University of North Carolina Athletics
From Fetzer To Finley
February 10, 2003 | Men's Lacrosse
Feb. 10, 2003
By Dave Lohse
Associate Athletic Communications Director
The University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team heads into the 2003 season with some clearly defined goals, most of which involve some streaks which are less than flattering for a program of North Carolina's tradition.
Alumnus John Haus returned to Chapel Hill in June of 2000 with the expressed intent of returning the Tar Heels to past glory. The Tar Heels have shown pronounced improvement in the first two years of Haus' tenure and with a strong senior class which should provide this year's team with outstanding leadership, 2003 may be the breakthrough year for Carolina.
Altogether, North Carolina returns eight of 10 starters and 28 of 44 lettermen from last year's team that finished 8-5 and was ranked 12th in the final United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association poll. Carolina's six-man senior class will lead the Tar Heels into battle this season as UNC seeks its first NCAA Tournament bid since the 1998 season, its first win in the ACC Tournament since 1996 and its first win in the NCAA Tournament since 1993,
"We have a lot of work to do this year to get back among the elite teams of the nation," says Haus. "But I think we have shown some great improvement over the last two years. We've won a lot of close games but we've also lost some close games that have contributed to our inability to get into the NCAA Tournament.
"Although we will rely a lot on young players this year to give us the kind of depth we need to compete with Top 5 teams we are certainly deeper this year. We also have a strong group of seniors who are intent on going to the NCAA Tournament before their careers at Carolina come to an end."
The senior class is top heavy on midfielders but all four of them will play key roles on this year's team. The group includes Austin Garrison of New Canaan, Conn., Steven Will of Phoenix, Md., Kyle Bell of Baltimore, Md., and Peter Anselmo of Massapequa, N.Y. The remainder of the senior class includes defenseman Bowen White of Summit, N.J, and goalkeeper Andrew Larkin of Severna Park, Md.
The current junior class, which entered Carolina during Haus' first year as head coach, is strong from top to bottom. It includes three starters and several other key reserves. Those starters are attackman Andrew Lucas of Glen Arm, Md., and defensemen Ronnie Staines of Severna Park. Md., and Matt Pessagno of Harwood, Md. Other key performers in the junior class for UNC include face-off specialist Kevin Frew of Baldwin, Md., midfielder Johnny Seivold of Efland, N.C., short stick defensive midfielders Dan Stringer of Towson, Md., and Dave Duffy of Garden City, N.Y., midfielder Phil Pennington of Birmingham, Mich., and defensemen Joe Hubbard of Chapel Hill, N.C., and Brad Coker of Knoxville, Tenn.
Carolina had one of the nation's top freshman classes in the nation a year ago as UNC's starting goalkeeper Paul Spellman (Cockeysville, Md.) played all but 2:22 of the season between the pipes and the top three scorers on the 2002 team were all freshmen. Returning to the attack unit are starters Jed Prossner of Easton, Md., and Mike McCall of Yorktown, N.Y., along with Drew Habeck of Crownsville, Md. Bryant Will of Phoenix, Md., was a starter in the first midfield unit for the Tar Heels a year ago and other sophomore middies include Lance Zimmerman of Cockeysville, Md. (a medical red-shirt in 2002), Paul Burnett of Stevensville, Md., Brian Dibbert of Chapel Hill, N.C., and Matt McIntosh of Nashville, Tenn. The sophomore class includes several defensemen who have the chance to be future stars at Carolina. This group includes David DiBianco of Washington, D.C., J.J. LaSeta of Phoenix, Md., and Charley Conkling of Lutherville, Md.
Added to this group of 28 returning letter winners is a group of 14 freshmen that will make up exactly one-third of the team's manpower. This group of newcomers is considered one of the top units in the country and many will be expected to play a lot of minutes as freshmen.
The freshman class includes attackmen Ryan Blair of Auburn, N.Y., Scott Falatach of Stevensville, Md., and Sean Link of Baltimore, Md., midfielders Ryan Tolson of Lutherville, Md., Kyle Stringer of Towson, Md., Dave Werry of Oshawa, Ontario, Andrew McElduff of Yorktown, N.Y., and Kyle Henderson of Massapequa, N.Y., defensemen Stephen McElduff of Yorktown, N.Y., Billy Staines of Severna Park, Md., Hayward Howard of Baltimore, Md., Tom Hodges of Hockessin, Del., and Beau Schwab of Charlotte, N.C., and goalkeeper Andrew Posil of Towson, Md.
