BALTIMORE, MD – Junior attackman Chris Gray scored eight goals and added one assist and the ninth-ranked North Carolina men's lacrosse team used a game-deciding 7-2 run midway through the game as the Tar Heels knocked off Johns Hopkins, 17-10, at Homewood Field Saturday afternoon.  The win improves the 'Heels record to 4-0, while the Blue Jays slip to 1-2.
 
North Carolina led 5-4 after a high-scoring first quarter that saw the two teams score on 9-of-21 combined shots.  The Tar Heels then took advantage of a one-minute non-releasable penalty on the Blue Jays early the second to jump-start their decisive run.
 
Tanner Cook scored just seven seconds into the man-advantage and Gray came up with a loose ball 30 seconds later and fed Nicky Solomon for UNC's second goal during the extra-man chance.
 
Gray would score three more times during the 7-2 run, which began with the Cook goal at the 12:37 mark of the second quarter and ended with Gray's sixth goal of the game with 6:43 on the third-quarter clock.  Three of UNC's seven goals during the run came on the extra-man.
 
A Forry Smith goal off a feed from Joey Epstein while the Blue Jays had the Tar Heel defense hung up with 33 seconds remaining in the third quarter drew Johns Hopkins within 12-7, but North Carolina never let the Blue Jays score consecutive goals in the game to stay in control.  Tar Heel goalie Caton Johnson recorded six of his 10 saves in the third quarter, when the Blue Jays fired 14 shots but couldn't cut into deficit.
 
Gray scored three times in the first quarter as the Tar Heels answered a game-opening goal by Johns Hopkins' Cole Williams with a 5-2 spurt, but a Garrett Degnon goal off a feed from Smith had the Blue Jays within 5-4 at the end of the opening period.
 
Johns Hopkins outshot North Carolina 14-12 in the second quarter, but the two early extra-man goals created separation for UNC and the Blue Jays managed just an Evan Zinn goal 1:59 before intermission to account for a 9-5 UNC lead at the half.
 
The Blue Jays had two golden opportunities early in the third period to cut the deficit to three, but Johnson made back-to-back saves on Brett Baskin offerings and Gray stuck an extra-man goal for UNC at the 12:33 mark.  The Blue Jays were within four just over a minute later when Epstein scored off a quick feed to the crease from Smith, but that would be as close as the Blue Jays would get in the second half.
 
Gray totaled nine points on the eight goals and one assist and six other Tar Heels had multi-point games.  Johnson finished with the 10 saves and UNC held advantages in shots (48-42) and ground balls (29-21).
 
Williams paced the Blue Jays with three goals, while Smith (1g, 2a), Degnon (2g), Esptein (1g, 1a) and Jacob Angelus (1g, 1a) also had multi-point games for Johns Hopkins.  Ryan Darby totaled 14 saves in goal for Johns Hopkins, which also got a 15-of-26 performance on faceoff from junior Kyle Prouty.
 
Johns Hopkins will return to action on Saturday, February 29 when the Blue Jays travel to Princeton.