University of North Carolina Athletics
Men's Lacrosse Hopes To Stay In Playoff Hunt
April 12, 2001 | Men's Lacrosse
April 12, 2001
2001 UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA MEN'S LACROSSE GAME NOTES
#16 UMBC Retrievers (4-3) vs. #14 North Carolina Tar Heels (5-4)
Saturday, April 14, 2001, 7:30 p.m., UMBC Stadium, Catonsville, Md.
UNC LOOKS TO KEEP NCAA TOURNAMENT HOPES ALIVE AT UMBC SATURDAY NIGHT: After a huge upset win at fourth-ranked Virginia last Saturday afternoon, the 14th-ranked North Carolina men's lacrosse team has put itself right back into the thick of the race to obtain a bid to the 12-team 2001 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Tournament. Carolina's search for a bid will continue on Saturday night when the Tar Heels venture to Catonsville, Md. to play the 16th-ranked Retrievers of the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC). Game time is 7:30 p.m. at UMBC Stadium. Saturday night's contest promises to be one of the most evenly played lacrosse matches of the entire 2001 campaign. The Tar Heels head into the contest with an overall record of 5-4 while the Retrievers are 4-3. Both teams need a victory to keep their post-season hopes alive. In this week's poll, UNC is ranked 14th and UMBC 16th in the STX/USILA coaches poill. Carolina is 14th and UMBC 15th in the Warrior/InsideLacrosse.com media poll. In the Brine/360Lacrosse.com media poll, the Tar Heels are tied for 15th and UMBC is 14th. Saturday's game will be a matchup of a pair of coaches with Carolina connections. John Haus is in his first year as the head mentor of the Tar Heels after playing at UNC from 1980-83. UMBC head man Don Zimmerman was an assistant coach at Carolina from 1979-82 under legendary Tar Heel coach Willie Scroggs.
NEXT WEEK: Carolina will play in the 13th annual Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Lacrosse Tournament at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla. Games are Friday, April 20 and Sunday, April 22. In the semifinals on April 20, the #1 and #4 seeds will play at 6 p.m. and the #2 and #3 seeds will meet at 8:30 p.m. The championship game is on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Carolina has lost in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament in each of the past four years. Carolina's last ACC title came in 1996.
NORTH CAROLINA VS. UMBC: Saturday's game will be the 19th in the series between Carolina and UMBC. The Tar Heels lead the all-time series 14-4. The series resumed in 1998 after an 11-year hiatus and the teams have won on their home fields the past three years. UNC won at home in 1998 by an 11-8 score. UMBC won at Catonsville in 1999 by a 14-13 score. Last year Carolina won in Chapel Hill 15-9. Carolina had won eight games in a row over the Retrievers until the victory by UMBC at Catonsville in 1999.
COMMON OPPONENTS: The two teams have had only one common opponent this season and that opponent was the Naval Academy. UMBC opened its 2001 season with a 9-8 overtime victory over the Midshipmen in Annapolis on Saturday, February 24. Excatly one week later the Tar Heels played Navy in Annapolis and won by an 11-10 score.
CAROLINA VERSUS THE ACC: Carolina's 7-5 victory at Virginia last Saturday was truly a breakthrough win for Coach John Haus' young team. The win was only the second for Carolina in its last 20 meetings with Atlantic Coast Conference opponents, a skein of frustration which started in the 1997 season. The win also broke a seven-match losing streak against ACC teams dating back to the 1999 campaign. In their last 20 meetings with conference teams the Tar Heels are 2-18. Prior to the win over Virginia last Saturday, the only win against an ACC opponent in the last five years came on April 14, 1999 when UNC defeated Duke 10-9 in Durham. Since the start of the 1997 season UNC is 1-6 versus Virginia, 0-6 versus Maryland and 1-6 versus Duke. Carolina will try to run its ACC winning streak to two games in a row when the Tar Heels play in the ACC Tournament semifinals at Orlando on Friday, April 20. Carolina's opponent will be either Duke or Virginia.
THE DEFENSE HAS NOT RESTED: One area in which Carolina has shown marked improvement so far this season over last year is defensively. Last year Carolina ended its 14-game season allowing an average of 10.35 goals per game. So far this season the Tar Heels have shored up their defense to the tune of allowing only 8.78 goals per game, an improvement of 1.57 goals per contest. Carolina has accomplished that feat while starting three new starters on close defense and playing five games without its starting goalkeeper from last season.
THE OFFENSE IS OPPORTUNISTIC: While the Tar Heel defense has been a bright spot Carolina has struggled to be as consistent on offense as they were a year ago. Much of this has to do with the fact that Carolina lost to graduation senior attackmen Chase Martin and Matt Crofton. Both players finished their careers in the Top 15 of the UNC charts in points, goals and assists. The loss of those four year starters have put a lot of pressure on UNC's only veteran starter this season, 2000 USILA second team All-America attackman Jeff Sonke. Sonke has scored more double the number of points this year than any other Tar Heel with 20 goals and 10 assists for 30 points. With two new starters on the attack and the top three midfield units comprised of five underclassmen and only four seniors the Tar Heel offense is still trying to work through things. Last year Carolina averaged 11.02 goals per game. So fare this season the Tar Heels are averaging 8.67 goals per contest, a decrease of 2.35 goals per game. But Carolina has been opportunistic when necessary as was shown in last Saturday's 7-5 win at Virginia.
