UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. – On a cold, blustery evening under the setting sun at Robins Stadium on Wednesday night, the University of Richmond men's lacrosse team (4-3) put forth arguably one of the most memorable performances in program history, knocking off No. 13/14 North Carolina (6-3), 11-10.
The victory marks the second over a nationally ranked opponent at home (No. 17 Fairfield, Feb. 11, 2017) and the second consecutive over the five-time national champion Tar Heels. When the clock hit zeros in the fourth, it also signaled the first win for the Spiders over a Power 5 Conference opponent at home.
The Spiders jumped all over the Tar Heels early and often in this one. Layne Collins was the catalyst for the Spiders, matching a career-high by producing a hat trick before halftime. Mitch Savoca and Mitch Goldberg each added a pair of scores with Ryan Lanchbury, Teddy Hatfield, Eric Haehl and Ryan Lee all finding the back of the net once.
Hatfield, Haehl and Austin Brown accounted for Richmond's trio of assists in the game while the defense stood its ground against the hard-charging Tar Heels. Blake Goodman was stellar, making 11 saves to keep his team alive, especially late.
The freshmen wasted no time making an impact under the Robins Stadium lights for the first time in their young careers. Savoca was the first to light up the scoreboard with his fifth goal of the season, followed shortly thereafter by Lanchbury's 11th to quickly put the Spiders up 2-0. Collins fired home his first of the game with 7:05 to play in the first. UNC added a pair of goals down the stretch in the first but the Spiders maintained the lead heading into the second and would only build on it.
Always there with a timely score, Goldberg buried his first with the helper coming from Haehl as the first of three consecutive goals for the Spiders. UNC answered with one but the run continued as Collins canned his third of the half with 22 seconds to play to a tremendous roar of the home crowd. Richmond took a 7-3 lead over the Tar Heels into the locker room.
Hatfield scored right out of the gates to give Richmond its largest lead of the game, 8-3, but that was when the Tar Heels began to chip away. UNC answered with two goals that Goldberg offset with his second at the 3:02 mark in the third, but three more Tar Heel scores made it a one-score game in the closing moments of the quarter.
With the momentum beginning to shift and the clock ticking down, Savoca took matters into his own hands, fought his way through a pair of defenders and hammered home his second of the game with just three seconds on the clock to give his team a 10-8 lead heading into the fourth.
UNC quickly put two scores on the board in the fourth to tie the game by the 10:31 mark. The defensive intensity on both sides picked up as neither wanted to give up the go-ahead, but with 8:10 to play, Ryan Lee found his opening, took a feed from Hatfield and fired home his fourth goal of the season to push Richmond back ahead, 11-10. Goodman made three saves down the stretch as UNC uncorked seven shots in the closing moments, but the Spiders managed to hold on.
The Spiders won't get to rest on this historic victory for long. Southern Conference play continues this weekend with a trip to Furman (0-6), which will be in search of its first victory of the season. That game is set to face-off at noon on Saturday.