CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The sixth-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels got contributions from nine different scorers to post a 13-10 win over the Harvard Crimson at Navy Field on Tuesday.
Midfielder Steve Pontrello led the Tar Heels with three goals while Chad Tutton and Walker Chafee tallied a pair each while goalkeeper Kieran Burke made 10 saves to earn the win.
“We knew it was going to be a tussle,” North Carolina coach Joe Breschi said.
“We did a good job. I was really proud of the effort.”
The Crimson offense was led by Carl Zimmerman , Sean Mahon, and Daniel Eipp who each got the opportunity to beat Burke twice throughout the game, but couldn’t do more to catch up.
“Carolina’s a great team,” Harvard coach Chris Wojcik said.
“It’s definitely disappointing to lose, but I think this is a game that we’re going to learn from as we move forward. We’ve got a lot of lacrosse ahead of us.”
Aside from cool temperatures hovering in the mid-30’s and with rain and mist falling throughout, the two teams put on quite a display for the 468 in attendance who braved the weather and dotted the perimeter of the playing field to take it all in.
Harvard’s Jake Gambitsky played a solid game in goal, making eight saves and keeping his team in contention to win as well as Burke did for North Carolina.
“I’m feeling good,” Burke said.
“I’m seeing the ball well the last couple of weeks, being patient in net, waiting for shooters to shoot the ball, rather than guessing a little bit and stepping left or right.
The Crimson took advantage of their opportunities early on and took a 2-0 lead late in the first quarter.
North Carolina then went on a 6-2 run into the next quarter and led 6-4 with 7:14 to go in the first half.
Tallying one of their three EMO goals in the game, Harvard cut further into the North Carolina lead and both teams went into the halftime break separated by a goal, 6-5, in favor of the Tar Heels.
The third quarter turned out to be the turning point in the game as Burke made six saves and Chafee’s back-to-back man-up goals propelled the Tar Heels to shut out the Crimson and extend their lead to 10-5.
“They outplayed us in the key stretch there,” Wojcik said.
“They put three quick ones in and that wound up being the difference.”
Harvard made adjustments and came out firing during the final 15 minutes of play and outscored North Carolina 5-3.
However, it wasn’t enough as the Tar Heels’ defensive play led by Burke never gave the Crimson the chance to get any closer than two goals before the final horn sounded.
“Burke was outstanding,” Breschi said.
“He’s just really picked up his game as the season has progressed. To come away with 10 big saves – a big one there at the end – so really proud of his effort and the whole defense in general.”