University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina Plays Regular Season Finale At Colgate Wednesday
April 19, 2005 | Men's Lacrosse
April 19, 2005
2005 UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA MEN'S LACROSSE GAME NOTES
North Carolina Tar Heels (4-7) vs. Colgate Red Raiders (7-5)
Wednesday, April 20, 2005, 7:00 p.m., Tyler's Field, Hamilton, N.Y.
Carolina Athletics on the World Wide Web at http://TarHeelBlue.collegesports.com
CAROLINA CLOSES 2005 REGULAR SEASON WITH GAME WEDNESDAY AT COLGATE: The North Carolina men's lacrosse team will play the final game of its 2005 regular season Wednesday when the Tar Heels meet the Colgate Red Raiders in Hamilton, N.Y. The match will be played at 7 p.m.at Tyler's Field on the Colgate campus. The game will have dual television coverage from College Sports Television (CSTV) and Time Warner Sports. A live internet broadcast will also be available at www.sportsjuice.com/providers/colgate. Live stats will also be available on the Colgate athletics website at http://athletics.colgate.edu/mlacrosse/livestats/xlive.htm. North Carolina heads to New York with a record of 4-7 on the season. The Tar Heels are on a two-match winning streak, having beaten Air Force 14-5 on April 13 in Chapel Hill and UMBC 11-5 on April 16 in Baltimore, Md. Colgate will carry a 7-5 record into Wednesday's match. The Red Raiders have won four of their last six matches although they are coming off an 8-7 loss at Lafayette this past Saturday. Colgate is 4-1 on its home field this season but has played its last three matches on the road. The last time the Red Raiders played at Tyler's Field was April 5 when they beat Binghamton 6-5.
TAR HEELS WILL COMPETE IN ACC TOURNAMENT APRIL 29: Wednesday's match at Colgate will be the final regular season game of the 2005 season for UNC but the Tar Heels will be back in action nine days later when Carolina plays in the 2005 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament semifinals at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md. on April 29. UNC will be the No. 4 seed in the ACC Tournament and will be playing the No. 1 seed, Duke, in the first of two semifinal matches on Friday, April 29 at 6 p.m. No. 2 seed Virginia and No. 3 seed Maryland will play in the second match of the night at 8:30 p.m. The championship match will be on Sunday, May 1 at 3:30 p.m.
CAROLINA DEPTH CHART: The Tar Heels employ a depth chart that is never exactly set in stone but here is how the Tar Heel depth chart might work out in the match against Colgate.
Attack -- #1 Jed Prossner, #2 Mike McCall, #14 Ryan Blair.
Attack Off The Bench --#15 Drew Habeck, #7 Sean Link, #35 Sam Wagner.
First Midfield -- #26 Nick Tintle, #40 Rob Driscoll, #42 Kyle Henderson.
Second Midfield -- #12 Brian Connors, #17 Tom Sciolla, #44 Ryan Walterhoefer.
Third Midfield -- #20 Ryan Tolson, #28 Bryant Will, #41 Andrew McElduff.
Faceoffs -- #9 Lance Zimmerman, #39 Dave Werry.
Close Defense -- #6 Stephen McElduff, #22 Tim Kaiser, #47 Charley Conkling.
Close Defense Off The Bench --#43 J.J. LaSeta, #32 David DiBianco, #31 Brian Burke.
Rope -- #23 Hayward Howard, #33 Billy Staines.
Short Stick All-Purpose/Defensive Midfielders -- #34 Mike Munnelly, #11 David Ryan, #3 Matt McIntosh.
Goal -- #4 Paul Spellman; Backup -- #5 Trey Sheain.
PROSSNER NAMED ACC CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK APRIL 18: Tar Heel senior attackman Jed Prossner was tapped as the Atlantic Coast Conference men's lacrosse co-player of the week April 18 after leading the Tar Heels to wins over Air Force and UMBC in the previous week. Prossner had a goal and two assists as the Tar Heels routed the Falcons 14-5 on April 13. He followed that performance by matching his season high for points with six on three goals and three assists in UNC's victory over UMBC 11-5 on April 16. Prossner also had a career high nine ground balls in the win over the Retrievers. In the game against UMBC, Prossner moved into third place in career goal scoring at Carolina with 110 and into eighth place in career points with 167.
