Offensive explosion leads No. 1 UNC men's lacrosse to 27-12 rout over No. 15 High Point

Eleven days after beating High Point by two goals, the No. 1 North Carolina men’s lacrosse team left no doubt when it faced No. 15 High Point again.

The Tar Heels were led by the attack trio of senior Chris Gray and juniors Brian Cameron and Nicky Solomon — all of whom tallied four goals — along with Gray and Solomon both having three assists in UNC’s 27-12 win at Kenan Memorial Stadium on Saturday.

High Point started the game off quickly with two goals in the first two minutes, but two follow-up goals by senior midfielder William Perry and Gray put UNC back even. After that it turned into High Point vs. Cameron, as with each goal High Point scored, Cameron answered with a goal of his own, ending up with a hat-trick when the first quarter ended tied at five.

“It’s all about being in the right spots and having your teammates get you the ball,” Cameron said.

The second quarter was highlighted by Solomon amassing four goals. UNC and High Point started out the second quarter with a goal apiece in the first two minutes, with Solomon scoring his first goal in that span. 

After that, UNC proceeded to score three goals in 38 seconds, two of which came directly off the face-off. A goal from senior midfielder Tanner Cook put UNC up four, and then Solomon started to take over, adding three goals in four minutes to his earlier one in the second quarter. 

“I was there at the right time, at the right moment, and I credit my teammates for getting me open and getting me the ball,” Solomon said.

After the eight-goal run for UNC, High Point added three before the half, including a full-field pass to Brayden Mayea who scored on the crease with less than a second on the clock to make the score 14-9.

The Tar Heels didn’t skip a beat when coming out for the third quarter as they continued their dominance, outscoring High Point 8-1. Gray added  two assists and a goal to make it a hat-trick of assists and goals for him, while Cameron scored his fourth goal for the day.

The fourth quarter was much of the same, as the High Point defense started playing more aggressively at the beginning of the quarter. Solomon was able to notch two assists in one minute, including one to an open Gray who had a one-on-one with the goalkeeper, resulting in Gray’s fourth goal for the day. 

UNC would add three more goals before the end of the game, and when the clock hit triple zeros, the Tar Heels would end up with the most goals they had scored in a game since a 27-goal explosion against Pfeiffer in 2001.

“We had a lot of great preparation going into the game thanks to the coaches, and we really just had to go out and execute,” Gray said. “Offensively we definitely did that.”

With this win, UNC has shown that, whether it's High Point, No. 12 Denver or No. 18 Richmond, the top-tier teams in the country only exist to be beaten at their own game.

After Saturday's game, head coach Joe Breschi summed up his thoughts on the game in one short sentence: 

“It was fun to watch." 

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