Feb. 23, 2010
CAROLINA PLAYS AT NAVY THURSDAY SEEKING FOUR-WIN START TO SEASON
The University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team returns to action after just a five-day break this Thursday when the Tar Heels travel to Annapolis, Md. to meet the Midshipmen of the United States Naval Academy at 7 p.m. at Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The game will be the first meeting between the teams at Annapolis since the 2007 season
The game will be nationally televised by CBS College Sports Television. Live stats will be available on CBS College Sports Gametracker on TarHeelBlue.com.
Coach Joe Breschi's (UNC '90) team will be looking for its fourth successive win to open the season for the third straight year. Carolina won its first six games a year ago en route to finishing a 12-6 record and Carolina started 5-0 in 2008 en route to an 8-6 record. The game will feature a coaching matchup between two Tar Heel alumni - Breschi and Navy's Richie Meade (UNC '76).
CAROLINA LOOKS FOR FOUR-GAME WIN STREAK
The Tar Heels (3-0) have opened their season with three straight wins for the third year in a row. Carolina opened their season February 6 with an 11-5 victory at Jacksonville in the first-ever varsity game for the Dolphins, beat Bryant 5-4 February 13 in UNC's home opener at Navy Field and then turned in a dominating performance in beating Lehigh 17-5 at Fetzer Field on February 20.
Navy is 1-1 heading into Thursday night's game. The Midshipmen opened with a dominating win over VMI 14-4 before falling at home to Loyola 9-8 in overtime last Saturday.
A SECOND STRAIGHT GAME AGAINST A PATRIOT LEAGUE FOE
Thursday's game against Navy for Carolina will be its second straight against a team from the Patriot League. UNC defeated Lehigh last Saturday 17-5 in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels are 25-14-1 all-time against teams that are currently members of the Patriot League.
THE SERIES WITH THE MIDSHIPMEN
Carolina and Navy have played 24 times in men's lacrosse with each team winning 12 times. The Midshipmen have dominated the series since 2003, winning six of the last eight meetings between the two teams. UNC did win last year's meeting, however, beating the Midshipmen 9-8 at Fetzer Field.
UNC has not beaten Navy in Annapolis since the 2001 season when Carolina beat the Mids 11-10 on a goal by Jeff Sonke with one second to play.
Since 2000, the teams have played a total of 11 times and seven of those 11 games have been decided by one goal.
LAST YEAR AGAINST NAVY
The two teams played a year ago on February 20, 2009 with Carolina pulling out a 9-8 victory at Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill before a crowd of 1,442. The Midshipmen outshot the Tar Heels 36-28 but UNC dominated the ground balls 44-31 and the face-offs 17-4. Grant Zimmerman made 10 saves for UNC while Matt Coughlin had six for the Mids.
Tim Paul led the Mids offense against UNC with three goals and an assist while Brendan Connors had two goals and an assist. Sean DeLaney and Bart Wagner led the Tar Heel offense with three goals each while both Billy Bitter and Ben Hunt had a goal and two assists.
Carolina started the game with a 3-0 scoring run in the first 5:23 of the game, including two goals by Bart Wagner. But the Mids scored five of the next six goals with Tim Paul giving Navy a 5-4 lead with 11:45 left in the third quarter. UNC answered with a three-goal run as Bobby McAuley, Ben Hunt and Bart Wagner scored for the Tar Heels to give UNC a 7-5 lead with 5:35 left in the third period. Goals by Zack Schroeder and Tim Paul pulled Navy even by the end of the third quarter.
Navy took an 8-7 lead on an unassisted goal by Brendan Connors with 8:41 to play before back-to-back goals by UNC's Sean DeLaney with 5:40 and 4:50 to play delivered a 9-8 triumph for Carolina.
THE UNC STARTERS
Carolina has started the same lineup in each of the first three games of the season. The attack unit has featured junior Billy Bitter, sophomore Thomas Wood and freshman Marcus Holman. The first midfield unit includes seniors Sean DeLaney and Cryder DiPietro and sophomore Jimmy Dunster. The close defense includes senior Michael Jarvis, junior Ryan Flanagan and sophomore Charlie McComas. Junior Chris Madalon has started in goal for the Tar Heels in the first three games of the season.
