What a day at Homewood.
The actual on-field play was riveting. North Carolina kept knocking Johns Hopkins down, but the Blue Jays kept answering the bell – until they couldn’t.
The Tar Heels held on for a 13-12 victory, but the subplot was even better.
North Carolina redshirt-sophomore Dom Pietramala had a career-high six-goals, including an outside bomb in the fourth quarter that gave the Tar Heels the lead for good. The career day came on the historic field where his father, Dave Pietramala, played college lacrosse and is generally regarded as the best defensemen to ever play the sport.
His father then served as the head coach at Hopkins for two decades, winning a pair of national championships before betting let go after the 2020 season. The younger Pietramala played his high school lacrosse at Baltimore’s nearby Boys’ Latin School and always imagined himself being a Blue Jay.
“It’s always been a dream for me growing up to play on this field, to play for my dad,” said Dom Pietramala to ESPN’s Anish Shroff after the game. “While I couldn’t play here for my dad, having the opportunity to fulfill my dreams to play at UNC with my dad is just something special. It’s always going to be hard to step on this field … just so many memories. I grew up here, but this is my second home. Just being here with my dad makes up for all of it.”
Pietramala is off to a monster start with 15 goals in the first three games of the season for the 3-0 Tar Heels. His running mate on attack, Owen Duffy, added four goals as North Carolina features one of the top one-two punches in the country.