Oct. 15, 2007
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -
The University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team held its annual awards luncheon Sunday afternoon at the Pope Box in Kenan Stadium and defenseman Tim Kaiser, midfielder Nick Tintle and attackman Bart Wagner shared the Turnbull Trophy as the squad's most valuable players.
All three MVPs return for the 2008 season as Kaiser and Tintle are seniors and Wagner a junior. Kaiser was among the national leaders as a junior in both ground balls for close defensemen with 69 and overall in caused turnovers with 32. He also scored a pair of goals and had an assist. As an attackman, Wagner was among the national leaders at his position for ground balls with 51 and he was Carolina's leading scorer for the second straight year with 44 points, scoring 23 goals to go along with 21 assists. Tintle was the team's leading scorer out of the midfield and the team's fourth-leading scorer overall with 17 goals and 14 assists. Kaiser was a third-team USILA All-America last year and Tintle and Wagner were both honorable mention All-Americas.
The Holmes Harden, Sr., Memorial Ground Ball Award was scooped up by junior Shane Walterhoefer who as a sophomore in 2007 garnered 113 of them. That was the fourth most in a single season in UNC history. Walterhoefer also won 222 faceoffs in 2007, breaking the old school record of 219 set by Kevin Frew in 2004.
The Needham Unsung Hero Award went to 2007 senior Ben Staines. The short stick defensive midfielder was a mainstay of the NCAA quarterfinalist team a year ago. Staines led the nation with 57 ground balls, the most by a short stick D middie. He also had a goal and two assists.
Redshirt freshman attackman
Gavin Petracca was the winner of the Jay Gallagher Award as the team's outstanding newcomer. Petracca was Carolina's second-leading scorer in 2007 with 41 points on a team-leading 24 goals to go along with 17 assists.
The Danny Fox Memorial Award for Service to Carolina Lacrosse was won by Jena Buchan, a very deserving recipient. Buchan served as the team manager and statistician for four years. She was chosen by the ACC to serve as the official scorers for the 2007 ACC Championships along with student assistant Jeff McLerran of the Tar Heel athletic communications staff.
The Kevin Reichardt Memorial Award for Most Improved Player was shared by junior close defenseman Jack Ryan, who started all 16 games for the Tar Heels last season after having never played the position in high school or college prior to last season. The other recipient was junior midfielder Ben Hunt who had 28 points last year, improving to the team's third-leading goal scorer with 20.
The Dan Andrews Sportsmanship Award was garnered by 2007 senior attackman Sam Wagner, an Annapolis, Md. native. Wasgner was a four-year letterman and team leader and one of only four seniors on the 2007 squad.
