University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina Looks For Lift In ACC Tournament
April 17, 2003 | Men's Lacrosse
April 17, 2003
2003 UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA MEN'S LACROSSE GAME NOTES
#12 North Carolina Tar Heels (5-5) vs. #4 Virginia Cavaliers (7-2)
ACC Tournament Semifinals
Friday, April 18, 2003, 8:30 p.m., Klockner Stadium, Charlottesville, Va.
Media Contact: Dave Lohse, 919-962-7257, dlohse@uncaa.unc.edu
Carolina Athletics on the World Wide Web at http://www.TarHeelBlue.com
NEXT UP FOR TAR HEELS IS ACC TOURNAMENT: No. 12 North Carolina will seek to end a three-match losing streak when the Tar Heels play No. 4 Virginia Friday night at 8:30 p.m. in the 2003 ACC Tournament semifinals. The match will be played on the University of Virginia campus in Charlottesville, Va. The Tar Heels (2-1 ACC) are the tournament's No. 3 seed while the Cavaliers (2-1 ACC) are seeded second. In the other semifinal match, top seed Maryland (2-1 ACC) meets No. 4 seed Duke (0-3 ACC) at 6 p.m. The championship match will feature the two semifinal winners and be played Sunday at 3 p.m. and will be televised regionally on Comcast, Sunshine and Fox Sports South. UNC's overall record is 5-5 entering action Friday. The Cavaliers are 7-2. Both Carolina and Virginia would benefit with a win on Friday in advance of NCAA bids being announced on May 4. Sixteen teams will be included in the Tournament field including the champions of seven conferences which receive automatic bids. UNC is seeking its first NCAA Tournament bid since the 1998 season. Following the ACC Tournament, UNC completes it regular season with games against Stony Brook on April 23 and Air Force on April 26.
CAROLINA IN THE ACC TOURNAMENT: North Carolina has an all-time record of 15-7 in Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament games. The Tar Heels won 15 of their first 16 games in tournament history but have lost their last six. UNC's last win came in the 1996 championship game over Virginia by a 13-11 at Charlottesville's Klockner Stadium on April 21, 1996.
UNC'S ACC TITLES: North Carolina has won 11 ACC men's lacrosse titles in its history. UNC won titles in 1981, 1982, 1985 (3-way tie) and 1988 when the title was decided by regular season play. UNC won ACC titles via the tournament format in 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1996.
THE ACC RACE: North Carolina finished the 2003 season tied for first place in the ACC with a 2-1 record, tying Maryland and Virginia for first place. The last time that UNC won a share of the regular season ACC championship was 1996 when Maryland and UNC tied for the top spot with 2-1 records. The last time that Carolina finished 3-0 in the ACC came in 1992.
GARRISON, PROSSNER NAMED ALL-ACC: North Carolina had two players named to the 2003 All-ACC Team on April 17. Senior midfielder Austin Garrison and sophomore attackman Jed Prossner were tapped for the squad. They are the first UNC All-ACC selections since 2001.
CAROLINA'S TOUGH SCHEDULE: When North Carolina plays at No. 4 Virginia on Friday the Tar Heels will be playing their 10th Top 25 opponent in their first 11 games of the campaign. Every match Carolina has played this season has been against a team ranked in the Top 25 at the time of the match except for the Denver match on March 15. Carolina played against four Top 10 teams in a row as UNC beat No. 8 Duke 14-9, beat No. 2 Maryland 10-6, lost to No. 1 Johns Hopkins 11-10 in overtime and lost to No. 6 Virginia 10-7 from March 19-April 5.
