If you tuned into the NCAA Division I 2016 College Lacrosse Championship game on Memorial Day between the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Maryland Terrapins, you watched arguably one of the greatest lacrosse games played in years. Fans watched two outstanding college lacrosse teams fight till the bitter end at Lincoln Financial field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In fact, the game went into overtime for a winner to be determined. North Carolina scored to win after a remarkable save by their goalie, Brian Balkam (Redshirt-Sophomore). After the save on net, the Tar Heels bolted down the field and Chris Clouiter, (Sophomore) Attackman found space and shot to score the game-winning goal giving the Tar Heels the National title.

What is so special about this National title win for North Carolina? Why was it not supposed to happen? North Carolina struggled all season, the Tar Heels barely made the NCAA tournament sneaking in with a record of 8-6. The up and down season for the Tar Heels was the start of it all, this was not supposed to be North Carolina’s year. The story of the North Carolina lacrosse team and “David slayed Goliath” for the championship is quite the fairy tale.

North Carolina has been an unstoppable force the last few years in college lacrosse. The Tar Heels had great success with strong superstar players like Jimmy Bitter, Joey Sankey and Chad Tutton. If you are a lacrosse fan, you know these players had so much pressure on them to win a National title last year, but they were unable to accomplish that goal. The Tar Heels fell one win away from making it to the NCAA Division I Lacrosse final four for the first time since 1993. Ironically, they were blown out by Maryland in the quarterfinals losing 14-7.

Moving to the 2016 season, the Tar Heel’s needed to replace five starters from their prior season. They lost Sankey and Bitter who anchored their Attack, and their stud starting Midfield, Tutton. The defense also took a hit losing starting defensemen Ryan Kilpatrick, and goalie Kieran Burke.

With those losses, the Tar Heels had to find strong, committed replacements, and they did. The players chosen to replace Bitter and Sankey were Steve Pontrello (Senior) who previous played Midfield and appeared in just 10 games last year. The other Attackmen chosen to start, was Chris Cloutier who had played in just two games the prior season. The Tar Heels also turned to a freshmen Jack Rowlett, to replace Kilpatrick, a big leap for a kid coming straight from high school as a starting defensemen for the Heels. The Heels also had (Redshirt Sophomore) Cam Macri, see an increased role, and become a significant component of their defense. Most notably, sophomore Brian Cannon, saw more time when the Tar Heels moved him to Midfield. The final man they called upon to step up was Balkam — he had seen some playing time but was not the true starter. Balkam actually started the first seven games for the Tar Heels. He saw time since Burke was absent for the first few games, but they kept him as a starter before he was eventually replace by Burke. Balkam had a bright future — he was 5-0 in starts, saved 28 shots and only allowed 26 goals. Concern that he still was a full 60-minute guy because most games that year he was splitting time.

This Tar Heels team was not supposed to win the championship. They were having kids who had not seen much playing time step up and replace players who were the lifeline for for this program. North Carolina struggled early, they won their first two games easily before they were throttled by Hofstra University, 10-5. Things looked up when they rebounded and beat Johns Hopkins easily, 15-11. After that big win, things did not click for the Tar Heels. They played their hearts out against the Denver Pioneers but lost 13-12, Not a bad loss to the then No. 1 team in the Nation at that time during the season. Then the Tar Heels traveled to UMass Amherst where they got blown out. They lost 14-9, and everything just seemed to be going wrong for the Tar Heels.

Following the loss to UMass Amherst, the Tar Heels, 3-3 at that point during the season, decided to have a team meeting with all the players and coaches to talk about why they were not clicking. The meeting was a conversation that things had to change and Head Coach Joe Breschi assured his players that they could turn this season around and win it all.

The Tar Heels then won their next two games easily but then fell to the Maryland Terps 11-8 — another set back. But the Heels responded well and beat Duke in a thriller 17-16, they then blew out a weak Virginia team winning 16-8. After those two big victories, the Heels traveled to Syracuse with all the momentum in the world, but got rolled over by an up and down Orange team, losing 13-7.

The Tar Heels regular season final game was against the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. The Tar Heels did not have a signature win on their resumé yet, and a win against the Irish would help them with their bid for the tournament. In the fourth quarter of the game, the Irish held a five-goal lead. The Tar Heels went on a seven-goal run in the final 10 minutes to stun the Fighting Irish and give them that signature win they were looking for. But with the highs and lows of their season, the Tar Heels once again could not keep their momentum and were knocked out in the first round of the Lacrosse ACC tournament by the Orangemen of Syracuse, 10-7.

Come selection time, North Carolina was invited to the Tournament, but had to travel to Milwaukee where they would play No. 6 seed Marquette University. Marquette had just knocked off the talented Denver Pioneers in the Big East Championship game. The Tar Heels were technically the No. 11 seed in the tournament. The way the lacrosse brackets are matched up, they only give a seed ranking to the top eighth teams, and the rest remain unseeded. The Tar Heels traveled to Marquette as the underdog, and they seemed to like that notion. Most people would expect North Carolina Tar Heels to beat Marquette, but with the year Marquette was having and the struggles the Tar Heels were experiencing during the season, people believed the Tar Heels would lose. The Tar Heels came out, played well and seemed destined to win the game. Up 10-7, with four minutes left in the game, Marquette attempted to get back into the game. The last ditch efforts would come up short, and the Tar Heels survived and advanced to the next round of the NCAA lacrosse tournament with winning, 10-9.

