University of North Carolina Athletics
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Virginia
UVa Men's Lacrosse Pulls Away From UNC
April 8, 2000 | Men's Lacrosse
April 8, 2000
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Virginia broke open a close game with a 5-0 scoring run in a span of 5:26 late in the third and early in the fourth quarter as the second-ranked Cavaliers defeated 10th-ranked North Carolina 13-7 in men's lacrosse Saturday afternoon before 1,353 fans at Fetzer Field.
The defending NCAA champion Cavaliers won their seventh successive game and improved to 7-1 overall and 2-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Tar Heels lost their fourth game in a row and fell to 6-4 overall and 0-3 in the ACC.
Senior attackman Drew McKnight led the Wahoos offensively as he fell just one point shy of career high for points in a game, totaling four goals and two assists. Midfielders Jason Hard and A.J. Shannon each scored twice for Virginia and senior midfielder Jay Jalbert added his 100th career goal for the Wahoos. Senior attackman Matt Crofton scored two goals and added one assist for the Tar Heels. Freshman midfielder Austin Garrison added one goal and one assist.
The Tar Heels made a game of it for most of the first three quarters. Sophomore goalkeeper Kris Blindenbacher's 13 first-half saves kept the Tar Heels close as Virginia led only 4-3 at the half. Hard's second goal of the game, with 28 seconds left in the first half ended up giving Virginia the lead for good in the game. McKnight scored his third goal of the hame with 10:42 left in the third quarter but that goal was answered by Garrison 2:08 later.
The score remained Virginia 5-4 for over five minutes before the Wahoos exploded for a five-goal run and for eight of the game's next nine goals. Sophomore attackman Conor Gill's goal with 3:33 left in the third quarter started the scoring skein and was followed by goals by McKnight, Jalbert and David Bruce before the end of the third quarter. Shannon's first goal of the game, with 13:17 to play in the fourth quarter ended the run and put Virginia up 10-4. After freshman midfielder Steven Will scored for UNC, the Wahoos ran off three more goals as Ian Shure, Shannon and Rotelli tallied goals.
UNC sophomores Joel Miller and Andy Jonas finished off the scoring for UNC in the final minute and a half. Blindenbacher faced 39 Wahoo shots and finished with 16 saves and 13 goals allowed. Virginia's Derek Kenney faced 32 UNC shots, making eight saves and allowing five goals.
Virginia dominated both the faceoffs, 16-8, and the ground balls, 61-40. Both factors were key in the decision. UNC also did not take full advantage of its extra-man opportunities, scoring only one time in seven chances.
Carolina will return to action next Saturday when the Tar Heels host UMBC at 3 p.m. at Fetzer Field. Virginia will play Duke next Saturday at Klockner Stadium in Charlottesville at 7 p.m.
