CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The 14th-ranked University of Pennsylvania men's lacrosse team had a bumpy start to its weekend on Tobacco Road, falling to the fourth-ranked University of North Carolina Friday night, 16-8.
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Cam Rubin opened the scoring in Friday's game but the Tar Heels took over from there, scoring the game's next seven goals and cruising the rest of the way.
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Penn fell to 2-2 on the young season, while UNC remains undefeated at 4-0.
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Quaker Notemeal
*Senior
Cam Rubin scored four goals to lead the Quakers in scoring.
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*Senior
Ben Smith was Penn's only other multi-goal scorer on Friday, with two.
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*Senior
Casey Mulligan and freshman
Nate Lucchesi had two assists each, while sophomore
Chris Patterson had a goal and an assist for two points.
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*Sophomore
Davis Provost was Penn's other goal scorer on Friday, while junior
Griffin Scane had an assist for his only point of the night.
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*Senior All-America
Emmet Carroll had 10 saves in the Penn goal, while All-America defenseman
Brendan Lavelle and Smith had two caused turnovers each.
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How It Happened
Penn scored Friday's opening goal, Rubin finishing a feed from Mulligan four minutes into the contest,, but it was all Heels the rest of the period. UNC drew level 90 seconds after Rubin's tally, and that was the first of six in a row before the quarter had ended as five different players scored.
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Another UNC goal made it 7-1 in the second before Rubin again found the back of the net, this time unassisted. The Heels scored twice more to get their lead to 9-2, but Provost scored off a Scane feed to make it 9-3. A final Carolina goal made it 10-3 Heels at the half.
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After UNC scored less than a minute into the third, then added two more within 53 seconds of each other to get the score to a double-digit margin, Patterson got on the board for Penn when he scored a rebound after Smith's initial shot was saved. The Heels got that goal back in the final minute of the period, however, and the lead was 14-4 after three.
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It was 15-4 early in the fourth, but first Rubin and then Smith scored to get the margin back to single digits. UNC scored its final goal with about five minutes left, then Smith added his second just 23 seconds later and Rubin closed out the scoring with his fourth of the day.
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Up Next
Penn remains in the Research Triangle region for a Sunday game with No. 5 Duke in Durham. The Quakers and Blue Devils will face off at 1 p.m. and the game will air on ACCNX.
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For the latest on Penn men's lacrosse, follow @PennMensLax on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.
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#ILPL | #FightOnPenn
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