University of North Carolina Athletics
From Fetzer To Finley
January 31, 2000 | Men's Lacrosse
Jan. 31, 2000
By Dave Lohse
Director of Media Relations for Olympic Sports
Tar Heel Men's Lacrosse Team Deserves to Catch a Break in 2000
There is certainly one Carolina sports program which deserves to have good things happen to it this spring. I am speaking of the UNC men's lacrosse program, which over the past three years, has been unable to catch a break. After three straight losing seasons, however, it appears the Tar Heels are ready to embark on a more successful campaign when the new season begins on February 20 against Fairfield.
The Carolina lacrosse program intends to start the new century in a different fashion from which it ended the old one. With excellent goaltending, solid defense, strength and depth in the midfield and exciting, powerful scoring at the attack, Carolina hopes to end a string of three straight losing seasons and make a return to the NCAA Tournament. The Tar Heels begin the 2000 season ranked #10 in the nation in the coaches' poll conducted by Face-off Magazine. With 27 seasoned players (letter winners) returning for the 2000 season, there should be a vast improvement in the overall play of a veteran squad that knows and appreciates the fine line between victory and defeat.
North Carolina, playing the third toughest schedule in the nation last year, had big wins over Princeton and Duke, but also five close losses with margins totaling 10 goals in the Tar Heels' nine games with 1999 NCAA Tournament teams. The Tar Heels will be looking to shore up problems at both ends of the field, which plagued the team in 1999. Last year, Carolina scored 163 goals in 15 games, an average of 10.87 per game. That ranked 20th in the nation in scoring offense at the Division I level. The defense will also be a focus for improvement. UNC ranked 34th in scoring defense last year amongst Division I teams, allowing 170 goals in 15 games, an 11.33 per game average.
"I'm very excited about the prospects for this year," says Head Coach Dave Klarmann. "I think we're very deep at the attack end of the field. I think midfield, though somewhat inexperienced, is very talented and aggressive and they've all shown improvement every week throughout the fall."
Dave Klarmann begins his 10th and final season at North Carolina with a record of 92-46 (.667), ranking ninth in winning percentage among active coaches. He graduated from North Carolina in 1977 and was an All-America defenseman here. He served as an assistant at North Carolina for 10 years before becoming the head coach in 1990 upon the retirement of Willie Scroggs.
Although neither Princeton nor Loyola appear on the Tar Heels' 2000 schedule, the docket is only marginally easier than last year's. The Tar Heel ledger is ranked the third toughest in the nation heading into the 2000 campaign. Seven regular season opponents were 1999 NCAA Tournament teams (Navy, Delaware, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Virginia, UMBC, Hofstra).
The Tar Heels will open the season with six successive games at Fetzer Field so the chance for a good start is there. The second half of the season could be significantly tougher beginning with a game at Duke on March 22. Last year, UNC started the campaign well with a 5-2 mark, but the Heels were able to win only one time (at Duke 10-9) in the final eight contests so avoiding a second half swoon will be a key element to this team's success.
Carolina looks for a productive attack unit this season as it returns all three starters from last season. The trio contains the top three scorers from last year in seniors Chase Martin (19 goals, 17 assists) and Matt Crofton (28 goals, 23 assists). Martin possesses an extremely fast and accurate shot. Crofton looks to be the leader in the crease where he has the knack for finding the open spot and finishing his shots. Crofton also proved he was a quality shooter last year. Rounding out the group is 1998's ACC rookie of the year Jeff Sonke (30 goals, 17 assists). Sonke possesses great size and speed and has the potential to become one of the nation's top attackmen. Carolina may be inexperienced in the midfield this year but not thin in the ranks. As many as nine offensive midfielders should see plenty of action for the Tar Heels this season.
"I think defensively, while we are a little thin, we do have a lot of athletic ability," says Klarmann. "If we can make those guys use their athleticism in a very intelligent, lacrosse minded way, we'll be in good shape. We've got speed, strength and good stick skills but our experience and knowledge at the defensive side of the field have got to grow quickly early in the season."
The unquestioned leader of the Carolina close defense unit is senior captain Todd Maher (Loyola High School, 53 ground balls). He had 37 takeaways last season while facing the unenviable task of guarding on the top attackman on the opposing team in every game last season. A top scholar athlete, Maher is a four-year starter with tremendous stamina and true knack for the game. He is a quiet leader in both practice and in games and he lets his intense nature rub off on all those around him.
"I think we've got very good goaltenders," says Coach Klarmann. "We've got a great goaltender in Kris Blindenbacher. There's no doubt in my mind that he's one of the top five goaltenders in the country. We've also got Robert D'Urso and Andrew Larkin who are two very good goalies and they push Kris in practice, which makes Kris better every day."
North Carolina has had the potential to be as good as anyone in the country over the past few years. But Lady Luck has seemed to be a stranger to Chapel Hill since the 1996 season. As much as anything, this year's team needs a season where the breaks go the Tar Heels' way. The Tar Heels are dedicated to winning the close games this year. Of the nine losses last season, only three were one-sided. The other six came by a total of 13 goals.
The team still has talented players and the Tar Heels can field a starting lineup which is of equal quality to anyone else in the nation. Although young, it would appear that the Tar Heels have some of their trademark midfield depth again this year.
UNC head coach Dave Klarmann began his career at UNC by winning a national championship in 1991. It would be fitting for the talented Tar Heel coach to end his career with a team in the NCAA Tournament, battling with the best teams in the country to win the national title again.