UNC COMPETITIVE IN EVERY GAME: Carolina has been competitive in every game it has played this season and in a position to win in the closing minutes even of the games they lost. The five Tar Heel losses are by a combined total of nine goals. In every Tar Heel loss Carolina has been within a one-goal margin with less than four minutes to play in the game. Carolina hopes some of that tough luck begins to turn around this weekend.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE HEELS' PERSONNEL: Carolina has been led by a solid defense and an opportunistic offense so far in 2003. Carolina has a goals against average this season of just 8.20 goals per game behind starting close defenders Ronnie Staines, Charley Conkling and Stephen McElduff and key reserves Matt Pessagno and J.J. LaSeta. Long stick middies Bowen White, Hayward Howard and Billy Staines have also done a great job as have short stick defensive middies Andrew McElduff, Dan Stringer and Dave Duffy. Ronnie Staines, Stephen McElduff and Charley Conkling have started all 10 games for the Tar Heels this season on close defense. In fact, Staines has started every game in his Tar Heel career over the last three seasons--35 in all--on the UNC close defense. Sophomore goalkeeper Paul Spellman is having an outstanding season and has an 8.06 goals against average and a save percentage of .615. Spellman has had 16 or more saves in four of Carolina's 10 matches this season. Offensively, Carolina has its most depth in several years and has consistently played five attackmen while running three midfield units. Sophomore attackman Jed Prossner leads the Tar Heels in scoring with 31points on 20 goals and 11 assists. Senior middie Austin Garrison has been spectacular with 24 points (17 goals, 7 assists) and a .395 shooting percentage. Sophomore attackman Mike McCall also has 24 points (17 goals, 7 assists) and he has a .354 shooting percentage. Other double figure scorers for UNC are sophomore midfielder Bryant Will with 19 points (9 goals, 10 assists), freshman attackman Ryan Blair with 19 points (7 goals, 12 assists) and senior midfielder Kyle Bell with 15 points (9 goals, 6 assists). Other key players on the offensive depth chart are attackmen Andrew Lucas and Drew Habeck and midfielders Scott Falatach, Lance Zimmerman, Steven Will, Johnny Seivold, Peter Anselmo, Kyle Henderson and Ryan Tolson.
A QUARTET OF PRESEASON ALL AMERICA CHOICES: Four Tar Heels were named to the preseason All-America team named this season by Faceoff Yearbook and Inside Lacrosse.com. Senior midfielder Austin Garrison and junior defenseman Ronnie Staines were both named to the preseason third team All-America squad. Sophomore attackman Jed Prossner and sophomore midfielder Bryant Will were named preseason honorable mention All-America selections.
BACK TO BACK TOP 10 WINS FOR UNC: With the 14-9 win over No. 8 Duke on March 19 and the 10-6 win over No. 2 Maryland on March 22, the Tar Heels claimed back to back upset victories in the first two games of a four-match stretch against teams all ranked ahead of UNC in the USILA poll. The Tar Heels almost pulled off a third straight upset but fell just short when it lost to No. 1 Johns Hopkins 11-10 in overtime on March 29 in Chapel Hill. In the fourth game of a four-match stretch against Top 10 teams the Tar Heels fell at Virginia last Saturday by a 10-7 score. The last time Carolina beat two Top 10 teams in back to back matches was in April 1996. UNC beat No. 1 Virginia 19-18 on April 6, 1996 in Chapel Hill and No. 7 Notre Dame 11-10 on April 13, 1996 in South Bend, Ind. The win over Duke was the first by UNC over a team ranked higher in the poll than the Tar Heels since Carolina had upset a No. 5 ranked Blue Devil team in 2002 in Durham by a 9-7 score. Carolina then came back just three days after the win over Duke to defeat the second-ranked Terrapins of Maryland 10-6 in College Park. The win over Maryland was Carolina's first over the Terps since March 23, 1996 when UNC defeated Maryland 17-16 in Chapel Hill on the strength of midfielder Jason Wade's school record eight goals (on eight shots taken). The win over Maryland also marked the highest ranked opponent that the Tar Heels had beaten since a 10-9 victory over a No. 2 Duke team on April 14, 1999 in Durham, N.C.
NORTH CAROLINA VS. VIRGINIA: Since North Carolina started its varsity lacrosse team in 1949, the Tar Heels have played Virginia 56 times with the Cavaliers holding a 37-19. Several games were played prior to 1949 with Virginia a varsity team and UNC still a club program. Beginning in1949, Virginia won the first 16 games and 19 of the first 20 through 1979. Since 1980, the series is dead even with 18 UNC wins and 18 Virginia wins.
