UNC men's lacrosse can't convert on late-game opportunities in loss to Johns Hopkins

As seconds ticked off the penalty clock, Johns Hopkins’ sideline exploded in excitement, knowing a win was within reach.  

After suffering four penalties in the last seven minutes of the game, the Blue Jays successfully pushed through, dousing any hopes of a late-game comeback for a North Carolina men's lacrosse team trailing by four points.

“We had a lot of young guys on the field maybe gripping their stick a little tight, instead of just letting it loose,” UNC head coach Joe Breschi said. 

During its first ranked matchup of the season, an inexperienced No. 15 UNC fell, 13-9, to a veteran-clad No. 9 Johns Hopkins on Saturday afternoon for the first time since 2019. After a closely contested first half where the Tar Heels only found themselves down by one point, they failed to maintain control in the second half. Even with plenty of opportunities to jumpstart an offensive turnaround, UNC lacked the discipline to take advantage, leading to their largest loss to Johns Hopkins since 2017. 

With a little under seven minutes remaining in the game, the Tar Heels saw an opportunity to rally as six Carolina Blue-clad players sat ready to attack with only four defenders in their way. 

Working to get inside against a Johns Hopkins team defending close to the net, UNC redshirt first-year attacker Dominic Pietramala passed to graduate attacker Logan McGovern positioned on the right side of the goal. Instead of finding a quick score, the ball hit off of McGovern’s stick. 

In the fight for the ground ball, the Blue Jays suffered another penalty. One less Johns Hopkins defender. For 15 seconds, the Tar Heels had three more players.

Again, North Carolina worked to get inside. Junior attacker Ryan Levy found sophomore attacker James Matan inside close to the net. Catching the pass, Matan turned and fired, but the shot was too wide.

Two Blue Jay players rejoined the field after serving their penalty time. Six players on five in UNC's favor. Pietramala took a stab. Too high. 

After the Blue Jays committed another penalty, the Tar Heels found one more glimmer of hope. Graduate attacker Lance Tillman took a low shot on the left side of the goal. Too wide. Matan tried again closer to the goal six seconds later. Again, too wide.

“I mean, obviously it’s stressful when the ball’s not going into the back of the net, and you're stepping down into a goalie that has probably 15 [or] 20 saves," Pietramala said.

With 27 seconds remaining on the man-up opportunity, Pietramala took matters into his own hands. After the Tar Heels regained possession following a high shot attempt, Pietramala tried again. During the final penalty-stricken moments of the game, this shot signaled redemption for UNC.

Instead, the shot was Johns Hopkins’ goalkeeper Chayse Ierlan’s 13th save. As Ierlan held the ball captive on the ground, the Tar Heels ran to the other side of the field with a home-opener victory out of their reach. 

“He’s a hell of a goalie," Pietramala said. "He was making great saves and made us look really bad."

During the last 10 minutes of the game, UNC had plenty of opportunities to open the offensive floodgates. But in five different shot attempts against fewer defenders, the team could not make a single one. 

To Breschi, this is just a part of the process — something his young players will eventually learn to handle as they traverse the peaks and valleys of the game and the season. 

“[When] you play against a goalie like that, sometimes it’s tough to break the seal and just shoot and play more relaxed as opposed to overthinking your shot," Breschi said.

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