The win pushed the Tar Heels back above the .500 mark at 3-2 heading into Wednesday night's matchup with No. 8 arch-rival Duke (6-1) at Fetzer Field (7:30 p.m. start). Denver fell to 3-3 on the season despite a brilliant afternoon in the goal by Jeff Nunziato who made 19 saves and kept the Pioneers in the game well into the second half.

Garrison led Carolina with three goals and one assist while both Prossner and Bryant Will had two goals and two assists on the day. Freshman midfielder Scott Falatach added a goal and an assist for Coach John Haus' Tar Heels.

Denver was led by multiple goal scorers Mike Kenlay who had three and Scott Davidson who had two. Nunziato's play in goal early kept the game from becoming a rout as he had nine saves in the first quarter when UNC outshot Denver 14-6. Eventually the Tar Heels' 45-20 edge in shots wore down Denver as Carolina outscored the Pioneers 4-2 in the second quarter and 3-1 in the third quarter. UNC sophomore Paul Spellman also had a solid game in goal as he made 10 stops while allowing six goals. He stopped seven of the last nine shots the Pioneers aimed between the pipes.

Carolina also made good use of its extra-man opportunities as it scored four goals on six tries. All four EMO goals came in the first half. Mike McCall and Garrison sandwiched EMO goals around goals by Davidson and Kenlay in the first quarter which ended in a 2-2 tie.

In the second quarter, Garrison scored his second goal of the contest just 45 seconds into the period but that goal was matched by Kenlay's second tally just 32 seconds later. The Tar Heels went up again on an extra-man goal by Will with 10:01 left in the half before Jeff Biggs got an unassisted goal for Denver at the 6:39 mark.

From then on Denver would only score twice. UNC took the lead for good on a goal by Prossner, assisted by Falatach at 2:47 of the half. Just 1:06 later, UNC had its third goal of the half by Garrison, UNC's fourth EMO goal of the first 30 minutes, and a 6-4 halftime.

Denver struck first in the third quarter on a goal by Kenlay at th 10:22 mark, but UNC then put some distance between itself and Denver by scoring three goals in the last 5:51 of the period. The goals came from Will, sophomore midfielder Lance Zimmerman and Prossner.

There were only two scores in the fourth quarter as Davidson scored his second of the game at 9:08 for Denver and Falatach responded with a goal at 4:57 for the Tar Heels.