UNC Keeps Record Perfect With 15-5 Win Over Air Force

Saturday, March 20

Chapel Hill

Noon

North Carolina

8-0

Air Force

1-5

Air Force

North Carolina

March 20, 2021 | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score Final Stats

By: UNC Athletic Communications

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – After trailing early, the top-ranked North Carolina men's lacrosse team stormed back to beat Air Force 15-5 on Saturday afternoon at Kenan Stadium. The Tar Heels improved to 8-0 on the season with their final non-conference game of the spring.

Senior William Perry led the Tar Heels with four goals, matching his career high. Classmate Chris Gray totaled six assists, his high at UNC, and scored two goals for a team-high eight points on the day. The Tar Heels also got two goals each from Justin Anderson, Tanner Cook and Nicky Solomon, and single scores from Jacob Kelly, Connor McCarthy and Alex Trippi.

Ethan Grandolfo led the Falcons with three goals.

Dominant performance from the boys today 💪 📽️ Highlights ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/gf0lMTizsu — UNC Men's Lacrosse (@UNCMensLacrosse) March 20, 2021

Air Force (1-5) scored first, with August Johnson getting his team on the board just over three minutes into the game on a man-up goal. The Tar Heels answered on an extra-man opportunity of their own, with Gray tying the game on a pass from Cook. Air Force pulled ahead again on Grandolfo's first of the day, then Perry tied the game again on a pass from Gray. Four seconds before the end of the first quarter, the Tar Heels finally got their first lead, with Anderson scoring on a pass from Gray.

After that, the Tar Heels were on a roll, outscoring the Falcons 7-0 in the second quarter to lead 10-2 at halftime.

"I thought we kind of settled in in the second quarter and played our kind of game with regards to the riding game, how well we did at the face-off x in the second quarter, really put pressure on them and then kind of cruised from there," UNC coach Joe Breschi said.

Anderson scored midway through the third quarter, assisted by Gray, to make it 10 unanswered UNC goals in a row before Air Force got another with just over six minutes to play in the period. The Tar Heels then reeled off three more before the teams exchanged goals to end the day.

The Tar Heels finished with 51 shots to 34 by Air Force.

The Tar Heels were three-for-three in capitalizing on extra man opportunities, while holding Air Force to just that first-quarter goal out of four chances.

Air Force won five of six face-offs in the first quarter but UNC came back to take seven of eight in the second and led 13-11 by the end of the day.

Carolina freshman Collin Krieg, the reigning ACC Defensive Player of the Week, played all 60 minutes in goal, making 10 saves.

"I thought we were prepared and ready to go," Breschi said. "They played zone 90 percent of the game, so that kind of slows the tempo and your opportunities. I thought we were sloppy with the ball in the first quarter, although their goalie made a bunch of saves in that first quarter and I think nine in the half. The combination of losing face-offs and their zone slowed the tempo and we weren't able to get up and out and move that transition. I thought overall it was kind of a workman-like slugfest but we made that run in the second quarter that separated us."

Next up for the Tar Heels is a No. 1-vs.-No. 2 battle as the Tar Heels make the short trip to Durham to face Duke on April 1 at 7 p.m.