TAR HEELS IN THIS WEEK'S ACC STATISTICS: North Carolina ranks fourth this week in the Atlantic Coast Conference in team scoring and fourth in team defense. UNC is scoring 8.67 goals per game and is allowing 8.78 goals per contest. Individually senior attackman Jeff Sonke is the only Tar Heel in the Top 10 in the ACC in scoring. He ranks in a tie for third with 3.33 points per game. Sonke is second in goals scored at 2.22 per game and he is tied for sixth in assists with 1.11 per game. Sophomore attackman Steven Will is tie for eighth in goals scored with 1.33 per game and sophomore midfielder Austin Garrison is tied for ninth in assists with 1.00 per game. UNC senior midfielder Mac Hammer ranks second in the ACC in ground balls per game with 5.11 while senior defenseman Bobby Gormsen and sophomore midfielder Austin Garrison are tied for 10th in ground balls with 3.44 per game. Hammer is fourth in the league in faceoffs, winning .488 of his 82 faceoffs. Senior goalkeeper Robert D'Urso is fourth in the ACC in save percentage at .519 and fourth in the league in goals allowed average at 9.45.
IN THE NATIONAL STATS: Carolina is ranked 19th in the nation this week in scoring defense. The Tar Heels are allowing 8.78 goals per game this season. UNC ranks 20th in the nation in man-up offense. UNC has scored on .317 of its man-up chances this season.
THE STARTING LINEUP: Carolina will likely use the same starting lineup that it used at the Virginia game last Saturday. The probable starters are:
Attack
#7 Steven Will Sophomore
#8 Jeff Sonke Senior
#41 Andrew Lucas Freshman
First Midfield
#5 Tim Gosier Junior
#27 Austin Garrison Sophomore
#32 Lance Zimmerman Freshman
Second Midfield
#9 Mac Hammer Senior
#12 Ryan Damon Senior
#43 Judd Lattimore Senior
Third Midfield
#25 Peter Dell'Olio Senior
#21 Johnny Seivold Freshman
#29 Kyle Bell Sophomore
Defense
#13 Bobby Gormsen Senior
#28 Ronnie Staines Freshman
#45 Hunter Sims Senior
Goal
#3 Kris Blindenbacher Junior
THE EXPERIENCE FACTOR: The Tar Heels will likely start three seniors against the Retrievers Saturday but that may overstate the experience factor of this Tar Heel team. Carolina had a big senior class on last year's team which included two starters at attack--Matt Crofton and Chase Martin--two starters on close defense--Todd Maher and Hunter Lewis--and one senior starting midfielder in Jordan Herrick. The team was hurt even more when Zack Leader, a junior returning starter on defense was lost to the team because of academic problems. Injuries to senior midfielder Ryan Damon and junior goalkeeper Kris Blindenbacher have complicated Carolina's experience problems. So the only starters on Saturday who started a year ago are senior attackman Jeff Sonke, who is by leaps and bounds the most experienced Tar Heel in his fourth year as a starting attackman, senior defenseman Bobby Gormsen and junior goalkeeper Kris Blindenbacher. However Gormsen is in his first year as a starter as a close defenseman. His previous starting experience always came as a defensive midfielder. The remainder of the Tar Heel starting unit is made up of players in their first years as UNC starters including sophomore Steven Will and freshman Andrew Lucas on attack, junior Tim Gosier, sophomore Austin Garrison and freshman Lance Zimmerman in the midfield, senior Hunter Sims and freshman Ronnie Staines on defense and junior Kris Blindenbacher in the goal.
CAROLINA IN THE POLLS: UNC is ranked #14 this week by STX/U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association, #14 by Warrior/InsideLacrosse.com and tied for #15 by Brine/360Lacrosse.com.
Following is UNC in the STX/USILA coaches poll for this season:
March 5--15th
March 12--Tied 12th
March 19--12th
March 26--14th
April 2--Tied 19th
April 9--14th
Following is UNC in the Brine/360Larosse.com media poll for this season:
Preseason--9th
February 19--9th
February 26--19th
March 5--15th
March 12--15th
March 19--13th
March 26--15th
April 2--18th
April 9--Tied 15th
Following is UNC in the Warrior/InsideLacrosse.com media poll for this season:
February 26--18th
March 5--16th
March 12--14th
March 19--Tied 13th
March 26--16th
April 2--18th
April 9--14th
COACH JOHN HAUS: North Carolina head coach John Haus, a 1983 Carolina graduate, is in his first year as the head coach of the Tar Heel program. Prior to returning to UNC he was the head coach at Washington College for four years where his teams were 47-21 and the head coach at Johns Hopkins where his teams went 20-7. His first Tar Heel team is now 5-4. In seven years as a collegiate head coach his teams are now 72-32. Including his time as a player at UNC and seven years as an assistant at Johns Hopkins he has been involved with teams that have a combined record of 177-66 in the collegiate ranks.
