Bulldogs drop heartbreaker to No. 2 North Carolina, 10-9, Tuesday in Chapel Hill

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Despite a 6-2 halftime lead, seven different scorers and a season-high 15 saves from junior goalie Gunnar Waldt (Freeland, Md.), the Bryant University men's lacrosse team couldn't hold on for the upset over No. 2 North Carolina, who escaped with a 10-9 victory Tuesday afternoon at Fetzer Field.

The Tar Heels (7-0) squeaked out the victory thanks to a 6-1 third quarter and behind a career-high six goals from sophomore Luke Goldstock, who led a quartet of scorers for the hosts. But the Bulldogs (1-5) entered the final 15 minutes trailing by just a single tally, 8-7.

"We've talked the last couple days that we had to keep it a single-digit game," said head coach Mike Pressler. "Our offense had to complement our defense, we had to win faceoffs, and we had to be stellar in the goal, and we executed that play until the last couple minutes of the game."

A Tucker James (Essex Fells, N.J.) miss wide proved fortuitous for the Bulldogs, as Tom Forsberg (Huntington, N.Y.) was waiting on the farside doorstep to pick up the ground ball and deposit it behind UNC's second-half goalie Kieran Burke, still distracted by the initial shot. The goal would tie the contest at 8-8.

Three minutes later, junior attack Shane Morrell (Glen Mills, Pa.) put the Bulldogs back on top, 9-8, with 9:26 left in regulation, taking a pass from rookie Tom Kennedy (Farmingdale, N.Y.) and jamming it high over Burke's shoulder.

But Goldstock wouldn't be denied with 6:26 left in the contest, getting his fifth of the day from the doorstep and drawing a slashing penalty not just to tie the game at 9-9, but to give the home side its first man-up opportunity of the day.

The second-ranked Tar Heels made good on that chance, getting the sixth and final Goldstock goal with just seconds remaining in the penalty, and despite late chances for the Black and Gold, they wouldn't find the tying goal in time in the 10-9 loss.

Kennedy paced the Bulldogs with three points off a goal and two assists, while both James and Morrell found the back of the net twice in the contest. Forsberg and longstick midfielder Cody O'Donnell (Smithfield, R.I.) each picked up their first goals of the season in the loss. Senior faceoff specialist Kevin Massa (Huntington, N.Y.) went 15-for-23 from the faceoff X with nine ground balls.

Waldt carried the Bulldogs through the opening half, and the Bulldogs controlled the tempo of the game through the first 30 minutes en route to a 6-2 halftime advantage.

Bryant did a good job possessing to start the contest, breaking the scoring open seven minutes into the game with a Cam Ziegler (Carlsbad, Calif.) goal off bang-bang passes from Kennedy and junior Collins Gantz (Denver, Colo.), who would get the assist on the play.

Waldt would come up with four acrobatic saves before the Tar Heels finally broke through with 2:22 to go in the frame, when a fake shot by Duncan Hutchins allowed for the pass to and quick score from Jimmy Bitter to tie the score at 1-1. Goldstock would get on the board 20 seconds later, creating his own opportunity to send the hosts into the second with a 2-1 edge.

But in the second, the Bulldogs took over the tempo of the game, outscoring the host Tar Heels, 5-0, to take a 6-2 lead into the halftime break. James deposited back-to-back goals to open the frame, taking a quick one-time pass from Morrell from behind the net to tie the score at 2-2 less than four minutes into the frame.

After another stellar stop from Waldt between the pipes, the junior goalie fed defenseman Chas South (Lincroft, N.J.) on the clear, and South would carry the ball into the offensive box for the Black and Gold in search of his first career point. He would find it, but not until dishing a pass to James, who would find net from the doorstep for a 3-2 advantage with 7:46 to go before intermission.

"That was the Gunnar Waldt we knew from the last two years," said Pressler. "He was outstanding in the first half. They got to him a little in that third-quarter run, but when we needed him the most, he was stellar once again. He was really seeing the ball today."

Morrell took a pass off the curl from Kennedy for a 4-2 lead 90 seconds later, and two more longpoles would connect as the clock ticked under five to go when sophomore defenseman Kyle Mummau (Carlsbad, Calif.) forced a turnover from Bitter and found LSM O'Donnell in the middle of the field. O'Donnell would put Bryant on top, 5-2, with his first score of the year, and starting midfielder Ryan Sharpe (Poway, Calif.) sent the Bulldogs into the break with a 6-2 advantage with his own unassisted tally 17 seconds later.

"We had that great second-quarter run, and we were certainly surprised to be up 6-2," said Pressler. "But when you are winning faceoffs and making saves, you can dictate the pace a little bit, and that's what we were able to do."

Early turnovers hurt the Bulldogs in the opening minutes of the third, though, as the Tar Heels scored four goals in the first five minutes – three of them from Goldstock – to wipe out the four-goal halftime advantage.

UNC made it five straight to take the 7-6 lead on a Bitter tally, and Peyton Klawinski gave the home team a two-goal cushion, 8-6, with seven minutes remaining in the third.

Kennedy would finally put an end to UNC's six-goal run, beating Burke nearside off a Massa faceoff win with 6:21 to go for an unassisted goal to close Bryant's deficit to one, 8-7.

"It was an incredible game of runs," said Pressler. "We had a 5-0 run, then they had a 6-0 run. We had a 3-0 run, and they had a 2-0 run. It was such a game of momentum."

On the day, North Carolina outshot the Bulldogs, 42-38, and won the ground ball battle, 41-33. Bryant turned the ball over 19 times to UNC's 10. The Bulldogs return to action Saturday, Feb. 21, when they kick off Northeast Conference action at Hobart (1 p.m.).