University of North Carolina Athletics
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Maryland
No. 2 Maryland Holds Off No. 4 North Carolina 10-9
March 27, 2004 | Men's Lacrosse
March 27, 2004
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Joe Walters scored four goals to lead second-ranked Maryland to a 10-9 victory over fourth-ranked North Carolina in men's lacrosse action before a sun-drenched crowd of 1,872 fans at Fetzer Field Saturday afternoon. Jed Prossner scored three goals and Mike McCall and Bryant Will each had two goals and an assist as the Tar Heels rallied from a 7-2 deficit in the game but fell short in the end.
Maryland has now won the last four regular-season games between the two teams in Chapel Hill. The Terps are 7-0 on the season and 2-0 in the ACC. Carolina is 5-2 overall and 1-1 in the ACC. Both of Carolina's losses have come by a single goal at home. UNC lost its other home game this season 9-8 to No. 8 Navy in overtime.
The Terrapins dominated the first half, building a 7-2 at one point as Carolina was plagued by 14 first-half turnovers. Possession of the ball was key as the Terps built a 19-10 shot advantage in the first half. After UNC opened the scoring on a goal by Jed Prossner, assisted by Scott Falatach, the Terrapins ran off the final three goals of the first quarter. The first was by Bill McGlone and then Walters tallied twice in the last 2:09 of the period to put the Terps up 3-1.
Prossner scored an extra-man goal for the Tar Heels exactly two minutes into the second quarter to pull UNC within one goal but the Terps dominated the next 10 minutes of play. Walters and Andrew Schwartzman scored to lift the Terps to a 5-2 lead and then Michael Phipps had back-to-back tallies to balloon the lead to 7-2 with 2:43 left before halftime.
Prossner scored his third goal of the first half just 12 seconds later, off an assist by McCall, and Maryland led at the half 7-3.
Carolina picked up its level of play in the third quarter and outscored Maryland 5-0 in the period to take its final lead of the day at 8-7. Bryant Will and Andrew McElduff scored unassisted goals in the first five minutes of the quarter to cut the lead to 7-5. With 3:50 left in the third quarter, Lance Zimmerman found Mike McCall all alone in front for a goal and then the Tar Heels got unassisted goals by Bryant Will and Ryan Blair in the final 24 seconds to take a brief lead. Will intercepted a Maryland clearing pass and went in to score the tying goal and then Blair rolled the crease off the ensuing faceoff to give the Heels a short-lived lead.
Maryland responded like the No. 2 team in the nation as the Terps got a goal 30 seconds into the fourth quarter. Off the faceoff, defenseman Chris Passavia cleared the ball and fed Mike Brown for a transition goal. The Terps then scored the lead goal off a play designed off a timeout as Justin Smith fed Walters for his fourth goal of the contest. The Terps got the eventually game winner again in a transition situation as Brown scored off an assist by Xander Ritz with 6:48 to play.
McCall put in a rebound of his own saved shot to pull the Tar Heels within one goal with 1:37 to play. Carolina won the following faceoff but turned the ball over and the Terps were able to effectively kill off all but the final seconds of play.
Maryland outshot the Tar Heels 31-26 while Carolina has 32 ground balls to 27 for the Terps. The Tar Heels had a 14-9 edge in faceoff wins. Tim McGinnis made 14 saves for the Terrapins while Paul Spellman had 13 for the Tar Heels.
The Tar Heels will be in action next Saturday when they travel to Baltimore, Md. to meet No. 1-ranked Johns Hopkins (5-0) at 1 p.m. at Homewood Field. Carolina will be seeking its first win over the Blue Jays since 1994.