THE SCHEDULE TOUGHENS: The docket for the Tar Heel lacrosse team began heating up with the March 21 game against #15 Duke, an 11-8 setback in Chapel Hill. Carolina is currently in a stretch of five games that are all against teams currently ranked in the Top 20 of the STX/USILA poll. After losing to Duke, the Tar Heels played at #5 Maryland. losing 11-7. On March 31, the Tar heels lost at home to #2 Johns Hopkins 12-4. Last Saturday, Carolina won at ninth-ranked Virginia 7-5. This Saturday the Tar Heels play at #16 UMBC. After the UMBC game the Tar Heels will head to Orlando, Fla., where they will match up against their nationally-ranked conference foes again at the 2001 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. That tournament will include #5 Maryland, #9 Virginia, #14 UNC and #15 Duke. Of Carolina's first nine games of the season six have been played against teams currently in the Top 20 of the STX/USILA poll. The Tar Heels lost to #11 Bucknell 9-4 on February 24, defeated #13 Navy 11-10 on March 3, lost to #15 Duke 11-8 on March 21, lost to #5 Maryland 11-7 on March 24, lost to #2 Johns Hopkins 12-4 on March 31 and beat #9 Virginia 7-5 on April 7.
SUPERLATIVES AGAINST VIRGINIA: North Carolina's defense was stellar as the No. 19 Tar Heels upset No. 4 Virginia, 7-5, on April 7. The five goals allowed were the fewest allowed by UNC in an ACC game since April 24, 1992, when the Heels topped Virginia 14-5 in the ACC Tournament. The win also broke a six-match losing streak against Virginia, with the last win coming on April 21, 1996, in the ACC Tournament final. Carolina also snapped a seven-match losing streak against ACC teams. UNC's last win over an ACC team had been April 14, 1999 when Carolina beat Duke 10-9 in Durham, N.C. when the Blue Devils were undefeated and ranked #2 in the nation.
SONKE'S START: Preseason All-America attackman Jeff Sonke leads the Tar Heels in scoring so far this season with 30 points. Sonke has double the number of points than the #2 Tar Heel on the scoring charts, sophomore attackman Steven Will. Three times so far he has produced six points in a game, which is one shy of his career high of seven set last year against Lehigh. Sonke had five goals and one assist against both Fairfield and Delaware. Those five goals are one short of his career high of six goals in a game, also set against Lehigh on May 4, 2000. Sonke was named the Division I National Player of the Week by Warrior and InsideLacrosse.Com after his three goals and three assist performance in UNC's 11-10 win at Navy on March 3. Sonke's goal with one second left in regulation time was the difference in the game. A year ago Sonke had scored in the first overtime period to give the Tar Heels a win over Navy by the same 11-10.
D'URSO NAMED ACC PLAYER OF THE WEEK MARCH 12: Senior goalkeeper Robert D'Urso earned accolades as the Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Lacrosse Player of the Week on March 12, 2001. D'Urso's honor came after the Tar Heels defeated Delaware 13-4 in Newark, Del. on March 10. D'Urso earned only his second career start against the Fightin' Blue Hens and had 11 saves and only four goals allowed in 60 minutes of play.
GORMSEN NAMED ACC PLAYER OF THE WEEK APRIL 9: North Carolina defenseman Bobby Gormsen earned the April 9 ACC Men's Player of the Week honor after leading the Tar Heels' defensive effort in a win over ACC rival Virginia. Gormsen, a senior from Baldwin, N.Y., anchored the North Carolina defense as the No. 19 Tar Heels upset No. 4 Virginia, 7-5. The five goals allowed were the fewest allowed by UNC in an ACC game since April 24, 1992, when the Heels topped Virginia 14-5 in the ACC Tournament. The win also broke a six-match losing streak against Virginia, with the last win coming on April 21, 1996, in the ACC Tournament final. Gormsen had eight ground balls during the game. He also scored his first goal of the season with 10 seconds remaining to seal the win.
BREAKING THE ROAD JINX: When the Tar Heels defeated Navy 11-10 in Annapolis on March 3 of this season the victory broke a seven-game road losing streak for Carolina. The last time the Heels had won on the road prior to that game was April 14, 1999 when Carolina defeated Duke in Durham 10-9. A week after the win at Navy the Tar Heels defeated Delaware 13-4 in Newark, Del. That gave the Tar Heels back to back road wins for the first time since March 13 and 14, 1999. The Tar Heels had defeated Air Force 18-5 on March 13, 1999 in Colorado Springs, Colo. and then beaten Denver 7-4 on March 14, 1999 in Denver, Colo.
