University of North Carolina Athletics
John Haus Era Begins Sunday
February 17, 2001 | Men's Lacrosse
Feb. 17, 2001
Fairfield University (0-0) vs. University of North Carolina (0-0)
Sunday, February 18, 2001, 1:00 p.m.
Henry Stadium, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N.C.
SUNDAY AFTERNOON'S GAME NOTES
CAROLINA OPENS 2001 SEASON:
The 10th-ranked University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team will meet unranked Fairfield University Sunday afternoon, February 18th at 1:00 p.m. in the opening regular season game of the 2001 season for the Tar Heels. The game will be played on Henry Stadium on the UNC campus. Admission is free. oth North Carolina and Fairfield come into the game with this contest as their 2001 season opener. UNC was 8-6 last season while Fairfield was 2-9.UNC COACHING DEBUT FOR JOHN HAUS: Sunay afternoon's game against Fairfield will mark the University of North Carolina head coaching debut for John Haus. Haus, a 1983 alumnus of UNC who was an All-America defender as a player for the Tar Heels, was hired as the UNC head coach on June 1, 2000. Haus will be beginning his seventh season as a college head coach on Sunday. He has an overal record of 67-28 in six seasons. He was 47-21 as the head coach at Washington College in Chestertown, Md. from 1995-98. He was 20-7 in two seasons as the head coach at Johns Hopkins in 1999-2000. At Washington College Haus led the Shoremen to the NCAA Division III championship in 1998 and to runnerup finishes in 1996 and 1997. In 1999 and 2000 Hopkins advanced to the NCAA semifinals under the leadership of Haus. Haus played on Carolina lacrosse teams from 1980-83 which went 43-8 and won two NCAA and two ACC titles. He was an assistant coach at Johns Hopkins from 1988-94. The Blue Jays went 62-27 during that time. Altogether Haus has been a part of college teams as a player, assistant coach and head coach which have a record of 172-63. During that time he has been a part of only one team which had a losing season. Washington College went 6-8 in 1995 during his first season as head coach there.
SCOUTING THE STAGS: Fairfield, coached by Ted Spencer, is making is second successive season debut in Chapel Hill. A year ago the Stags opened the season on February 20, 2000 at UNC's Fetzer Field. The Tar Heels took a 12-11 victory. That one-goal loss was unfortunately a precursor of sorts for Fairfield as the Stags lost an inordinate number of close games in a 2-9 season.
CAROLINA IN THE POLLS: North Carolina is ranked 10th this week in Faceoff Lacrosse Yearbook Preseason Division I Coaches Poll. The complete poll follows:
2001 Face Off College Lacrosse Yearbook Men's Division I Preseason Poll
Place Team Points
1. Syracuse (39) 875
2. Princeton (3) 816
3. Virginia (2) 794
4. Johns Hopkins 713
5. Georgetown 637
6. Loyola 634
7. Duke 629
8. Maryland 605
9. Hofstra 496
10. North Carolina 457
11. Notre Dame 398
12. Navy 341
13. Cornell 308
14. Hobart 233
15. Brown 201
16. Delaware 193
17. UMBC 190
18. Penn State 160
19. Massachusetts 152
20. Harvard 86
21. Towson 78
22. Ohio State 56
23. Pennsylvania 33
24. Army 30
25. Denver 28
First Place Votes in Parentheses
Others Receiving Votes: Yale 26, Bucknell 23, Butler 19, Rutgers 18, Fairfield 5, Lehigh 4, Sacred Heart 1, Villanova 1
CAROLINA IS NINTH IN BRINE 360 LACROSSE MEDIA POLL: The initial Brine 360 Lacrosse.com Division I men's preseason Division I media poll was announced on Monday February 12, 2001. The Tar Heels were ranked #9 in that poll.
1 Syracuse, 2 Princeton, 3 Virginia, 4 Johns Hopkins, 5 Georgetown, 6 (T) Duke, 6 (T) Loyola, 8 Maryland, 9 North Carolina, 10 Hofstra, 11 Notre Dame, 12 Cornell, 13 Navy, 14 Delaware, 15 Hobart, 16 Brown, 17 UMBC, 18 Penn State, 19 Massachusetts, 20 Towson.
