UNC men's lacrosse wins in overtime over Johns Hopkins

It took 60 minutes of tough back-and-forth battling for the No. 7 North Carolina men’s lacrosse team and rival No. 10 Johns Hopkins to score 10 goals apiece.

But it only took six seconds for junior midfielder R.G. Keenan to end the game in overtime with a game-winning goal directly off the face-off. His strike gave UNC (7-3) an 11-10 win in UNC’s first game in Kenan Stadium since 2009.

“I just wanted the possession,” Keenan said. “It just happened that I got a jump on the whistle.”

While the Tar Heels led most of the game, a couple of late goals by the Blue Jays (6-3) put UNC in a tough spot with two minutes left.

Down by one, the Tar Heels needed a goal to tie the game and force overtime, and they needed it quickly.

On the game-tying possession, sophomore Chad Tutton drew a favorable matchup, and coach Joe Breschi immediately called the play.

Tutton drew the defensive rotation, preventing him from shooting but leaving senior Davey Emala open around the crease.

Emala took it from there, scoring a team-high third goal and forcing overtime.

“Luckily the slide came, and I dumped it right into him for the goal,” Tutton said about his late-game assist. “Davey is great on the inside, as we all know, and he finished.”

And after a minute-long defensive stand came overtime — Keenan’s time.

In regulation, Keenan had a subpar 10-for-23 day by his All-American standards. But he came into the game’s final and most critical face-off poised and ready to win.

After winning the face-off forward to himself, Keenan had a choice — pass it to fellow All-American Marcus Holman or keep it and shoot for the win himself.

“It’s a read by him,” Breschi said. “He’s reading to see if their point guy leaves Marcus, and he’d left him earlier in the game so he didn’t want to leave him.”

Keenan knew that with all the firepower UNC has in its attack, he wasn’t going to draw the defense’s attention.

“If they slid to me, and I threw it to Marcus, that’s an automatic goal,” Keenan said. “It’s better to let me shoot and probably miss it, to be honest.”

But in front of nearly six thousand fans, Keenan wasn’t missing.

“We continue to preach to R.G., ‘Don’t settle for the 12-yarder,’” Breschi said. “Get up to the door step and jam it home.”

Keenan got as close as he could to the cage and fired.

As the ball traveled from Keenan’s stick, it rocketed through the legs of the Blue Jays’ keeper and found itself securely in the back of the net.

The UNC sideline erupted, and pandemonium ensued.

“I couldn’t even contain myself. I think I was like screaming. I don’t even know what I was doing,” Tutton said. “I lost control and ran after R.G. and got a little dog pile going.

“(There) might have been a few injuries at the bottom, but it was definitely worth it.”

Contact the desk editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.