HOLDING DOWN THE HENS: When UNC defeated Delaware 13-4 on march 10 the Tar Heels in the process allowed their fewest goals in a game in almost two years. The last time a team had been held to as few as four goals by Carolina was March 14, 1999 when the Heels defeated Denver 7-4 in Denver, Colo. The last time Carolina limited an opponent to fewer than three goals was on April 8, 1997 when the Tar Heels defeated Radford 16-3 in Chapel Hill.
HEELS BEAT DELAWARE BY NINE: Carolina's nine-goal margin of victory over Delaware on March 10 was the largest in a game for the Tar Heels since UNC defeated Air Force by 13 goals (18-5) on March 13, 1999 in Colorado Springs, Colo.
WILL LEADS CAROLINA PAST BUTLER: Sophomore attackman Steven Will scored three goals and had one assist in UNC's 12-10 win over Butler on March 17. The four points in that game tied Will's career high originally set against Virginia on April 21, 2000. His three goals were a career high. He had scored two goals in a game twice last season as well as in Carolina's season-opening win against Fairfield.
DAMON ON THE CAREER CHART: Senior Ryan Damon has now won more faceoffs in his career than all but one other Carolina player in history. After missing the first two games of the season rehabilitating from a leg injury suffered last fall Damon has won 32 faceoffs so far, including a season-high 12 in the win over Butler. That gives Damon 322 faceoff victories in his career. The only other UNC player to ever win more faceoffs was Jude Collins who won 429 from 1993-96.
SONKE ON THE CAREER CHARTS: Senior Jeff Sonke broke into the Top 10 in career goals scored March 17 against Duke and he is close to breaking into the Carolina Top 10 career lists in points and assists. Sonke enters the UMBC game with 96 goals, 53 assists and 149 points in his career. He is now ranked eighth in career goals scored at Carolina with 96. Chase Martin (1997-2000) ranks seventh with 98 career goals. Sonke could also move into the Carolina Top 10 in both points and assists in the near future as well. Spencer Deering (1994-97) currently ranks 10th in career points with 150 and Chase Martin (1997-2000) and Matt Crofton (1997-2000) are tied for ninth in career assists with 63 each.
JACKSON AND GOZIER BOOST MIDFIELD: Junior midfielders Pat Jackson and Tim Gosier are having productive years for Carolina so far. Both players have already scored more goals this season than they did all of last year. Gozier has nine goals and Jackson five goals on the campaign. Last year Gosier scored five times and Jackson only twice.
LUCAS HAS FIRST HAT TRICK: Freshman attackman Andrew Lucas recorded the first hat trick of his career on March 17 when he scored three goals in Carolina's 12-10 win over Butler.
PAIR OF TAR HEELS SCORE FIRST CAREER GOALS AGAINST DUKE: A pair of UNC players scored the first goals of their careers on Wednesday against Duke. Junior midfielder Peter Anselmo scored his first career goal on a fast break in the second quarter as part of a five-goal run that brought the Tar Heels back from a 7-2 deficit to a 7-7 tie early in the third quarter. Red-shirt freshman midfielder Joey Seivold, whose father was an All-America midfielder for the Tar Heels in the 1980s, scored his first career goal in the third quarter against the Blue Devils. At the time the goal cut the Blue Devil lead to 10-8 but the Tar Heels were unable to score against Duke in the fourth quarter and lost 11-8.
SONKE LEADS TAR HEELS PAST FAIRFIELD IN SEASON OPENER: Tenth-ranked North Carolina trailed for most of the game but rallied to score nine of the last 10 goals to defeat Fairfield 12-7 in John Haus' debut as the Tar Heels' men's lacrosse coach February 18. The game was the season opener for both teams as 450 fans watched at UNC's Francis E. Henry Stadium. Jeff Sonke was Carolina's main man as he came within one of his career highs for both goals and points in a game. He finished with five goals and one assist as the Tar Heels rallied from a 6-3 deficit with 8:43 to play in the third quarter. "It's great to win my first game back here and it's great to be back in Chapel Hill," said Haus. "Our kids came out tentative and Fairfield took it to us. I told our guys in a timeout in the third quarter that we need to play with a sense of urgency. Once we got over the hump we played with a lot more confidence." Fairfield goalkeeper C.J. Kemp kept the Tar Heels at bay most of the first half as he made 10 saves while allowing only two goals as the Stags built a 4-2 halftime lead. Sonke scored the opening goal of the game for the Tar Heels but Fairfield ran off four scores in a row to lead 4-1 with 10:46 left in the second quarter. Midfielder Peter Stanley had two goals in that run for Fairfield. Finally, Steven Will scored the first of his two goals to cut the lead to 4-2 7:27 before the half but neither team scored again before intermission. After a slashing penalty on Mac Hammer on the opening faceoff of the second half the Stags capitalized with a goal by Matt Buecker 59 seconds into the period. Sonke got one back for Carolina but Troy Bamann's goal with 8:43 to play in the third quarter restored Fairfield's three-goal advantage. Then the game began to turn. Sonke scored his third goal, assisted by freshman attackman Andrew Lucas, who had one goal and three assists in his Tar Heel debut, with 6:47 to play in the quarter. Then reserve midfielder Peter Anselmo made a big defensive play with a takeaway and a clear that led to a fast break goal by Joel Miller with 4:23 left in the third quarter. Sonke tied the game with his second extra-man goal less than three minutes later and then Lucas' unassisted goal with 38 seconds left in the third quarter gave Carolina its first lead since 7:40 remained in the first quarter. Will got his second goal 30 seconds into the fourth quarter to put the Tar Heels up by two but Tom Weney came right back with his second tally of the game for Fairfield to make the score 8-7 with 12:36 left. From then on it was all Carolina. UNC's passing in the final eight minutes of the game was superb and it resulted in four Tar Heel goals--one each by Hammer, Kyle Bell, Sonke and Tim Gosier. Austin Garrison had two of the four assists during that span and he finished with a career high three assists in the game.