"We are going to rely on our freshmen to step up for us this year and give us the kind of depth we need in order to compete for the ACC and NCAA championships," says Haus. "The advantage these freshman have is that we now have in place experienced players who will carry most of the load. So our contributions from the freshmen will be like icing on the cake as we seek to be a better team in 2003."
Face-off Magazine and Inside Lacrosse.com have accorded four UNC players pre-season All-America status. Both senior midfielder Austin Garrison and junior defenseman Ronnie Staines were named third-team All-America selections. Sophomore attackman Jed Prossner and sophomore midfielder Bryant Will were named to the pre-season All-America honorable mention team.
On the attack unit for Carolina, the top returnees include Prossner, McCall and Lucas. As a freshman a year ago, Prossner was the Tar Heels' top scorer with 34 points. The McDonogh School alumnus stepped right into the UNC lineup and started all 13 games for Carolina. He tied for the team lead in goals with 18, tied for the team lead in assists with 16 and topped the team in points with 34. Right behind Prossner on the scoring chart was McCall, who started the season opener against Ohio State, came off the bench the next eight games and then started the last four games of the season. He tied for second on the team in points with 29 on totals of 16 goals and 13 assists. The third returning starter on attack is Lucas, now a junior. Lucas started 10 times for UNC and was tied for fourth on the team with 24 points. His 18 goals equaled Prossner's total for the team lead.
Garrison leads the Tar Heel returnees in the midfielder unit. A 2002 post-season honorable mention All-America selection by the USILA, Garrison started every game in the midfield for the second straight year. He had 12 goals and 12 assists for 24 points to tie Lucas as the team's fourth-leading scorer. He also had 34 ground balls. The Will brothers are also top returnees in the midfield. Bryant, a sophomore, started all 13 games for UNC last season and tied McCall as the team's second-leading scorer with 29 points. His 16 assists equaled Prossner's total as the top mark on the squad. Older brother Steven, a senior, played in the midfield as a freshman but started each of the last two years on attack. He will return to the midfield this year after scoring 15 goals, passing for four assists and scooping up 36 ground balls as a junior. Other top returning players in the midfield are Zimmerman, who had reconstructive knee surgery last year after putting up some top numbers as a freshman in 2001, and Seivold, who has run second midfield for the past two years. Another key returnee is senior tri-captain Kyle Bell, a mainstay on the second unit since his freshman year. He had four goals and eight assits in 2002.
Other experienced middies include face-off specialists Frew and Burnett. Frew had a great 2002 season as he won 113 of 194 face-offs for a percentage of .582 while also leading the Tar Heels in ground balls with 59. Burnett played 11 games last season and won 48 of 91 face-offs for .527 percent while claiming 30 ground balls. In addition, juniors Dave Duffy and Dan Stringer as well as senior Peter Anselmo are all experienced players who give the Tar Heels three top short stick defensive middies.
On defense, the Tar Heels return two starters on close defense and a host of other players who shared long stick midfield duties and were employed on the man-down defensive unit. Both Ronnie Staines and Matt Pessagno are now two-year starters on defense for Carolina. Staines has started 25 successive games on close defense. Pessagno was third on the team in ground balls last year with 46 and was named the team's most improved player. Other returning lettermen that saw considerable playing time in 2002 are senior Bowen White and sophomores Charley Conkling, David DiBianco and J.J. LaSeta.
In Paul Spellman, the Tar Heels also return one of the top goalkeepers in the nation. Spellman started all 13 games for the Heels in 2002 and played 810:44 minutes of the team total of 813:06. Spellman made 175 saves while allowing 116 goals. His save percentage was an outstanding .601 and he allowed an average of only 8.58 goals per contest.
"Paul Spellman gives us one of the top players in the nation in the goal," says Coach Haus. "It is rare when a freshman is named a team's most valuable player but that is exactly what Paul was for us last year. When you think that he was only a freshman last year you can envision how good he has the potential to be as a senior."
Carolina will open the season at home on February 22 against Bucknell. That is one of six home games for the Tar Heels this season. Other home games will be against Notre Dame, Denver, Duke, Johns Hopkins and the Air Force Academy. UNC travels this year to Navy, Ohio State, Maryland, Virginia, UMBC and Stony Brook. This year's ACC Tournament is at the University of Virginia.
The Tar Heels are ranked #9 in the pre-season by InsideLacrosse.com and with an expanded NCAA Tournament field of 16 teams this season UNC is not only looking for a bid but also a chance to advance far in the tournament for the first time in 10 years.
"We are getting there," says Haus. "Sometimes it is hard to be patient but I think our program is headed in the right direction."
Players Mentioned