OFFENSE RESPONDS AGAINST LEHIGH
After starting the season with an 11-goal effort against Jacksonville and a five-goal output against Bryant, the Tar Heels saw their offense respond in a big way in Carolina's 17-5 win over Lehigh on February 20. The 17 goals were the most UNC has scored in a game since it beat Detroit Mercy 19-4 on March 3, 2009.
CAREER DAYS FOR BITTER, WOOD AND DUNSTER
Billy Bitter, Thomas Wood and Jimmy Dunster combined for seven goals and eight assists in UNC's win over Lehigh February 20.
All three had career best or career equaling performances against the Mountain Hawks. Bitter had two goals and four assists for a team-leading six points against Lehigh. The four assists matched his career high of four against Denver on February 12, 2009. Dunster had three goals and an assist in the match. The three goals were the most in a game for the Tar Heel sophomore midfielder, exceeding the two he had in three different games last season. His four points were also a career high. Thomas Wood had career highs for both assists in a game with three and points in a game with five versus the Mountain Hawks. Wood also had five ground balls, a career best in a game.
GAVIN'S RETURN IS WELL TIMED
Fifth-year senior attackman Gavin Petracca returned to full-time action last Saturday against Lehigh and his availability was a big boost to the Tar Heel offense. After undergoing off-season surgery, Petracca had played only on extra-man against Jacksonville and Bryant.
Petracca celebrated his return to a bigger role in the lineup last Saturday by scoring three goals in the match. Petracca's goals were particularly well-timed as he scored back-to-back tallies at 12:46 and 10:23 of the second quarter to give the Tar Heels separation at 6-2. The latter goal would hold up as the game-winner.
MORTON'S FIRST GOALS
After not scoring in his first 19 career games, sophomore midfielder Tyler Morton scored twice against Lehigh in UNC's 17-5 win over the Mountain Hawks. Morton scored with 13:44 to play to put the Heels up 2-0 in the first quarter and his goal with 13:22 to play in the second quarter gave the Tar Heels a 4-2 in the contest.
OTHER NOTES FROM THE LEHIGH GAME
Senior midfielder Cryder DiPietro had two assists in the game, his career high. DePietro has four assists in three games this year, exceeding the three assists he had in his first two years combined at UNC.
Senior midfielder Sean DeLaney continued his consistent play against the Mountain Hawks. DeLaney scored two goals. He has scored two goals in each of UNC's three games this season.
Sophomore midfielder Chris Layne scored his second career goal against the Mountain Hawks. His previous tally came March 3, 2009 against Detroit Mercy.
Mark Staines won a career high four face-offs against Lehigh, going 4 of 6.
Chris Hunt opened the scoring with his fifth career goal.
Freshman Steven Rastivo saw his first career action in goal. He played the last 7:35 and made two saves while not allowing a goal.
Charlie McComas matched his career best for ground balls with eight.
HOLDING THREE STRAIGHT OPPONENTS TO FIVE OR LESS
Carolina has held three straight opponents to five or less goals to open the 2010 season. The Tar Heels gave up five scores to Jacksonville, four to Bryant and five to Lehigh.
The last time UNC had a similar defensive string was March 2-9, 1991 when it opened its '91 NCAA championship season with wins over Radford 29-4, Penn State 15-3 and Syracuse 10-3.
UNC'S STELLAR DEFENSIVE EFFORT AGAINST BRYANT
When UNC defeated Bryant 5-4 on Saturday, February 13 at Navy Field, it marked the fewest goals allowed by Carolina since March 3, 2009 when the Tar Heels defeated Detroit Mercy at Henry Stadium 19-4. Carolina also allowed only four goals in a 16-4 victory over Robert Morris on February 7, 2009 at Fetzer Field.