BUCKNELL DOWNS CAROLINA: Bucknell ran off the last five goals of the game to defeat North Carolina 9-4 in men's lacrosse in a game played at Curley Field on the Loyola College campus February 24. The game was the season opener for the Bison while the Tar Heels fall to 1-1 on the season. Bucknell led 4-2 at the half but back to back goals by Steven Will and Tim Gosier scored goals for the Tar Heels in the first seven minutes of the third quarter to tie the game at 4-4. But Bucknell's defense shut out the Tar Heels the rest of the way and a goal by Andrew Sanders for the Bison with 7:21 to play in the third quarter put Bucknell up for good. The Bison would go on to add four more insurance goals. Sanders led Bucknell with three goals and one assist, while Dennis Geraghty tallied twice for the Bison. Tim Gosier had a pair of goals for the Tar Heels.
SONKE'S GOAL WITH ONE SECOND LEFT LIFTS UNC PAST NAVY: It's a good bet that the U.S. Naval Academy men's lacrosse team must be thrilled that North Carolina attackman Jeff Sonke is finally a senior. For the second straight year the Birmingam, Mich. native scored a dramatic goal to lift the Tar Heels to an 11-10 victory over the Midshipmen March 3. Last year Sonke scored in sudden victory overtime at Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill to give the Heels the win 11-10. Saturday afternoon he scored with one second remaining at Rip Miller Field in Annapolis to lift the 18th-ranked Tar Heels to yet another 11-10 victory over the 13th-rated Midshipmen. Sonke's heroics, which capped a day in which he scored three goals and added three assists, also assured Carolina of its first victory outside of the city limits of Chapel Hill since April 14, 1999 when UNC upset an undefeated and second ranked Duke team 10-9 in Durahm, N.C. It was Carolina's first win outside of the state of North Carolina since March 14, 1999 when the Tar Heels defeated the University of Denver 7-4 in Denver, Colo. Carolina had lost seven successive games on the road since the win at Duke in '99 until today's cleansing act in Annapolis. In improving to 9-6 all-time against the Midshipmen, the Tar Heels got not only a big game from Sonke but also two goals from fifth-year senior attackman Judd Lattimore, three goals from junior midfielder Pat Jackson and two goals from junior midfielder Tim Gosier. Lattimore scored his first goals since 1998. He had been sidelined the entirety of the 1999 and 2000 seasons with major injury problems. Both Gosier (five) and Jackson (three) have already equaled or surpassed their goal totals for the whole of the 2000 season after their performances in this game, the Tar Heels' third game of the season. Carolina's win also exorcised some of the demons brought on by a 9-4 loss at the hands of Bucknell last Saturday and improved to 2-1 on the season. Navy fell to 0-2 after both losses have been heartbreakers. The Middies fell last Saturday at home to UMBC 9-8 in overtime. Navy got on the board first on a goal by freshman attackman Dave Pittard before goals by Jackson and Gosier just 25 seconds apart staked the Tar Heels to a 2-1 lead. Senior attackman Michael Cataffo tied the score at 2-2 for the Mids before Gosier scored his second goal of the game off the first of three assists by UNC freshman midfielder Lance Zimmerman to give the Heels a 3-2 edge at the end of the first quarter. UNC twice stretched the lead in the second quarter to a pair of goals but Cataffo scored back-to-back goals later in the period to tie the game at intermission 5-5. Jackson returned the favor for Carolina as he scored successive goals early in the third quarter to put the Tar Heels ahead 7-5 but Navy struck back with a pair of scores of their own as senior midfielder Adam Borcz's goal with 43 seconds left ended the third quarter tied again at 7-7. That set the stage for an amazing fourth quarter by National Player of the Year candidate Sonke. He scored his first goal of the game with 13:01 left to give the Tar Heels the lead again. Lattimore followed with his second goal with 9:35 to play to make it 9-7 Tar Heels. That two-goal lead was short-lived, however, as Cataffo scored his second goal of the game just 14 seconds later. Sonke took a feed from UNC freshman attackman Andrew Lucas to restore the lead to two goals with 8:03 left in the fourth quarter. The game stayed that way until a wild final two minutes. Senior attackman Brendan Power scored for the Middies to cut Carolina's lead to 10-9 with 1:33 to play. At the same time Carolina's Joel Miller was flagged for slashing giving the Naval Academy the goal and a one-minute, one-man advantage. Fifty-four seconds later the Mids tied the score on Pittard's second goal of the game with 39 seconds to play. Carolina senior midfielder Mac Hammer, who won eight of 14 faceoffs, won the ensuing faceoff for Carolina against Navy's Chris Dingman and the Tar Heels looked for the game winner. That came off the stick of Sonke, who took a pass from Zimmerman, the freshman middie's third assist of the game, to beat Navy goalie Craig Patterson with one second to play. The game was a coaching matchup between a pair of UNC graduates. Tar Heel head coach John Haus, '83, is in his first year as the head coach at UNC. Richie Meade, '76, who has had two tours of duties as an assistant at Carolina, is in his sixth year as head coach at Navy.
