University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Air Force
Prossner, Falatach Rally Tar Heels Past Air Force, 10-9
March 11, 2004 | Men's Lacrosse
March 11, 2004
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. - Jed Prossner scored twice and Scott Falatach netted the game-winner as the No. 9 North Carolina men's lacrosse team rallied from a two-goal deficit in the final seven minutes of the game to defeat No. 20 Air Force 10-9 Thursday afternoon at Cadet Lacrosse Field. The Tar Heels won their second straight match on the Spring Break trip to Colorado to improve to 3-1 on the season while Air Force lost its second straight one-goal decision and is now 2-2.
It was a seesaw match with neither team able to establish a decisive advantage at any time. The attack unit did all the scoring for UNC as Ryan Blair and Prossner each had three goals for UNC and Falatach and Mike McCall had two goals each. Michael Colosimo led the Falcons with three goals while D.J. Benzing and William Meister each had a pair of goals for Air Force.
The Tar Heels outshot the Falcons 38-27 but a great outing by Air Force goalkeeper Justin Pavoni, who had 18 saves, kept the game close throughout. Paul Spellman finished with 12 saves for Carolina. The Falcons got on the board first on an unassisted goal by William Meister in the third minute of the match. After Blair tied the game for Carolina on an unassisted goal, Colosimo had the first goal in his hat trick with five seconds left in the first quarter to give Air Force a 2-1 lead.
Carolina took a brief 3-2 lead early in the second quarter on back-to-back goals by Falatach and Blair. Falatach's goal was assisted by sophomore midfielder Kyle Henderson, his first career point. Air Force regained the lead 4-3 on Colosimo's second goal of the match and a goal by Paul Adams, assisted by Jon French. Carolina's McCall scored with 2:19 left in the first half to tie the score at 4-4 with an assist by Blair.
Colosimo's third goal of the match gave the lead back to Air Force with 9:25 to play in the third quarter at 5-4 before McCall scored, assisted by Prossner, and Blair scored, assisted by Lance Zimmerman, to stake the Tar Heels to a 6-5 lead. Meiser scored his second goal of the match for Air Force to tie the game at 6-6 with 22 seconds left in the third period before Prossner got the first of his three goals for UNC with just three seconds left in the third period to retake the lead for the Tar Heels.
The Falcons came out a determined bunch in the fourth quarter and scored three successive goals to take a 9-7 lead. Benzing scored his second goal of the match with 14:27 to play to tie the match. With 10:14 left John Smith scored an unassisted goal to put Air Force on top and then with 8:54 left Benzing scored his second goal of the fourth quarter to put Air Force up 9-7.
ut UNC rallied behind Prossner. The junior attackman scored an unassisted goal with 6:35 to play to pull the Tar Heels to within one goal. The with 5:46 remaining Prossner tied the score off an assist by Bryant Will. Falatach then scored the game-winning goal for the Tar Heels with 4:09 left on the clock.
Air Force finished with 40 ground balls to 39 for UNC and the Tar Heels won 12 faceoffs to 10 for the Falcons.
Carolina continues its road trip with a match Sunday against No. 5 Notre Dame at 1 p.m.
