No. 16/19 Men’s Lacrosse Late Push Falls Short in 12-11 Loss at No. 5 North Carolina

Saturday, March 21

Chapel Hill, N.C.

4:30 p.m.

Army West Point

6-3

North Carolina

8-1

Army West Point

North Carolina

No. 16/19 Men’s Lacrosse Late Push Falls Short in 12-11 Loss at No. 5 North Carolina

March 21, 2026 | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – In its third consecutive road game, the No. 16/19 Army West Point men's lacrosse team (6-2, 1-2 Patriot League) traveled to Chapel Hill to take on ACC foe North Carolina (7-1, 0-0 ACC) where the Black Knights battled hard for a full 60 minutes but fell 12-11 to the Tar Heels.

The Black Knights struck first in the Saturday evening contest, but the home field advantage came into play as the Tar Heels secured the one goal win with a late push in the fourth quarter.

Seven Black Knights scored goals in the contest, led by Hill Plunkett with three goals and Brayden Fountain and Evan Plunkett with two goals apiece.

Senior goalkeeper Sean Byrne tallied 17 saves against North Carolina, logging his 11^th consecutive game with double-digit saves.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The picturesque day in Chapel Hill set the stage for the next chapter in the emerging story between the Black Knights and the Tar Heels.

The two teams settled in for a physical battle as the two teams fought to see who could break open the scoring first, holding each other scoreless for the first ten minutes of game action until Army claimed the first goal in its second consecutive game against the Tar Heels.

Aiden Weisenborn entered the ball from behind UNC's goal and buried a shot top shelf after clearing around the left side of the goal to strike first for the Black Knights.

North Carolina answered Army's challenge with two goals in the remaining five minutes of action to take the lead in the waning seconds of the first frame.

After the first quarter break, the Black Knights put their foot on the pedal to hold the pressure on the home team as Ben Calabrese logged his fourth goal of the season just three minutes into the second quarter.

The sophomore attacker battled against his defender and fired a shot past an approaching second defender to bring the game tied.

Evan Plunkett recorded his 151^st career point five and a half minutes later as he buried a shot off the pass from Gunnar Fellows, feeding Army's momentum for Fellows to score a goal of his own unassisted 86 seconds later for the 4-2 lead.

The Tar Heels strung together a three-goal stretch of their own as the second quarter ticked by to regain a 5-4 lead with 1:25 left in the first half.

The Black Knights played hungry, however, and Hill Plunkett buried a shot unassisted under pressure to tie the game at five all with 3.4 seconds left on the clock.

Army carried the momentum from Plunkett's goal into the third quarter as Tyler Clark scored an unassisted goal two minutes and 45 seconds into the third frame after carrying the ball in from behind the UNC goal and turning quickly around the edge of the frame.

The Tar Heels laid out another challenge for the Black Knights with a run of three goals in a minute and a half to regain an 8-6 lead just after five minutes had elapsed in the third quarter.

The Black Knights stepped up to the plate as Evan Plunkett found Brayden Fountain in open grass in front of the UNC crease with six minutes on the clock.

Plunkett then scored a goal of his own to bring the game tied at eight goals apiece with 2:47 left on the clock as he carried the ball through the clear zone all the way to the back of the Tar Heels' net for his 13^th goal of the season.

North Carolina responded with their ninth goal of the day 30 seconds later, but Brayden Fountain made a heads-up play in front of the Tar Heels' goal after Sean Byrne cleared the ball the length of the field to chip the ball past UNC's goalkeeper and tie the game at nine all with a minute and sixteen seconds left in the third quarter.

The Tar Heels continued to press the home field advantage, scoring a last-second goal of their own with four seconds left on the clock to grab a 10-9 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Army was the first team to score in the quarter for the fourth time in Saturday's game as Hill Plunkett scored three minutes into the final quarter of regulation to tie the game at ten goals each.

After a fraught battle between the two defenses as the clock ticked down, the Tar Heels pushed ahead to a two-goal lead after they scored a pair of goals just before the six- and four-minute marks to move ahead 12-10.

Army fought hard to cut into the Tar Heels' lead and Hill Plunkett scored his third goal of the game with 45 seconds left on the clock to cut UNC's lead to one goal, but a lock-down effort from the North Carolina defense held the score in UNC's favor through the final whistle.

BLACK KNIGHT NOTES

Sean Byrne secured his 11^th consecutive game with ten or more saves with his 17 saves against the Tar Heels.
Hill Plunkett led Army's offense with a tied-for-game-high three goals and three points.
Brayden Fountain and Evan Plunkett tallied two goals apiece.
The Tar Heels led the game in shots on goal and faceoff wins, but the Black Knights led in saves (17-10) and were perfect in the clear (25-25) while causing three failed clears for UNC.
Tommy Stines led the Black Knights in caused turnovers (2) and in ground balls (4).