TAR HEELS ROUT DELAWARE: Fifteenth-ranked North Carolina led from start to finish March 10 as the Tar Heels posted a 13-4 win over Delaware at Rullo Stadium in men's lacrosse action. The Tar Heels were led by senior attackman Jeff Sonke who had six points in the game, just one shy of his career high set against Lehigh last season. Sonke had five goals, one short of his career high in the same Lehigh game, and one assist. Sophomore midfielder Austin Garrison tallied his first three goals of the season and freshman attackman Andrew Lucas and junior midfielder Tim Gosier added a pair of goals as UNC defeated Delaware for the second straight year and the fourth time in the last five years. The Tar Heels now lead the all-time series 7-5. Carolina's defense was outstanding as it limited the Fightin' Blue Hens to only four goals, the fourth successive opponent this season that Carolina has limited to 10 goals or less. The four goals allowed by Carolina are the fewest allowed by the Tar Heels since March 14, 1999 when UNC defeated Denver 7-4 at Denver, Colo. Carolina improved to 3-1 on the season with the win over the Blue Hens. Delaware dropped its third straight decision and is now 1-4 on the campaign. After goals by Sonke and midfielders Gosier and Kyle Bell the Tar Heels led 3-0 after the first quarter. Sonke and Gosier both scored their second goals of the game in the second quarter and Garrison added his first as UNC increased its lead at the half to 6-2. After the teams traded goals in the early stages of the third quarter to make it 7-3, Carolina ran off the next three scores on goals by Garrison, Sonke and Lucas to lead 10-3 after three quarters. After Brad Downer cut the lead for the Blue Hens to 10-4 in the second minute of the fourth quarter Carolina closed the scoring with two successive goals by Sonke and another tally by Lucas. Senior Robert D'Urso played the whole way in goal for Carolina and made a career high 11 saves while allowing only four goals. D'Urso has been the Tar Heels goalkeeper since junior Kris Blindenbacher, who had started 16 matches in a row, suffered a concussion in practice on March 1. UNC outshot the Blue Hens 37-25, while also winning the ground ball battle 38-29.
CAROLINA OUTLASTS BUTLER 12-10: Sophomore attackman Steven Will and freshman attackman Andrew Lucas each scored a career high three goals to lift the 12th-ranked University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team to a 12-10 victory over Butler March 17 at Fetzer Field. The Bulldogs, who were coming off a 13-goal loss at Georgetown on Wednesday, got 23 saves from goalkeeper Brendan Winkler and led for much of the game before the Tar Heels produced the winning plays in the third and fourth quarters. UNC outshot the Bulldogs 50-23 on the game but Winkler's magnificent play in goal kept the Bulldogs in the game until the very last minute. UNC improved to 4-1 on the season with the victory as Coach John Haus' team won its third straight game. Butler lost its second in a row and is now 2-3 on the season. Butler drew first blood on the first of two goals by Greg Ruccia before Lucas and junior midfielder Pat Jackson scored goals for Carolina to lead 2-1 late in the first quarter. Chris Aitkin's first goal of the game with 1:33 left in the first quarter left the team's tied at the end of the period 2-2. Butler took a 4-2 lead in the first two minutes of the second quarter on back-to-back goals by Adam Cichostepski. Carolina answered with a three-goal run over 2:37 to take a one-goal lead as junior midfielder Tim Gosier's goal was sandwiched by a pair of goals from Will. Butler responded with its own three goal run to retake the lead at 7-5 before Lucas and Will both scored again before halftime to even the game at 7-7 at intermission. Sophomore midfielder Austin Garrison took an assist from senior defenseman Bobby Gormsen early in the third quarter but that goal was answered by Ruccia's second of the game for Butler. Freshman midfielder Lance Zimmerman then scored on a rebound for the Tar Heels to give Carolina the lead for good in the game with 1:50 left in the third quarter. Lucas scored his third goal of the game on a nifty move from behind the cage to give Carolina's its first two-goal lead of the contest with 12:29 left in the contest. The Tar Heels appeared to take an 11-8 lead along with gaining a one-minute man advantage on a Butler slashing penalty but an inadvertent whistle took the goal away from UNC's Johnny Seivold and the Tar Heels then turned the ball over on the extra-man opportunity. Butler took advantage and an extra-man goal by Aitkin cut Carolina's lead to 10-9 with 8:29 to play in the fourth quarter. Carolina junior midfielder Joel Miller scored on a fast break assisted by senior midfielder Mac Hammer with 5:07 to play to restore Carolina's two-goal lead but Butler simply would not die and Garrett Rosecrans scored his second goal of the game with 3:05 to play to again cut the margin to one goal. But just 34 seconds after Rosecrans' goal the Tar Heels got the insurance goal they needed as sophomore midfielder Kyle Bell took a feed on the crease from Hammer and scored easily past Winkler.
