Saturday was a good day for preseason darlings.

No. 4 Stony Brook, featured on the cover of the NCAA preview editions of both US Lacrosse Magazine and Inside Lacrosse, forced a late shot clock violation and defeated No. 19 Towson 10-9 on Kylie Ohlmiller’s game-winning goal with four seconds remaining.

This season marks the first in Division I women’s lacrosse with a 90-second possession clock. Division II and III will adopt it in 2018.

The visiting Seawolves were down two players with four minutes remaining and trailed 9-8 with two minutes left. Samantha DiSalvo tied it at the 1:53 mark.

The Tigers failed to get a shot off on the ensuing possession, giving the ball back to Stony Brook with 17 seconds remaining. Kasey Mitchell earned a free-position , but elected instead to pass the ball to Ohlmiller for the game-winner.

“Not a thing of beauty,” Seawolves coach Joe Spallina said. “We found a way to get it done.”

In the other game featuring a Top 5 team, defending NCAA champion and No. 1 North Carolina survived a late rally by James Madison to win 16-14 at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Raleigh, N.C. The game was moved from Chapel Hill due to an emergency water shortage in Orange County.

Marie McCool, the Nike/US Lacrosse Preseason Player of the Year, tied her career high with six goals and added two assists to lead the Tar Heels to their 18th straight win dating back to last season.

Maggie Bill, an All-American midfielder who redshirted the 2016 season, returned in fine fashion with three goals.

It wasn’t easy.

The Dukes jumped out to a 3-0 lead and were up 8-5 late in the first half. North Carolina needed an eight-goal run bridging the first and second halves to take control of the game.

But even then, pesky James Madison would not go away. Kristen Gaudian scored three goals to spark a 5-1 run that pulled the Dukes within one at 15-14 with 5:52 remaining. The Tar Heels answered 30 seconds later, and neither team scored in the final five minutes.

James Madison goalie Emily Poelma made 16 saves in the loss.

“We never backed down,” Dukes coach Shelley Klaes-Bawcombe said.

North Carolina visits No. 5 Florida next Saturday.

Saturday Scoreboard

No. 1 North Carolina 16, James Madison 16
No. 4 Stony Brook 10, No. 19 Towson 9
No. 7 Penn State 20, Albany 9
No. 18 Boston College 19, Holy Cross 8
No. 19 Louisville 19, Vermont 8
Bucknell 11, Robert Morris 10
Elon 15, Campbell 5
Oregon 11, Michigan 8
Denver 15, San Diego State 10