The second round match-up was going to be a good one with Notre Dame. The No. 3 seeded Irish, who the Tar Heels had shocked earlier in the season was going to be tough. Again, the Heels were not supposed to win — they were supposed to get stomped on by the great Irish, but it didn't happen.

The game was played at Ohio Stadium, where the Ohio State Buckeyes football and lacrosse teams play. Coach Breschi had been the coach at Ohio State before he left to coach at his alma matter, North Carolina. While he was coaching at Ohio State, Coach Preschi's 3-year-old son, Michael, died. Prior to the second round game, the Tar Heels had a team breakfast, and senior Patrick Kelly got up and spoke. He told Coach Preschi that the team wanted to dedicate this game and the rest of the season to his late son, Michael.

(No. 30 Goalie Brian Balkam wearing initials of Michael Breschi (MB) on his helmet) (Credit: Inside Lacrosse Zach Babo)

Boy, the Tar Heels delivered on their word by dedicating the game and their second round play off win to Michael. The Tar Heels came out and stunned the Irish, and after three quarters of play the Tar Heels held a remarkable 11-3 lead. The Irish would try and rally, but no rally was stopping North Carolina — they would win the game 13-9. Not only was this so special because they dedicated this win to the late Michael Breschi, but this win got the Tar Heels a spot in the Final Four for the first time since 1993. This was a chance for North Carolina Tar Heels to win their first NCAA Division I Lacrosse title since 1991. The win against Notre Dame poured so much emotion from Coach Breschi. Just watch this postgame interview with him, and you will understand how much the win meant to him.

If that video wasn't enough, watch how Coach Breschi and his team celebrated in the lockeroom, Coach Breschi was just acting like one of the guys and you have to love that.

The Heels did not just quit there. They headed to Philadelphia for the Final Four, and faced off against Loyola-Maryland. The Tar Heels were once again considered to be the underdogs, and the Heels liked that. They came out and blew the doors open quickly, taking a 9-2 lead after the first quarter and then held a 14-5 lead at half. The Heels had only one thing on their mind — winning a National title. This game was also the breakout performance for Chris Clouiter, the Attackmen who was chosen to replace Bitter and Sankey. Clouiter tied in NCAA tournament record with nine goals in a game in the Heels 18-13 rout over Loyola.

Then it came — the last game of the tournament and time for the Tar Heels to win their first National title since 1991. They came out and tried to set the tone from the start, but even their early runs in the game had no match for the No. 1 seed Maryland Terps offense. The game remained close and was a very back and forth game. The game remained back in forth until it looked like Maryland would pull away. But just like any underdog, they didn’t. Down 13-11 with 7:49 remaining in the game, the Heels decided to make one last run at a title. With 3:53 left in the game, (Senior) Luke Goldstock took a shot that beat the Maryland goalie, then on the following face-off the Heels won and got the ball to Patrick Kelly who dodged and scored to tie the game up. “The team of density” was not going away, but the Heels still faced some adversity. With just 3.9 seconds remaining in the game, the Heels Goldstock would commit a unsportsmanlike penalty and would put the Heels man-down for one minute and it would carry over in to overtime. In lacrosse most teams are supposed to convert on the man-up.

Maryland started with the ball in overtime and worked it around. In lacrosse, overtime is sudden death first goal wins, and the Terps had the opportunity to end it. The Terps Senior Connor Kelly took a time and room shot, but Balkam made a big play. Just watch for yourself.

After Balkam’s big save, the Heels pushed it down and killed the rest of the man down, and things were all back even. The Heels had an unbelievable chance to win the game with a point blank Clouiter shot but the Terps Goalie (Senior) Kyle Bernlohr made the greatest save ever — just watch.

Following that remarkable save, the Terps committed a unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, and the Heels weren’t going to let this opportunity get away from them. Clouiter would score his fifth goal of the game, which also gave him the NCAA tournament record for most goals (19) in the tournament. Here’s the game winner for the Heels.

The Heels' run was magical — they did things that they were not supposed to do. They were not supposed to be in the game because they had too many question marks coming into the season with identifying new key players to replace their graduating seniors and overcoming their up and down spring season. The title did not just end a 25-year drought at North Carolina for men’s lacrosse, but the title was won for the late, young Mike Breschi. The Tar Heels made history by becoming the first unseeded team to win a National Championship in Division I lacrosse. They were the first team to lose six games and be national champions. The story of this team is remarkable, and you have to love the story of these young players working hard, determined, never giving up and pushing through the challenges of the season. Enjoy this final video, let’s just say Coach Breschi was still enjoying this victory.