SPELLMAN ESTABLISHES CAREER SAVES RECORD: UNC senior goalkeeper Paul Spellman (Cockeysville, Md.) broke the school record for career saves at the University of North Carolina in UNC's 11-5 win over UMBC on April 16. Spellman made 15 saves in the match while allowing only five goals while playing all 60 minutes in the game. That came on the heels of an outstanding performance against Air Force. Spellman played the first three quarters of the match against the Falcons April 13 and was extremely solid as he made nine saves while allowing only three goals. He also scooped up five ground balls. Spellman has now pushed his career save total to 642. The previous Tar Heel record was 629 saves held by Tom Sears, who played from 1980-83, earning National Player of the Year honors while leading the Tar Heels to the NCAA championship in 1982.
TAR HEELS KNOCK OFF UMBC FOR SECOND STRAIGHT WIN: After failing to win in its first five trips outside of Chapel Hill in 2005, North Carolina finally broke into the win column on the road on April 16 as the Tar Heels defeated UMBC 11-5 in Baltimore, Md. Senior Paul Spellman made 15 saves and allowed only five goals in the 60 minutes he played in the goal to spark an outstanding defensive effort. Spellman's 15 saves were the second-highest total he has had this season and the game marked the third time this year UNC has held an opponent to only five goals. The play of starting close defensemen Charley Conkling, Stephen McElduff and Tim Kaiser and veteran long-stick midfielders Hayward Howard and Billy Staines fueled the defensive effort which limited the Retrievers to only two second-half goals, one of them an extra-man goal. Carolina broke a 3-3 tie at halftime and a 4-4 early in the third quarter and ended the game on a 7-1 scoring run. Senior attackman Jed Prossner led the Tar Heels with a season-high six points on three goals and three assists. Prossner also had a career high nine ground balls in the game. Senior Mike McCall scored four goals in the game for UNC with all four of his scores coming in the final 17:12 of the match as UNC pulled away from the Retrievers. Freshman midfielder Nick Tintle also had the best offensive game of his young career as he scored two goals and added an assist. Junior defensive midfielder Hayward Howard had a career high seven ground balls in the match as UNC won the ground ball battle 46-34, including a decisive 28-16 in the second half of play. Paul Spellman also recorded his first career point in the game as he assisted on Mike McCall's goal with 3:28 to play in the contest with a length of the field clearing pass. Junior defensive midfielder Billy Staines also had his first career assist in the victory.
TAR HEELS REBOUND FROM LOSSES WITH WIN OVER AIR FORCE: After enduring a three-match losing streak against a trio of teams ranked in the top three in the nation at the time, UNC bounced back with an impressive 14-5 over Air Force April 13 at Fetzer Field. The victory over the Falcons came just three days after Air Force took then No. 11 Notre Dame to overtime in South Bend, Ind. before the Fighting Irish pulled out a 14-13 win. Earlier in the year Notre Dame had beaten Carolina 9-7 in Carson, Calif. On April 13, however, the Tar Heels came to play and took care of business early, allowing North Carolina head coach John Haus to play every UNC player who was dressed in uniform in the game. Carolina scored the opening 10 goals of the game to lead 10-0 at halftime. Nine different Tar Heels scored goals in the first half of the match with senior attackman Mike McCall leading the way with three first half goals. Three Tar Heels scored the first goals of their careers in the first half of the match -- junior attackman Sean Link, senior close defenseman Charley Conkling and freshman close defenseman Tim Kaiser. Link also recorded his first career assist when his pass across the box to freshman midfielder Rob Driscoll led to a goal with less than a second remaining on the clock in the first half. After Air Force scored the opening goal of the second half 12 seconds into the third quarter, UNC ran off three goals in a span of 2:40 to put the game away at 13-1. The mass substitutions by the Tar Heels started at that point. Carolina's talented attack had the bulk of the scoring with McCall scoring three goals and adding two assists, Ryan Blair scoring three goals and adding one assist and Jed Prossner scoring one goal and adding two assists. But UNC did not rely exclusively on the attack for its offensive success against Air Force. Four midfielders and two defensemen contributed goals and senior midfielder Bryant Will equalled his best feeding match of the season as he recorded three assists. UNC had a season high 70 ground balls in the match with five UNC players recording career highs for ground balls in a game -- senior midfielder Lance Zimmerman with 10, junior defenseman Billy Staines with nine, freshman defenseman Tim Kaiser with seven, sophomore attackman Sam Wagner with five and junior midfielder Kyle Henderson with three.