CAROLINA VERSUS THE ACC: North Carolina's wins over Duke and Maryland last month were two more milestone victories for Carolina in Coach John Haus' rebuilding effort. UNC has now won four of its last nine matches against Atlantic Coast Conference opponents. The March 19 win over Duke was also, rather amazingly, UNC's first home ACC win since beating Virginia 19-18 on April 6, 1996, making it almost seven years between wins over ACC teams at home. Compare the 4-5 record in the last nine games with the fact UNC was 1-19 against ACC foes from the start of the 1997 season through the first two ACC games of the 2001 campaign. Carolina also started 2-0 in the ACC for the first time since 1994 when the Tar Heels won their opening two ACC games against Duke and Maryland. The last time Carolina finished 3-0 in the ACC was 1992. Since the start of the 1997 season UNC is 1-9 versus Virginia, 1-7 versus Maryland and 3-7 versus Duke. The Tar Heels had not beaten Maryland prior to the 10-6 win on March 22 since 1996. Four of those five wins since 1997 have come in the last nine matches against league teams under the leadership of Coach John Haus.
THE DEFENSE HAS NOT RESTED: North Carolina has proved to be a much better defensive team in the last three seasons and that has held true through the first nine games of the 2003 season. The Tar Heels have a goals against average of 8.20 goals per game in 10 contests. Under Coach John Haus, Carolina averaged giving up 8.95 goals per game in 2001 and 8.78 goals per game in 2002.
GARRISON IS ACC PLAYER OF THE WEEK MARCH 16: Senior middie Austin Garrison was named ACC Player of the Week March 16 after his performance in Tar Heel wins over Ohio State and Denver. The New Canaan, Conn. senior had three goals and one assist in each of the wins over the Buckeyes and the Pioneers.
PAUL SPELLMAN IS TAPPED FOR ACC WEEKLY HONOR MARCH 23: Sophomore Paul Spellman was named the ACC Men's Lacrosse Player of the Week March 23 after making 32 saves and allowing only 15 goals in the previous week's 14-9 win over Duke and the 10-6 win at Maryland. This was the second time in his UNC career he was named player of the week in the league. He also earned the honor on February 25, 2002.
PROSSNER NAMED A TEWAARATON TROPHY FINALIST: Sophomore attackman Jed Prossner was named this season as a finalist for the prestigious Tewaaraton Trophy given to the National Player of the Year. Prossner, an Easton, Md., native is the Tar Heels' leading scorer with 31 points so far this season. He is the first Tewaaraton Trophy finalist from North Carolina since the awarded was instituted during the 2001 season.
A BEVY OF CLOSE GAMES: Of Carolina's last 27 games, 15 have been decided by one or two goals, including five matches this year. Four of those 14 nailbiters have gone to overtime,
YOUTH WINS OUT: Carolina's top offensive stat leaders are a group dominated by underclassmen as only three seniors and one junior are amongst the Tar Heels' top 10 scorers so far this season. Midfielder Austin Garrison is the second leading scorer with 24 points, midfielder Kyle Bell as the sixth leading scorer with 15 points, midfielder Steven Will as the ninth leading scorer with six points and attackman Andrew Lucas as the 10th leading scorer with three points are the only exceptions to the freshman/sophomore dominance on the offensive end.
A BURST OF OFFENSE: Carolina scored its most goals of the season with 14 in the win over Duke on March 19. It was also the most goals scored by UNC against an ACC opponent since the Tar Heels lost to Virginia 17-16 in double overtime in the 2000 ACC Tournament semifinals on April 21, 2000.
BELL LEADS HEELS PAST BUCKNELL: Senior middie Kyle Bell led Carolina past Bucknell in UNC's season opener this year with the first hat trick of his career.
THE PROSSNER FILE: Carolina sophomore attacker not only leads the Heels in scoring with 31 points but he has at least four points in six of 10 games. Prossner had successive hat tricks against Bucknell and Navy and then had two goals and two assists against Denver. Against Duke, Prossner equaled his career high for points in a game with six on four goals and two assists. He also had two goals and three assists against Johns Hopkins.
BRYANT WILL STEPS UP: After a slow start, sophomore middie Bryant Will showed his best stats of the season so far in the outing against Denver. Will had two goals and two assists versus the Pioneers. That tied his career high for points in a game with four. He had four points in a game as a freshman against both Bucknell and Delaware.
