HISTORY MADE: Spiders Win Program’s First NCAA Tournament Game with 13-10 Victory Over North Carolina

Saturday, May 10

Chapel Hill, N.C.

Noon

University of Richmond

14-3, 5-0A10

North Carolina

10-5, 3-1ACC

Richmond

North Carolina

HISTORY MADE: Spiders Win Program’s First NCAA Tournament Game with 13-10 Victory Over North Carolina

05/10/2025 | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score Postgame Press Conference Photo Gallery

Chapel Hill, N.C. – For a program as young as Richmond's, the checklist of accomplishments under Head Coach Dan Chemotti reads like a dream realized.

Conference titles? Claimed.
Ten consecutive winning seasons? Secured.
Six trips to the NCAA Tournament? Achieved.
Wins over national powerhouses? Delivered.

Undefeated conference runs. Pro draft picks. Respect earned.

The Spiders have built their legacy brick by brick. But one box—perhaps the most elusive of all—remained unchecked.

Until Saturday.

In a defining moment for the program, the University of Richmond men's lacrosse team earned its first-ever NCAA Tournament victory with a stunning 13-10 win over eighth-seeded North Carolina.

History made. Box checked. Legacy cemented.

One of the nation's most fundamentally sound teams, the Spiders entered the tournament as one of only two squads to boast both a top-10 offense and defense. Those rankings, along with the stats and an unwavering resiliency to back them up, spoke for themselves Saturday afternoon at UNC's Dorrance Field.

It wasn't without a fight though.

North Carolina's defense stymied the Spiders in the first half, holding them to just 11 shots, including just two in the first quarter. In the same 30-minute span, North Carolina fired off 24 and found the cage five times, while holding Richmond to an uncharacteristic 7-of-12 on clears.

North Carolina found the cage for the first goal of the game at 11:45 and again at 4:38 and 4:07 to take an early 3-0 advantage and didn't allow a Richmond shot for the last 11:56 of the opening frame.

Richmond's next shot wouldn't come until 11:28 in the second, over 15 minutes since its last. UNC added its fourth goal of the game at 10:04.

Lucas Littlejohn ended the Richmond drought at 6:00 in the second when he quick-sticked a feed on the crease from Max Merklinger to put the Spiders on the board.

The Tar Heels scored again at 2:29, but Richmond answered by winning the next faceoff and got on the board again with a Gavin Creo unassisted goal at 1:52 to make it 5-2 at halftime.

While the total amount of shots in the first half may have read 24-11 in favor of UNC, Richmond's patience on offense translated to nine shots on goal, while North Carolina's 'early and often' approach saw it land less than half of its shots (11-of-24) on cage.

Richmond went 2-of-9 at the faceoff dot, but its defense held its own in the game's first 30 minutes, causing five of North Carolina's nine turnovers.

Richmond came out of the halftime break firing, and scored three goals in just a 1:48 timeframe to open the third quarter took a 9-9 deadlock into the final quarter.

Jared Chenoy won the opening faceoff of the third and Joe Sheridan passed across the field to Lukas Olsson who fired a shot to the top right corner of the cage at 13:50, then Littlejohn scored again when Tommy Stull faked a shot in transition and passed to him for a 1v1 with the UNC goalie at 13:33.

Littlejohn tied things at five apiece when he scored off a pass from Henry Alpaugh at 12:02 for another Richmond tally and his third of the day to force a UNC timeout.

Richmond went man-down at 8:13 and UNC converted on the game's first extra-man opportunity of the day. The Tar Heels scored again at 6:03.

Richmond then answered back less than a minute later at 5:04 when Merklinger scored his first of the game. UNC immediately responded with a goal off the following faceoff to take back a two-goal lead.

Two-way midfielder Charlie Packard scored as Richmond cleared the ball, firing a shot on the run for just his second of the season at 3:48, then Jared Chenoy won the next faceoff and Packard scored again for his second of the day at 3:08 and tied things at eight.

A minute later, the Tar Heels scored again, but Merklinger converted again with just two seconds left in the third as he fired from above the UNC restraining line for his second of the game.

With the game tied at nine at the beginning of the fourth quarter, North Carolina scored at 10:08, then the Spiders won the next faceoff and Sheridan found Littlejohn for his fourth of the game.

An over-and-back call on UNC gave Richmond the ball at 8:10 and Aidan O'Neil was pushed in the crease as he shot, giving Richmond its first man-up opportunity of the day at 8:06.

Olsson fired a shot past the UNC goalie off a pass from Creo to give Richmond it's first lead of the day at 7:03 and extended the lead at 4:17 when Daniel Picart rolled inside from X and found the back of the cage.

Down by two, its largest deficit of the day, UNC pressed aggressively with a 10-man ride, but Richmond's Creo sealed the victory, scoring on an empty net at 1:41 to make it 13-10.

History was made. Richmond's legacy, already solidified with their achievements, now includes this monumental victory.

The job is not finished yet, though.

Richmond will head to Hempstead, N.Y. to face the winner of No. 1 Cornell and UAlbany at Hofstra's James M. Shuart Stadium in the tournament quarterfinals on Saturday, May 17. Game time has yet to be determined.