No. 1 BC Suffers First Loss of Season as No. 2 UNC Beats Eagles 12–11 in Nailbiter

No. 1 Boston College lacrosse’s quest for an undefeated season came to a crushing end in Chapel Hill on Saturday. 

The Eagles scored the first four goals of the afternoon, but a back-and-forth game ended in favor of No. 2 North Carolina, as the Tar Heels beat BC 12–11, thanks to three fourth-quarter goals that all came in a four-minute span. 

In a game that featured seven ties and five lead changes, the Tar Heels (12–0, 7–0 Atlantic Coast) capitalized on BC’s (13–1, 6–1) three fourth-quarter penalties to maintain their own perfect record while destroying the Eagles’. 

From the opening draw, the matchup lived up to its billing as one of the conference’s top rivalries. 

BC raced out to an early 4–0 lead behind goals from four different attackers. But UNC responded with a 5–1 run, knotting the score as the game headed into halftime. 

The second half became a defensive match, with both teams trading blows in a tense battle that saw neither squad lead by more than one goal until there was 4:09 left in the fourth quarter. 

But it was after a goal from Rachel Clark with 9:54 left in the game that the game turned in UNC’s favor for good, thanks to a series of mistakes from the Eagles. 

BC’s Kaitlyn Cole received a yellow card for a dangerous follow-through, giving UNC a man-up opportunity. The Tar Heels capitalized in just 43 seconds, with Caroline Godine scoring a goal to tie the game 10–10.  

Two minutes later, Eliza Osburn gave UNC the lead by beating her defender one-on-one for the go-ahead goal.

With five minutes remaining, Emma Claire Quinn received another yellow card for BC, giving UNC another power-play opportunity.

The Tar Heels capitalized on that, too, as Godine scored yet another man-up goal with 4:09 remaining to push UNC’s lead to two. 

With 3:30 remaining, Rachel Clark brought BC back into the game with a spectacular man-down goal for her third score of the game and her 59th of the season. But the Eagles ultimately couldn’t complete the comeback. 

BC’s normally stingy defense, which had allowed just 8.2 goals per game entering Saturday, showed cracks against UNC’s relentless attack. The Tar Heels scored on three man-up opportunities and scored on three free-position shots as BC racked up five penalties.