MCCALL PLAYS TALL AGAINST DUKE: Carolina attackman Mike McCall stepped up his game against Duke March 19 as he scored a season high three goals. McCall's play was highlighted by a behind the backer in the fourth quarter against the Blue Devils. McCall's season high for points was four against UMBC. Last year, McCall set the UNC record for most points in a game by a freshman with eight against Fairfield.
GARRISON, BLAIR AND SPELLMAN GET THEIR GROOVE ON AGAINST THE TERPS: Three Tar Heels had career games against Maryland in North Carolina's 10-6 win over the Terps on March 22. Sophomore goalkeeper Paul Spellman shattered his career high for saves in a match with 25 against the Terps, allowing only six goals. Spellman previously had 18 saves against Johns Hopkins as a freshman and 18 against Ohio State on March 12 of this season. He had 18 saves again in a losing effort against Virginia on April 5. Garrison meanwhile has four goals and one assist in the win over the Terps. That equaled his career high for points in a match. He also had five points as a freshman against Virginia on April 21, 2000. Meanwhile, freshman attackman Ryan Blair really broke out of his shell in a big way against the Terps (no pun intended) as he had five points on a goal and four nifty assists.
FACING OFF: Carolina is batting a solid .530 in the faceoff circle so far. Junior Kevin Frew is .535 in the circle and sophomore Paul Burnett is at .524. Frew won 16 of 17 faceoffs against Bucknell this year, best individual faceoff percentage in a game in UNC history and tied for fifth in number of faceoff wins in a game.
SPELLMAN BETWEEN THE PIPES: Sophomore goalkeeper Paul Spellman enters the Virginia game with an 8.06 goals against average and .615 save percentage. His 18 saves against Ohio State on March12 equaled his career high set originally at Johns Hopkins last season. He then broke that career high with 25 saves against Maryland on March 22. Spellman also had 18 saves in a losing effort against Virginia on April 5 and 16 saves in a losing effort against Johns Hoplins on March 29. In 23 games as a Tar Heel, Spellman has had only two games where he has more goals allowed than saves.
CAROLINA IN THE POLL: UNC is ranked No. 12 this week by the coaches in U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association poll.
COACH JOHN HAUS: North Carolina head coach John Haus, a 1983 Carolina graduate, is in his third 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. As the Tar Heel head coach he is 19-16 in three seasons. In eight years as a collegiate head coach his teams are now 86-44. Including his time as a player, assistant coach and head coach he has been involved with teams that have a combined record of 191-79 in the collegiate ranks.
THE LONGEST GAME IN NCAA HISTORY: When the North Carolina Tar Heels defeated the Navy Midshipmen on March 2, 2002 by an 11-10 score, they found themselves making some college lacrosse history too. The game was six overtimes in length and lasted 83 minutes and 39 seconds. That made it the longest game in college history. The longest previous games in history were five overtime affairs involving Cornell on two occasions. Even more remarkably it was the third successive season in which Carolina had beaten Navy 11-10. The Heels beat Navy 11-10 in Chapel Hill in 2000 on a goal in the first overtime of that game and the Heels beat the Mids in Annapolis, Md. in 2001 by 11-10 on a goal by Jeff Sonke with one second to play. This year's marathon event was finally decided when senior midfielder Pat Jackson intercepted a Navy clearing pass just inside midfield and scored into an empty net from 40 yards out. Carolina and Navy nearly topped that this season when the Mids avenged those three defeats with a 9-8 overtime win at Annapolis. It was the second longest game in UNC history. And remarkably the game went overtime only when Andrew Lucas tied it for UNC with three-tenths of a second left in regulation.
AN EIGHT-WIN SEASON FOR CAROLINA: Three more victories this season and the Tar Heels will have only their third season with eight or more wins since the 1996 campaign. When North Carolina finished the 2002 season 8-5 it gave the Tar Heels eight wins in a season for only the second time since 1996 when UNC finished 12-5. Carolina's only other eight-win season since then was 2000 when the Heels were 8-6. Carolina has also had only its second winning season in 2002 since the 1996 campaign. Carolina was 6-7 in 1997, 7-8 in 1998 and 6-9 in 1999, then went 8-6 in 2000. The Tar Heels were 6-6 in 2001 in Coach John Haus' first season followed by an 8-5 mark in 2002 and a 5-5 mark so far this season.
