes to get the job done.