North Carolina jumped out to a 9-1 lead and withstood a furious fourth-quarter comeback to defeat Denver 15-13 at Peter Barton Stadium on Sunday.

The Tar Heels (5-0), ranked No. 7 in the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Men’s Top 20, appeared ready to cruise to an easy win after Justin Anderson scored his third goal to give them a 13-5 lead at the end of the third quarter.

But the No. 12 Pioneers (3-2) came out on fire in the fourth quarter, outscoring North Carolina 8-2 in the frame and nearly coming all the way back. Were it not for a pair of Anderson goals scored a minute apart midway through the frame, the story coming out of Denver could very well have been about an epic collapse.

Denver, which started freshman Jack Thompson in goal, responded to Anderson’s tallies with three straight Jack Hannah goals that pulled the Pioneers to within 15-12 with 2:47 remaining. Ethan Walker (five goals) made it a two-goal game with 28 seconds remaining, but the Pioneers could draw no closer.

Anderson finished with a game-high seven points on five goals and two assists.

NOTABLE

• John Piatelli scored five goals and added three assists to lead No. 10 Cornell to a 17-16 victory over No. 18 Ohio State in Columbus. The Big Red (4-0) surged to a six-goal lead early in the fourth quarter before the Buckeyes (3-2), fueled by a school record-breaking faceoff performance by Justin Inacio (30-for-37), made their run. Tre Leclaire and Jack Myers scored unassisted goals in the last minute to pull Ohio State within one, but the Buckeyes could not complete the comeback.

• No. 6 Virginia used a nine-goal run spanning nearly 27 minutes to defeat visiting Air Force 15-5. Michael Kraus and Payton Cormier each scored hat tricks for the Cavaliers (4-1).

• Fourteen different players scored, as No. 11 Duke beat Furman 19-6 at Koskinen Stadium. Dyson Williams led the way with four goals and JP Basile dished out a game-high three assists, while All-American defenseman JT Giles-Harris picked up his first career goal.

Nike/US Lacrosse Top 20

No. 6 Virginia 15, Air Force 5
No. 7 North Carolina 15, No. 12 Denver 13
No. 10 Cornell 17, No. 18 Ohio State 16
No. 11 Duke 19. Furman 6