With OT Win Over Rutgers, UNC Is Final Four Bound

Saturday, May 22

Hempstead, N.Y.

2:30 PM

North Carolina

13-2

Rutgers (NCAA Quarterfinals)

9-4

Rutgers

North Carolina

Photo by Lee Weissman/Hofstra Athletics

May 22, 2021 | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score NCAA Bracket Final Stats

By: UNC Athletic Communications

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – Graduate student Connor McCarthy scored the gamewinner in overtime Saturday afternoon to earn top-seeded North Carolina a 12-11 win over Rutgers and a spot in the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament semifinals. The final four trip is UNC's first since winning its most recent title in 2016.

Playing at Hofstra's James M. Shuart Stadium, the Tar Heels improved to 13-2 on the season. Rutgers fell to 9-4.

"First and foremost, hats off to Rutgers," said UNC coach Joe Breschi, a Tar Heel alum who will lead his alma mater to the final four for the second time. "A great effort by both teams, great lacrosse game and we're fortunate to come away with the win and have another opportunity to be together for the week."

McCarthy, an MBA student who is playing his first season in Carolina blue after four years at Princeton, scored UNC's first and last goals in one of the lowest scoring games of the season for the Tar Heels, who lead the NCAA with 17 goals per game. Sophomore Lance Tillman had a career-high four goals and fifth-year senior Justin Anderson had three for his second hat trick in the past three outings.

Senior Chris Gray, UNC's leading scorer and the only player in the nation ranked in the top 10 in both goals and assists, came into the game with a 31-game scoring streak, including 21 in a Carolina uniform. He didn't have a goal Saturday but contributed throughout, handing out three assists and forcing a turnover that led to the game-winning goal, which came on a pass from senior William Perry. With under two minutes to play in the first OT period, McCarthy got the ball from Perry and found himself with more space to move that he was expecting. "I was kind of waiting for someone to come out to me and no one really did," he said. "I realized I had a couple extra seconds so I kept stepping in until someone came to me and then thankfully got it past (Rutgers goalkeeper Colin) Kirst, who played an incredible game. Really fortunate to get that past him."

The goal was McCarthy's 13th of the season and his first gamewinner as a Tar Heel.

UNC's first-ever meeting with Rutgers was close throughout, with the score tied after every quarter: 1-1 after the first, 3-3 at halftime, 7-7 after the third and 11-11 at the end of regulation. It marked just the second time this season that Carolina has not been up at halftime. The other time was also a 7-7 tie, in the Tar Heels' homefield loss to Virginia on April 10.

Throughout the game, the margin was never wider than two goals, and UNC trailed 10-8 with 8:52 remaining. Tillman scored twice, once assisted by Gray, to tie the game at 10 with 6:23 to play, but Rutgers again went up, with Adam Charalambides scoring his fourth of the day to give the Scarlet Knights what would prove to be their last lead, 11-10 with 3:59 to play.

Junior Zac Tucci tied it five second later, scoring off the face-off win, and the Tar Heels played staunch defense – highlighted by Anderson, who forced a Rutgers turnover with 38 seconds remaining in regulation – to roll into overtime and set up the thrilling ending. "Justin Anderson willed this team to victory with some of the plays that he made throughout," Breschi said. "Incredible effort.

"I love the way we won this game. Obviously we've had some games that haven't been that close but for us to grit it out in particular against a really tough, physical team the way we did in the second half, I couldn't be more proud of these guys and how they did it."

Next up for UNC is a rematch with the Cavaliers, with whom Carolina has split this season. In each case the visiting team has won: UNC 16-13 in Charlottesville, Va., on March 11 and Virginia 18-16 in Chapel Hill on April 10.

The two will meet next Saturday (May 29) in East Hartford, Conn., with the winner playing on Monday (May 31) for the NCAA Championship. The teams in the other semifinal game will be decided on Sunday (May 23).

UNC is making its 14th appearance in the NCAA semifinals. The Tar Heels' first trip under Breschi was in 2016, when Carolina claimed its fifth NCAA title. Prior to that appearance, UNC hadn't been part of Championship Weekend since 1993.

"This is why you come to UNC," Gray said. "You come to win a national championship – that's why I'm here, why Connor is here. To give ourselves that opportunity is something I've been looking forward to. It will be my first final four so I'm really excited for that.

"This was a great team effort all around, whether it was Justin diving in the corner to save a possession or Connor sticking the gamewinner. It was really just playing for another week with our team. That speaks to the love in the locker room and that's something we hope we can push all the way til next Monday."