ZIMMERMAN'S OUTSTANDING DAY VERSUS THE FALCONS: Senior midfielder Lance Zimmerman (Cockeysville, Md.) had one of the best days of his career in the face-off circle as the Tar Heels defeated Air Force 14-5 on April 13. Zimmerman won 13 of the 15 face-offs he took in the match. That is just two shy of the 15 face-offs he won against Duke on March 19. Zimmerman's face-off winning percentage of .867 in the match against Air Force was the best he has ever produced in a single game. He also claimed a match high 10 ground balls for UNC. That total exceeded his previous career high of nine ground balls established against Duke on March 19. UNC No. 1 backup in the face-off circle, junior Dave Werry, also did outstanding work against Air Force as he won four of his six face-off tries.
AIR FORCE GAME WAS FINAL HOME MATCH FOR 10 TAR HEEL SENIORS: The April 13 match between North Carolina and Air Force marked the final home appearance at Fetzer Field for 10 Tar Heel seniors. Playing their final home games that day were senior attackman Jed Prossner (Easton, Md.), senior attackman Mike McCall (Yorktown, N.Y.), senior midfielder Matt McIntosh (Brentwood, Tenn.), senior goalkeeper Paul Spellman (Cockeysville, Md.), senior midfielder Lance Zimmerman (Cockeysville, Md.), senior midfielder Bryant Will (Phoenix, Md.), senior defenseman David DiBianco (Washington, D.C.), senior goalkeeper Andrew Posil (Towson, Md.), senior defenseman J.J. LaSeta (Phoenix, Md.) and senior defenseman Charley Conkling (Lutherville, Md.).
PROSSNER MOVES INTO EIGHTH PLACE IN CAREER POINTS: With 39 points so far in the 2005, senior attackman Jed Prossner has moved into eighth place all-time in career points at North Carolina. Prossner now has 167 points in his career. Prossner had six points in the win over UMBC, breaking the three-way tie for eighth place in points he was in with both Chase Martin (161 points from 1997-2000) and Brendan Carey (161 points from 1993-96). The No. 7 spot on the Tar Heel list is held by Mac Ford (1982-85) who had 172 career points. Prossner has 39 points this season. That is the second most he has had in a season in his career. His best point total was 56 as a junior in 2004.
McCALL VAULTS INTO TOP 10 IN CAREER GOALS SCORING: Senior attackman Mike McCall (Yorktown, N.Y.) tallied four goals in UNC's win over UMBC on April 16, running his team-leading season total to 28. That total is just one goal short of his previous career best for goals in a season which was 29 in 2004. McCall's career total is now 97 and in the UMBC game he moved past Jason Wade (95 goals from 1993-96) into the No. 10 spot on the career goal scoring chart. Immediately ahead of McCall on the career chart are Harper Peterson in the No. 8 spot with 99 career goals and Chase Martin in the No. 9 spot with 98 career goals. McCall has 35 points this season. The most he has had in a single year was 36 in 2004.
BLAIR'S SEASON BEST TOTALS: Junior Ryan Blair's 21 assists and 37 points are both season best totals for the attackman during his Carolina career. Previously, Blair's best totals were 16 assists during the 2004 season and 34 points in the 2004 campaign. Blair is ranked second this week in the ACC in assists per game at 1.91, just .01 assists per game behind the leader.
HAUS REWARDED WITH 100TH COLLEGIATE COACHING VICTORY AGAINST BIG RED: When the then No. 19 North Carolina men's lacrosse team defeated the Cornell Big Red 9-5 on March 23, 2005 on the grass of Fetzer Field, it rewarded Tar Heel Head Coach John Haus with his 100th collegiate career coaching victory. Now in his 11th season as a college head coach, Haus has mentored college teams which have compiled records totaling 102-57. In four seasons at Washington College from 1995-98, his teams went 47-21. Haus then coached at Johns Hopkins for two seasons in 1999 and 2000 where his squads were 20-7. Now in his fifth year at UNC, Haus has led the Tar Heels to a 35-29 overall ledger.
TAR HEELS' STOUT DEFENSIVE EFFORT ITS BEST IN 22 MATCHES: When North Carolina defeated Cornell 9-5 on March 23, 2005, the Tar Heels limited the Big Red to the lowest goal total against UNC since the final game of the 2003 season, 22 games previous to that contest. The last time Carolina had limited a team to that few a number of goals was April 26, 2003 when the Tar Heels defeated Air Force 11-5 at Fetzer Field. Despite a 7-5 loss to Johns Hopkins on April 2, the Tar Heels defense was again outstanding as it limited the No. 1-ranked Blue Jays to their lowest goal total of the 2005 season to date. UNC again limited an opponent to five goals when the Tar Heels defeated Air Force 14-5 on April 13 at Fetzer Field and when it downed UMBC 11-5 on April 16 at Baltimore, Md.
