University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina Continues Road Trip Saturday At UMBC
April 9, 2003 | Men's Lacrosse
April 9, 2003
2003 UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA MEN'S LACROSSE GAME NOTES
#8 North Carolina Tar Heels (5-4) vs. #17 UMBC Retrievers (5-3)
Saturday, April 12, 2003, 1:00 p.m., UMBC Stadium, Catonsville, Md.
Media Contact: Dave Lohse, 919-962-7257, dlohse@uncaa.unc.edu
TAR HEELS TRAVEL TO UMBC SEEKING AN END TO TWO-GAME LOSING STREAK: The No. 8 North Carolina men's lacrosse team travels to the state of Maryland this weekend to meet the No. 17 UMBC Retrievers in a match crucial to both team's 2003 NCAA Tournament chances. The game is slated for Saturday at 1 p.m. at UMBC Stadium in Catonsville, Md. UNC heads into the match with an overall record of 5-4 while the Retrievers are 5-3 after beating No. 9 Towson 10-9 Wednesday night at Minnegan Stadium in Towson, Md. Carolina started the season 1-2 but then ran off four wins in a row to improve to 5-2. The past two times out the Tar Heels dropped close games to a pair of nationally-ranked opponents, falling 11-10 in overtime to top-ranked Johns Hopkins and then losing 10-7 at No. 6 Virginia last Saturday. Both Carolina and UMBC would benefit with a win on Saturday 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 UMBC game, Carolina will finish its 2003 season with the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament at Charlottesville, Va., April 18 and 20, Stony Brook on April 23 and Air Force on April 26.
THE ACC RACE: North Carolina has clinched no worse than a tie for the 2003 Atlantic Coast Conference regular season championship with a 2-1 ACC mark this season. Maryland also finished the regular season with a 2-1 record. Virginia can also finish 2-1 in the ACC if the Cavaliers beat Duke this Saturday in Durham, N.C. If those three teams all finish 2-1 in the league there will be a blind draw for the top three seeds in next week's ACC Tournament. If Duke beats Virginia this Saturday then the Tar Heels will be the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament followed by No. 2 Maryland, No. 3 Duke and No. 4 Virginia. 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.
CAROLINA'S TOUGH SCHEDULE: When North Carolina plays at No. 17 UMBC on Saturday the Tar Heels will be playing their ninth Top 25 opponent in their first 10 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's last four matches have all been played against Top 10 teams 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.
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 four Tar Heel losses are by a combined total of seven goals.
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 7.80 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 nine 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--34 in all--on the UNC close defense. Sophomore goalkeeper Paul Spellman is having an outstanding season and has a 7.84 goals against average and a save percentage of .623. Spellman has had 16 or more saves in four of Carolina's nine 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 29 points on 18 goals and 11 assists. Senior middie Austin Garrison has been spectacular with 23 points (16 goals, 7 assists) and a .381 shooting percentage. Sophomore attackman Mike McCall is the team's third leading scorer with 20 points (15 goal, 5 assists) and he also tops the squad with a .441 shooting percentage. Other double figure scorers for UNC are sophomore midfielder Bryant Will with 18 points (8 goals, 10 assists), freshman attackman Ryan Blair with 17 points (6 goals, 11 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 teams 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 UPSET 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 win over Duke was the first by UNC over a team ranked higher in the poll since Carolina had upset a No. 5 ranked Blue Devil team last year 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. UMBC: North Carolina and UMBC have faced each other 20 times since the first game in 1970. UNC leads the series 15-5. The series resumed in 1998 after an 11-year hiatus with each team winning on its home field the last five years. Carolina won in Chapel Hill last year 15-11 and UMBC defeated Carolina 11-10 the last time the two teams played in Catonsville in 2001. UNC's last win at UMBC Stadium came in 1987 by a 20-3 score.
CAROLINA IN THE NATIONAL STATS THIS WEEK: North Carolina goalkeeper Paul Spellman is ranked in the Top 15 in the nation this week in both save percentage and goals against average. The Cockeysville, Md. native is ranked 11th in save percentage at .623 and 14th in goals against average at 7.84. As a team, UNC is the No. 1 ranked team in the nation in extra-man offense efficiency. Carolina has scored on 17 of 34 extra-man opportunities, a percentage of .500. Carolina is 13th in team faceoff percentage at .543, 17th in scoring defense at 8.0, 18th in scoring margin at 1.89 and 20th in winning percentage at .556.
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 was also 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 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 7.80 goals per game in nine 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 29 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 26 games, 14 have been decided by one or two goals, including four 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 as the second leading scorer with 23 points, midfielder Kyle Bell as the sixth leading scorer with 15 points, midfielder Steven Will as the ninth leading scorer with four 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 29 points but he has at least four points in six of nine 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 and equaled his season high for points with three as well. McCall's play was highlighted by a behind the backer in the fourth quarter against the Blue Devils.
FALATACH STARTING TO GEL ON OFFENSIVE END: Freshman attackman/midfielder Scott Falatach has started make some big contributions to the UNC offense in the past few games as he had one goal and one assist against Denver and two goals in the win over Duke.
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 .543 in the faceoff circle so far. Junior Kevin Frew is .549 in the circle and sophomore Paul Burnett is at .537. 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 UMBC game with a 7.84 goals against average and .623 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. In 22 games as a Tar Heel, Spellman has had only two games where he had more goals allowed than saves.
CAROLINA IN THE POLL: UNC is ranked No. 8 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 19-15 in three seasons. In eight years as a collegiate head coach his teams are now 86-43. Including his time as a player, assistant coach and head coach he has been involved with teams that have a combined record of 191-78 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 5-4 mark so far this season.