DUKE SURVICES CAROLINA RALLY: #10 Duke's defense held North Carolina to one goal in the final 27 minutes of the game as the Blue Devils held on for an 11-8 win over the #12 Tar Heels March 17 at Fetzer Field. Duke bolted to an early 7-2 lead with more than 10 minutes remaining in the second quarter only to see the Tar Heels rally with five successive goals. But a goal by Kevin Brennan with 7:56 to play in the third quarter gave the Blue Devils the lead for good as they improved to 6-2 and 1-1 in the ACC. North Carolina fell to 4-2 and 0-1 in the ACC. Chris Hartofilis led the Duke attack with three goals while Kevin Cassese, Greg Patchak and Brennan each added two goals. The Tar Heels were led by Steven Will and Jeff Sonke with two goals apiece. Both goalkeepers played well in the game as UNC's Robert D'Urso made a career high 16 saves while Matt Breslin made 14 saves and allowed only eight goals for the Blue Devils. The key statistics in the game was ground balls where the Blue Devils dominated the Tar Heels 42-33. With the win Duke earned three points in the Carlyle Cup competition, the all-sports trophy contested between the two schools. North Carolina now leads this year's competition 17-14.
MARYLAND HANDS TAR HEELS 11-7 LOSS: Third-ranked Maryland rushed to a 5-1 lead in the first 21 minutes of the game March 24 and went on to beat #12 North Carolina 11-7 before 1,864 fans at Byrd Stadium. The Terrapins remained undefeated on the season with the victory by improving to 6-0 overall and 2-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Tar Heels fell to 4-3 on the season and 0-2 in the ACC as they lost their second ACC game of the week. UNC had fallen to #10 Duke in Chapel Hill on Wednesday by an 11-8 score. Andrew Combs, who leads the nation in goals scored, had four goals and one assist to lead the Terrapins, who beat the Tar Heels for the sixth straight time. Maryland's other attackmen each had three points with freshman Dan LaMonica scoring twice and adding one assist and sophomore Mike Mollot adding one goal and two assists. Senior midfielder Chris Malone had one goal and one assist for the Terps. Carolina had seven different goal scorers on the afternoon and senior attackman Jeff Sonke added UNC's only two assists for a total of three points. Carolina outshot the Terrapins 41-37 and won the ground ball battle 49-48. Senior Maryland goalkeeper Pat McGinnis was brilliant as he made 18 saves on the afternoon including seven in the first and fourth quarters each. Senior Robert D'Urso made 10 saves for the Tar Heels. Meryland's 11 goals matched the game high total against the Tar Heels this season, equaling the 11 Duke scored Wednesday night. Maryland never trailed in the game as they stuck the first two goals before Steven Will tallied with 8:20 left in the first quarter for UNC. The Terps then ran off three goals in a row, to by Combs, to lead 5-1 with 9:24 left in the second quarter. Carolina got goals from Pat Jackson and Andrew Lucas to cut the Terrapins' lead to 5-3 at the half but that is as close as UNC would get. After the teams traded goals early in the third quarter the Terrapins ran off three successive goals in the last eight minutes of the period to build a safe 9-4 lead. UNC cut into the margin slightly in the fourth quarter, getting to as close as 10-7 on an extra-man goal by Tim Gosier with 2:05 to play in the game but the Terps' defense dug in and went on to ice the win on an insurance goal by Jon Kemezis.