PROSSNER JOINS 100-GOAL CLUB, MOVES UP TO NO. 5 ON UNC CHART: Tar Heel senior attackman Jed Prossner (Easton, Md.) passed the century mark in career goal scoring at the University of North Carolina in the March 23, 2005 victory over Cornell. Prossner, a first-team All-America attackman in 2004, scored the 100th goal of his career with 10:16 to play in the second quarter of the match cutting Cornell's lead to 2-1. Ryan Blair provided the assist on Prossner's historic goal. Prossner went on to score four more goals in the match against the Big Red to give him 104 for his career. Starting the night tied with Harper Peterson for seventh place on the all-time Carolina goal scoring list at 99, Prossner broke the tie with Peterson and also moved past Merrill Turnbull (101) and Jeff Sonke (102) on the Tar Heel chart. Prossner has now joined these other Tar Heels who have reached the century mark in career goals. They are Bert Fett (1972-75) with 128, Mac Ford (1982-85) with 111, John Webster (1990-93) with 109, Dennis Goldstein (1987-91) with 108, Jeff Sonke (1998-2001) with 102 and Merrill Turnbull (1994-97) with 101. Now standing at 110 career goals, Prossner has moved into third place in career goals heading into the Colgate match and the Tar Heel attackman needs just one more goal to tie Mac Ford for second place on the chart.
TAR HEELS COMPETE AGAINST KILLER SCHEDULE IN 2005: North Carolina is playing what may be the toughest schedule in the nation during the 2005 season. Altogether, UNC played its first nine games against top 20 teams in this week's U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association coaches poll. Beginning on February 27, UNC played nine successive games against nationally-ranked teams with a win over current No. 19 Denver by a score of 18-12 score, then losses to current No. 5 Navy 9-6, current No. 20 Notre Dame 9-7, current No. 17 Hofstra 12-8 and current No. 2 Duke 12-10. Carolina broke out of its slump with a 9-5 victory over current No. 6 Cornell on March 23. In the next three games, the Tar Heels fell at current No. 10 Maryland by a 9-4 score, then lost at home to top-ranked Johns Hopkins 7-5 and then fell at No. 4 Virginia by a score of 15-9. Despite the 4-7 record, UNC has been competitive in virtually every game against this schedule. With the exception of the Navy and Virginia games, the Tar Heels have been in a situation where they trailed their opponent by only one goal in the fourth quarter of the losses to Notre Dame, Hofstra, Duke, Maryland and Johns Hopkins and had a possession with a chance to tie the match but UNC was unable to score and pull into a tie and put pressure on the opposing team in that situation. Nevertheless, the Tar Heels had put themselves in a position where they were in the game at some point in the final period of play. Only in the Navy game was UNC truly far behind as the closest margin in the final period against the Midshipmen was three goals and that was after the Tar Heels had scored the last three goals of the game to cut the Navy lead to 9-6.
THE SERIES WITH THE RED RAIDERS: North Carolinaand Colgate will be playing for only the second time in school history when the teams play on Wednesday night. The Tar Heels won the first encounter on February 26, 1999 by a 17-8 score at Henry Stadium on the UNC campus.
TAR HEEL OFFENSE GEARS UP IN SEASON-OPENING WIN OVER DENVER: North Carolina and Denver hooked up in the season-opening game for both teams on February 26, 2005 at Fetzer Field and it was the offenses who had their day in the sun in a wild 18-12 victory for the Tar Heels. Both teams struggled to stop the other as the game featured 30 goals and only 15 saves on a combined 67 shots at the net. The Tar Heel attack trio of Mike McCall, Jed Prossner and Ryan Blair registered eight, six and six points, respectively. McCall scored a career high six goals in the game and matched his career high for points with eight in the victory over the Pioneers. Prossner had five goals and an assist and Blair had three goals and three assists to mark his career highs for goals and for points with six. Midfielders Bryant Will and Lance Zimmerman had one goal each while Will had three assists and Zimmerman two. Freshmen midfielders Ryan Walterhoefer and Rob Driscoll each scored their first career goals. Extra-man goals were huge in the game as UNC converted for four goals on five chances while North Carolina limited Denver to one goal on four extra-man opportunities. The Tar Heels also scored a short-handed goal against the Pioneers. UNC never trailed in the game although Denver stayed close through most of the first half and trailed only 8-6 with 2:13 left before intermission. But Carolina ran off three goals in the last 1:53 of the first half and then outscored the Pioneers 5-2 in the third quarter to build a safe 16-8 lead going into the final 15 minutes of play. Denver responded with a rally that cut the lead to 17-12 with 2:02 left in the game but the Pioneers could get no closer.
