Men's Lacrosse: Physical UNC edges Tigers in 9-8 battle

The Tigers’ offense hoped it could perform more aggressively against a tenacious UNC defense than it had in the two teams’ 2011 meeting, when Princeton generated only 26 shots and five goals. The Tigers’ maturing shooters proved they were prepared for the challenge on Saturday, blasting 43 shots en route to their eight scores. On the other side of the ball, the defense forced a remarkable 19 turnovers and held the Tar Heels to only 22 shots.

Princeton knew it would have to rely on its physicality if it hoped to compete with UNC, who entered the game ranked second nationally in face-off win percentage and third in ground-ball recoveries. The Tigers matched their opponent’s intensity, taking nine of 21 faceoffs while winning the ground-ball war 28-27.

While Princeton’s impressive statistics in all three areas of the game reflect the high level of play the Tigers have enjoyed all season, none of them was enough to produce a win over the resilient Tar Heels squad. In a game that was tied on four separate occasions and saw no lead greater than two goals, Princeton could never recover the lead it lost near the end of the first quarter, dropping its third straight meeting with North Carolina.

After freshman midfielder Kip Orban put the Tigers up 2-1 six minutes into the action, Princeton controlled the pace of the game for more than seven minutes and looked ready to escape the first quarter with a one-goal lead. With one minute, 44 seconds on the clock, however, the Tar Heels forced a turnover and capitalized 11 seconds later to tie the game. Princeton won the preceding faceoff but turned the ball over almost immediately, and UNC picked up the ground ball and found the back of the net just two seconds later. All in all, the Tar Heels snagged two Princeton turnovers and two goals in a 19-second window.

Two more turnovers in the ensuing minute left the Tigers trailing 3-2 after the first quarter, and they would never recover.

North Carolina started a high-scoring second period with a quick goal from former Tiger Jack McBride ’11, who enrolled as a UNC graduate student this year after missing last season with a groin injury and receiving a medical redshirt. The Tigers responded with a goal of their own, and the one-for-one goal trading continued until the score reached 6-5. No team had scored two consecutive goals since the first quarter when sophomore midfielder Jack Strabo broke the trend more than halfway through the third. Strabo’s goal came six and a half minutes after senior attackman Alex Capretta’s second score of the day and gave the Tigers their first tie in over 23 minutes.

The momentum swing was short-lived, however, as North Carolina regained the lead barely a minute later. It took the Tar Heels five seconds to find the net again after that, as the Tigers’ deficit quickly jumped back to two goals. Capretta’s third goal of the game brought the score to 8-7 just before the start of the fourth quarter, and his assist to junior midfielder Tucker Shanley left the teams tied with less than nine minutes remaining in the game.

Carolina goalie Steven Rastivo, who racked up an impressive 16 saves — including seven in the fourth quarter alone — denied the Tigers’ first attempt at a go-ahead goal. The Tar Heels scored on the ensuing possession, taking a 9-8 lead with 6:09 remaining. The Tigers fought desperately to dominate possession time the rest of the way; they earned five more shot attempts, but two misses, two saves and a block left the game out of reach for the Tigers.

While the day’s outcome was disappointing, Princeton’s never-ceasing effort on both ends of the field left its players with some impressive numbers. Capretta’s key goals and fourth-quarter assist left him with four points in the game, while Shanley chipped in three of his own with a goal and two assists. Orban reeled in the first two-goal game of his career, while sophomore midfielder Tom Schreiber continued his outstanding season with three assists.

The Tigers will look to rebound on Tuesday when they travel to Villanova for a 7 p.m. game.