JOHNS HOPKINS DEFENSE STIFLES CAROLINA: The fifth-ranked Johns Hopkins Blue Jays used a suffocating defensive presence to overpower #14 North Carolina 12-4 in men's lacrosse action Saturday afternoon. The Blue Jays (3-2) allowed the Tar Heels (4-4) only one goal in the first half and that came with only 15 seconds remaining in the second period and Hopkins already ahead 6-0. Attackman Bobby Benson led the Blue Jays with a six-point afternoon as he scored a pair of goals and four assists. Midfielder Conor Denihan had a big game for the Blue Jays as well as he scored four goals and freshman attackman Conor Ford added two goals and one assist. Single goals were added by Matt Hanna, Joe McDermott, Kevin Boland and Tim Muir for the Blue Jays. Carolina got two goals from senior attackman Jeff Sonke and single goals by midfielders Pat Jackson and Kyle Bell. Rob Scherr was brilliant in the goal for the Blue Jays as he made 12 saves and allowed only four goals on 28 shots by UNC. The Tar Heels faced 36 Blue Jays shots with senior Robert D'Urso making three saves in the first half and junior Kris Blindenbacher making eight saves in the second half. Denihan and Benson each scored twice and Benson added two assists as the Blue Jays ran out to a 6-0 lead with 3:06 left in the second quarter. Sonke scored his first goal of the game with 15 seconds left before halftime to cut the lead to 6-1. The closest UNC would get in the second half was 8-3 with 5:59 left in the fourth quarter and 9-4 with 5:11 left in the final period. The Blue Jays scored three goals in a span of 1:21 late in the fourth quarter to stretch the victory margin out to 12-4.
TAR HEELS SHOCK CAVALIERS IN CHARLOTTESVILLE: North Carolina's defense turned in its finest performance in an Atlantic Coast Conference game in nine years April 7 as the #19 Tar Heel men's lacrosse team upset #4 Virginia 7-5 at Klockner Stadium. The win was only the second for Carolina against an ACC team in the last 20 meetings. Junior goalkeeper Kris Blindenbacher made 22 saves, just one short of his career high, and the entire UNC defense led by seniors Bobby Gormsen and Hunter Sims turned in a magnificent performance as the Tar Heels broke a seven-game losing streak against ACC teams. Carolina's last win over a league opponent came on April 14, 1999 when the Tar Heels upset an undefeated #2-ranked Duke team 10-9 in Durham, N.C. Offensively the Tar Heels got two goals apiece from attackmen Steven Will and Jeff Sonke and single goals by Gormsen, senior midfielder Mac Hammer and freshman midfielder Lance Zimmerman to pull off the upset. Virginia was led by sophomore midfielder Chris Rotelli, who scored twice. With the win the Tar Heels broke a three-game losing streak and won for the first time since March 17 against Butler. UNC is now 5-4 overall and 1-2 in the ACC. Virginia saw its four-match winning streak end as the Cavaliers lost at home for only the second time this year. The Cavs are now 5-4 overall and 1-1 in the ACC. Carolina's defensive effort was its finest in an ACC game in nine years. The last time UNC held an ACC opponent to as few as five goals was April 24, 1992 when the Heels defeated UVa 14-5 in the ACC Tournament semifinals at College Park, Md. The win also broke a six-match losing streak against Virginia as the Tar Heels last beat the Wahoos on April 21, 1996 by a 13-11 score in the ACC Tournament championship game at Klockner Stadium. The teams traded goals in the low scoring first half. Zimmerman opened the scoring for Carolina with 2:29 left in the first quarter on an unassisted goal. That goal was matched by the Wahoos' Justin Mullen with 22 seconds left in the first quarter to tie the score. Mullen's goal was assisted by Conor Gill. Sonke put the Tar Heels ahead again with an unassisted goal with 11:42 left in the first half but the lead was short-lived as just 54 seconds later Tyler Gilbert tied the score for Virginia. Neither team scored in the last 10:48 of the first half and the game was tied 2-2 at intermission. Will scored his first goal of the game with 13:32 left in the third quarter to regain the lead for the Tar Heels at 3-2. Fellow sophomore Austin Garrison assisted on the goal. The Wahoos then scored a pair of goals in a span of only 39 seconds to take their only lead of the game. Gill scored an unassisted goal with six minutes left in the third quarter to tie the score and then Rotelli scored his first goal with 5:21 left in the third quarter to put Virginia up 4-3. But the Tar Heels got the equalizer with 38 seconds left in the third quarter on an unassisted goal by Hammer. The game remained tied at 4-4 until Will gave the Tar Heels the lead for good with 7:20 to play in the fourth quarter, receiving a feed from senior attackman Andy Jonas on the goal. The Tar Heels nursed the lead until 2:18 to play when Sonke scored his second goal to make it 6-4 Carolina. Rotelli's goal with 1:05 to play pulled the Cavaliers with a single goal but the Tar Heels' defense refused to cave in and Gormsen finished off the scoring with a goal with 10 seconds left. Gormsen and Blindenbacher both played splendidly as each claimed eight ground balls to share the team lead. Blindenbacher tied his career high for ground balls originally set on April 15, 2000 against UMBC. His 22 saves were one short of his career high of 23 set against Johns Hopkins on April 1, 2000. The Tar Heels will be back in action again next Saturday on the road as UNC travels to play #15 UMBC in a 7:30 p.m. game at UMBC Stadium.