The last time UNC allowed fewer than four goals in a match was March 18, 2008 when North Carolina defeated Marist 12-3 at Fetzer Field.
CAROLINA SURVIVES STRONG EFFORT FROM BRYANT
North Carolina defeated a tough Bryant University team 5-4 on February 13 before a crowd of 1,009 at Navy Field in the Tar Heels' home opener. For the second straight week sophomore Thomas Wood led the Tar Heels offensively with two goals and an assist. Wood had the game-winning goal with 12:50 left in the game. Senior midfielder Sean DeLaney had two goals for UNC while junior attackman Billy Bitter had two assists.
The Tar Heels outshot the Bulldogs 42-22 in the match but a 20-save effort by Bryant's Jameson Love kept the game close to the final tick of the clock. UNC's defense was brilliant, allowing only four goals, forcing 25 turnovers and riding for nine failed clears.
MADALON COMES UP BIG AGAINST THE BULLDOGS
North Carolina's Chris Madalon had the best game of his career in the goal in UNC's 5-4 victory over Bryant February 13. The Darien, Conn., native had a career-high for saves in a game with nine and he allowed only four goals in 60 minutes against the Bulldogs. Madalon made three of his nine saves in the fourth quarter as the Tar Heels outscored the Bulldogs 1-0 in the final 15 minutes to come away with the 5-4 triumph.
TAR HEELS OPEN WITH DECISIVE WIN AT JACKSONVILLE
Carolina opened its 2010 campaign February 6 with a methodical 11-5 win at Jacksonville before a crowd of 4,762 at D.B. Milne Field in Jacksonville, Fla. The game marked the first in JU's varsity lacrosse history. Just 15 days later the Dolphins earned their first ever win when they upset Denver in overtime on February 21.
UNC outscored the Dolphins in every quarter en route to the victory, including a 4-1 bulge in the third quarter when the Tar Heels pulled away from the Dolphins to lead 9-4 after three quarters. UNC dominated the game statistically against the Dolphins, outshooting them 42-22 and winning the ground ball battle 43-31. Jacksonville also committed 29 turnovers and had eight failed clears. The Tar Heels' shooting accuracy was at a high level with 28 of 42 shots on goal. JU goalkeeper Brad Hester made 17 saves.
WOOD, HOLMAN, DeLANEY LEAD OFFENSE
Five Tar Heels had at least two points each in the win over Jacksonville, led by sophomore attackman Thomas Wood (Dallas, Texas). Wood had a career high three goals to go with an assist for four points. That point total equaled exactly one-half of the point total Wood had in his entire freshman year. He had eight points last season.
Freshman attackman Marcus Holman (Baltimore, Md.) made his first career start and had a pair of goals against the Dolphins as did senior midfielder Sean DeLaney (Moorestown, N.J.). Two other Tar Heels, senior midfielder Cryder DiPietro (Ruxton, Md.) and sophomore midfielder Mark Staines (Gambrills, Md.), each had a goal and an assist.
WOOD'S POINT TOTAL
UNC's leading scorer is sophomore attackman Thomas Wood (Dallas, Texas), who has 12 points in the first three games of the season with seven goals and five assists. Wood has already exceeded his entire point total for his freshman year in 2009 when he had eight points on two goals and six assists.
BURNS DEBUTS AS LEAD FACE-OFF MAN
After being the No. 2 option at the face-off X each of his first two years at Carolina, junior midfielder Michael Burns (Medford Lakes, N.J.) took over as the main face-off man for UNC against Jacksonville. Burns, who also plays short-stick defensive midfield, had a very successful game, winning 10 of 15 face-offs, scooping up five ground balls, causing two turnovers and scoring a goal.
Burns missed the game against Bryant because of a hip flexor. Freshman midfielder William Scroggs took over the face-off duties for the Tar Heels against the Bulldogs.
Burns returned against Lehigh and won nine of his 16 face-offs against the Mountain Hawks.