Others Receiving Votes: Yale, Army, Bucknell, Harvard, Fairfield, Pennsylvania, Hartford
Media Voters: 360Lacrosse.com, Capital Gazette, Democrat & Chronicle, e-lacrosse, LaxPower, LaxTalk, Toyota Lacrosse Weekly, US Lacrosse, USA Today
CAROLINA'S EXPERIENCE: The Tar Heels return five starters from the 2000 team which finished the season 8-6 overall. Gone from the starting lineup are defensemen Todd Maher, Hunter Lewis and Zack Leader along with starting attackmen Chase Martin and Matt Crofton. UNC returns 28 letter winners overall from 2000 including the entire midfield unit. Returning starters for the Tar Heels are attackman Jeff Sonke, goalkeeper Kris Blindenbacher and midfielders Ryan Damon, Joel Miller and Bobby Gormsen.
THE SERIES WITH THE STAGS: North Carolina and Fairfield have played only one previous time. That came on February 20, 2000 when the Tar Heels held on for a 12-11 victory over the Stags at Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill in the 2000 season opener for both teams. UNC goalkeeper Kris Blindenbacher made a brilliant one-on-one save in the final five seconds of the game to ensure that it did not go into overtime.
A RETURN TO THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: The top priority for the 2001 UNC men's lacrosse team is a return to the 12-team NCAA Tournament bracket. Three times in the last four years UNC has failed to qualify for the tournament after receiving 17 successive bids from 1980-96. UNC failed to make the tournament field in 1997 with a 6-7 mark. In 1998, the Heels qualified with a 7-7 ledger but lost 16-14 to arch-rival Duke in the first round. The Heels were 6-9 in 1999 and 8-6 in 2000 but failed to get a bid either time. This year's senior class is determined to go out with a bid to the Big Dance in May. That would be a great accomplishment for this year's seniors and first-year Tar Heel head coach John Haus. The Tar Heels' senior class includes attackman Jeff Sonke, midfielders Mac Hammer, Ryan Damon, Peter Dell'Olio and Judd Lattimore, defensemen Bobby Gormsen and Hunter Sims and gaolkeeper Robert D'Urso.
FOUR TAR HEELS EARN MENTION ON FACEOFF PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA TEAM: Four members of the University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team have been named to the preseason All-America Team named by Faceoff Magazine. This group of players includes senior attackman Jeff Sonke on the first team, senior defenseman Bobby Gormsen on the third team, senior midfielder Mac Hammer on the honorable mention squad and sophomore midfielder Austin Garrison on the honorable mention squad.
SONKE, GORMSEN ON COLLEGE LACROSSE USA SQUAD: Sonke and Gormsen were also named to the preseason All-America squad named by College Lacrosse USA.com. Sonke has been tapped for second team All-America on the website's team and Gormsen was named as one of the national players to watch in 2001.
THE ALL-TIME RECORD: UNC has an all-time record of 326-196-2 in 43 years of varsity competition. The Tar Heels have won eight regular-season Atlantic Coast Conference championships and seven ACC Tournament championships. The Heels have finished ranked in the Top 25 of the USILA poll 33 times and they have been invited to play in 20 NCAA Tournaments.
DAMON ON THE CAREER CHARTS: Senior Ryan Damon has moved into third place in the category of most faceoffs won in a career. Damon has now won 290 faceoffs in his UNC career. The second spot is occupied by Jason Sanders (1993-96), who won 298 career faceoffs while Jude Collins is the Tar Heel career leader in faceoffs won with 429.
THE CAROLINA CONNECTION: Carolina will play three regular season games this year against teams coached either by Carolina alumni or by former UNC assistant coaches. Carolina meets Navy, coached by Richie Meade '75, on March 3, Delaware, coached by Bob Shillinglaw, '74, on March 10, and UMBC on April 14. UMBC head coach Don Zimmerman served as an assistant coach for four years at UNC under Head Coach Willie Scroggs from 1979-82.
CAROLINA AT HOME: North Carolina heads into the Fairfield game with an all-time record of 190-92-2 in games played in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels were 8-2 at home in 2000 after having losing home records in both 1998 and 1999. Carolina has played lacrosse since 1949.
