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Men's lacrosse notebook: UNC smells blood in the water, beats Duke

The No. 3 North Carolina men’s lacrosse team beat No. 6 Duke Friday night under the lights in a 18-17 thriller.

Though the Tar Heels held a nine point lead in the fourth quarter, a second half rally by the Blue Devils put them up by one with the game winding down.

After an equalizer by sophomore Jimmy Bitter, a goal by senior captain Marcus Holman with under two minutes left gave UNC a lead it would never relinquish.

Here are some notes from the game:

Kemp passes for a goal

Up by six with less than 10 seconds left in the first half, UNC had possession and was looking to get one more goal before the end of the period.

As the clock moved closer to zero, midfielder T.J. Kemp had the ball in his stick and knew he couldn’t get off a shot.

In an attempt to get a last second goal, Kemp passed the ball down to Holman on the crease.

“TJ Made a heads up play,” Holman said. “I think he was trying to throw it to me, and I probably should have caught it.”

Holman wasn’t ready for the pass.

But neither was Duke’s goalkeeper.

The pass from well outside the restraint line whizzed past Holman and found a home in the corner of the net with about a second left in the half.

“I guess I set a nice little screen for the goalie,” Holman said trying to explain the fluky goal. “Heady play by TJ.”

Clock malfunction

With 1:05 left on the clock in a one point game, both teams came out of a timeout ready for the last-minute theatrics of a close game.

But the clock wasn’t.

As referees signaled the beginning of play, the time on the clock was stationary for about 13 seconds confusing and frustrating all the parties involved.

“The clock didn’t start, and that was disappointing,” coach Joe Breschi said. “Luckily they took 13 seconds off the clock.”

Calling those 13 seconds important could very well be an understatement too, considering the Blue Devils earned a man-up opportunity in the middle of the clock malfunction madness.

“Blood in the water”

Sophomore midfielder Chad Tutton and his fellow offensive midfielders are frequently overlooked due to the fact that they play with some of the best attackmen in the nation.

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Friday night under the lights in Kenan Stadium, Tutton was determined to not let that happen though.

With four goals Tutton, was at the forefront of UNC’s scoring effort and set a career-high in goals.

“I don’t really know how to explain it,” Tutton said. “Everything is flowing.”

Sticking to the fundamentals, the Canadian played a simple but well executed game filled with bounce shots and strong dodges.

“I think all my goals were on bounce shots,” Tutton said. “(Breschi) is really stressing to me, ‘Keep taking those bounce shots.’”

Tutton said he doesn’t know how frequently goalies save his bounce shots, but he knows Breschi likes to see his bouncer.

To free up his hands for shots, Tutton used aggressive drives past poorly positioned defenders.

“Whenever a defenseman, a long pole or a short stick, is flying out at you, I always just smell blood in the water,” Tutton said. “I’m like, ‘You’re getting face dodged,’ and more often than not it works out for the better.”

Holman’s legacy update

If senior Marcus Holman hadn’t proven his all-time UNC greatness before, Friday night’s game definitely solidified the legacy of the recently named All-ACC attackman.

Leading his team with six points, Holman helped carry the team and scored the game-winning goal.

But Holman wont admit that he’s any more important than anyone else.

“Our offense is predicated on having six threats out on the field at all times,” Holman said. “We don’t have any one-guy heroes on out teams. We all work as a unit.”

UNC may have played like a unit, but Holman wasn’t named a Tewaaraton Trophy finalist before Friday’s game without reason.

With 69 points this season, Holman leads the ACC and has moved within striking distance of UNC’s record holder, Bruce Lefwith, who tallied 81 points 40 years ago.

Burke goes for quality over quantity

Freshman goalkeeper Kieran Burke didn’t make many saves against the Blue Devils.

But when he did, he stopped the show.

With only nine saves, Burke failed to reach double digits for only the fourth time this season.

Considering the shots that UNC was giving up, Breschi thinks Burke played well.

“They were getting a lot of opportunities inside,” Breschi said. “If (Burke) made a save. It was on the doorstep.”

With goals going in left and right in the second half, Burke was under constant pressure but said he didn’t feel the anxiety.

“I try not to think like that,” Burke said. “Coach Holman always talks about the next save.”

Burke said that by following his coaches advice he was able to come up big when it counted.