FLANAGAN, McCOMAS, JARVIS LEAD DEFENSIVE EFFORTS
Junior defenseman Ryan Flanagan (West Islip, N.Y.), senior defenseman Michael Jarvis (Richmond, Va.) and sophomore defenseman Charlie McComas (Parkton, Md.) led a solid defensive effort by the Tar Heels that limited Jacksonville to five goals in the season opener. Flanagan and Jarvis led all players in the game with five and four caused turnovers, respectively. McComas led all players in the game with eight ground balls. McComas matched that eight ground ball total in UNC's win over Lehigh February 20.
Flanagan's five caused turnovers equaled his career high that was previously set against Ohio State on April 11, 2009. The four caused turnovers by Jarvis were a career high for him, eclipsing his previous high of three in a game. The eight ground balls by McComas were his career high standard. The most he had ever had in a previous game was five.
UNC forced 16 turnovers in the second game of the season against Bryant and then forced 18 in the victory over Lehigh. Flanagan again led UNC with three caused turnovers against the Bulldogs as 10 different UNC players caused as least one turnover. Michael Jarvis led all players with three caused turnovers against Lehigh.
MADALON MAKES FIRST CAREER START
Junior Chris Madalon (Darien, Conn.) made his first career start in goal for the Tar Heels, going all 60 minutes against the Dolphins and making five saves while allowing five goals. Madalon also had career high four ground balls.
FOUR TAR HEELS NAMED PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAS
Four players on the 2010 University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team were named preseason All-Americas by Face-Off Yearbook and Inside Lacrosse. Junior attackman Billy Bitter (Stowe, Vt.) was named a first-team All-America while junior defenseman Ryan Flanagan and senior midfielder Sean DeLaney were both tapped as second-team All-Americas. Sophomore midfielder Jimmy Dunster (Cos Cob, Conn.) earned honorable mention All-America honors.
QUARTET OF TAR HEELS NAMED PRESEASON ALL-ACC
Face-Off Yearbook and Inside Lacrosse tapped four UNC players as preseason All-Atlantic Coast Conference choices. This quartet includes attackman Billy Bitter, midfielder Sean DeLaney, defenseman Ryan Flanagan and short-stick defensive midfielder Chris Hunt.
TAR HEELS TAP CAPTAINS
UNC's 2010 captains are a pair of seniors -- midfielder Sean DeLaney of Moorestown, N.J. and defenseman Michael Jarvis of Richmond, Va.
CAROLINA IN THE POLLS
Face-Off Magazine, Inside Lacrosse and the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association ranked UNC No. 4 in the preseason. The first regular-season polls werebe released on the Monday following the Lehigh game. Carolina moved up to No. 3 in the Inside Lacrosse poll while remaining fourth in the USILA poll.
CAROLINA'S DOUBLE DIGIT STREAK IN GOALS ENDS VERSUS BRYANT
Dating back to the 2009 season, Carolina had scored in double digits in nine successive games. That streak was broken when the Tar Heels scored only five goals in a 5-4 win over Bryant on February 13.
The nine-game streak was the longest run of double-digit scoring games by the Tar Heels since they scored 10 or more goals in a game 14 successive times in 1993-94. Carolina scored in double digits in the final 10 games of the 1993 season and then scored in double figures in the opening four games of the 1994 campaign.
THE ALL-TIME HOME RECORD
With a 2-0 home record in 2010, UNC now has an all-time home mark of 235-113-2 (.675). That record includes games played at Fetzer Field, Kenan Stadium, Henry Stadium and Finley Field. Carolina's nine home wins in 2010 were the most in a season in school history.
UNC SEEKS 400TH ALL-TIME VICTORY THURSDAY
Since the Tar Heels played their first varsity game in 1949, North Carolina has compiled a 399-254-2 record, a winning percentage of .612.
THE BRESCHI LEDGER
Now in his 13th year as a head coach, including the first 11 campaigns at Ohio State where he was 92-63 and two seasons at Carolina where he is 15-6, head coach Joe Breschi is 107-69 overall (.605) as UNC prepares to meet the Navy Midshipmen Thursday in Annapolis.
