CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Sophomore attack Billy Bitter tallied eight scores and North Carolina scored nine of the game's final 12 goals to down UMBC 15-13 in the first round of the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship Saturday afternoon at Fetzer Field.
The Retrievers, who were making their fourth straight NCAA appearance, wrap up their season 12-4 while the Tar Heels improved to 12-5 and advance to take on the winner of Duke and Navy in the quarterfinal round May 16 in Annapolis, Md.
UMBC led 3-2 in the first quarter on a pair of goals by junior Matt Latham and one by junior Kyle Wimer. UNC bounced back with the next four scores, including three by Bitter, who also had an assist and six ground balls on the day. But UMBC rallied with a run of its own, tallying six straight scores. Senior Alex Hopmann had two of his three in the spurt, including a blast with 3:10 remaining in the half that gave his squad an 8-6 lead at the intermisson.
After a Chris Jones score made it 9-6, the game of runs continued as North Carolina exploded with four straight goals to take 10-9 advantage with 9:36 left in the third period. Jones evened the game 45 seconds later and Wimer gave UMBC an 11-10 lead with 3:35 left in the frame.
But the Tar heels, who won 23-of-32 faceoffs in the game, tallied next five of the next six goals to take a 15-12 lead with 5:48 to play. Gavin Petracca made two of his eight saves down the stretch to seal the outcome for the Tar Heels.