McCALL & BLAIR NOTCH CAREER HIGHS VERSUS PIONEERS: Senior attackman Mike McCall (Yorktown, N.Y.) and junior attackman Ryan Blair (Auburn, N.Y.) both recorded career high games in the season opener against Denver. McCall scored six goals in the win over the Pioneers, breaking his previous career best of four goals set against Fairfield on April 27, 2002 and equaled against Virginia on April 23, 2004. McCall also had two assists in the win over the Pioneers to give him eight points in the match. The eight points matched his career best of eight versus Fairfield on April 27, 2002. Blair had three goals and three assists against the Pioneers for six points. Blair matched his career high of three goals set versus Air Force on March 11, 2004 and the six points exceeded the five he garnered versus Maryland on March 22, 2003. UNC senior midfielder Lance Zimmerman (Cockeysville, Md.) had two assists in the match, the seventh time in his career he has had a pair of assists in a game.
McCALL STEPS UP AGAINST IRISH: Despite a 9-7 loss to Notre Dame on March 12, Tar Heel senior attackman Mike McCall did have an outstanding game for UNC. McCall took eight shots in the game, all on the goal, and scored five of UNC's seven goals in the match. The five goals were just one shy of McCall's career high for goals in a game.
PROSSNER & BLAIR HAVE STELLAR GAMES AGAINST THE PRIDE: Although North Carolina dropped a disappointing 12-8 decision to No. 17 Hofstra on March 16, the Tar Heels did receive an outstanding offensive performance from senior All-America attackman Jed Prossner who had five goals in the match. It was the second time this season that Prossner had scored five goals in a match. His career high is six set against Notre Dame as a junior. In addition, junior attackman Ryan Blair (Auburn, N.Y.) recorded four assists in the match to equal his career high in that category. Blair also had four assists against Maryland on March 22, 2003.
BLAIR MATCHES CAREER HIGH FOR POINTS AGAINST BLUE DEVILS: Ryan Blair's six-point performance against Duke on March 19 gave the Auburn, N.Y. junior attackman a total number of points which matched his career high. Blair also had six points in a match against Denver on February 26, 2005. It was also the third time in his career that Blair had scored three goals in a match. He also had three against Air Force on March 11, 2004 and against Denver on February 26, 2005. Blair went on to score three goals again against both Virginia on April 9 and against Air Force on April 13.
ZIMMERMAN'S CAREER HIGH TOTALS: Senior midfielder Lance Zimmerman (Cockeysville, Md.) established his career highs for face-offs won in a match and ground balls in a match against Duke on March 19. Zimmerman won 15 face-offs against the Blue Devils and had nine ground balls in the game. He broke his career high for ground balls by snatching 10 against Air Force on April 13. Zimmerman followed up that effort against Duke with another outstanding game in the face-off circle against Cornell on March 23 as he won 11 of his 18 face-off tries against the Big Red.
WALT'S FIRST HAT TRICK: Freshman midfielder Ryan Walterhoefer (Ellicott City, Md.) notched the first hat trick of his Tar Heel lacrosse career in Carolina's game against Duke on March 19. The three goals by Walterhoefer also marked the first time he had scored multiple goals in a match.
SPELLMAN'S STONE WALL AGAINST CORNELL: Tar Heel senior goalkeeper Paul Spellman (Cockeysville, Md.) turned in one of his best performances of the season as the Tar Heels defeated Cornell 9-5 on March 23. Spellman made 11 saves in the match while allowing only five goals. Spellman was particularly good in the second quarter when he made five saves on six Cornell shots and the Tar Heels outscored the Big Red 6-1 in the 15-minute span to take a 6-2 halftime lead en route to the victory. Spellman had another outstanding save percentage in the win over Air Force on April 13. Playing 45 minutes, the senior netminder made nine saves while allowing only three goals. On April 16, Spellman made 15 saves while allowing only five goals in Carolina's 11-5 win over UMBC. During that game, Spellman set the UNC career saves record.
McELDUFF, HOWARD RECORD CAREER HIGHS AGAINST CORNELL: As they do every game, juniors Hayward Howard and Stephen McElduff led a stellar defensive effort for North Carolina against Cornell on March 23 as the two defensemen helped limit the Big Red to five goals, the fewest allowed by UNC in 22 games. Both players also recorded career highs for ground balls in a match as Howard had seven and McElduff six. The two were also responsible for a large number of the 22 turnovers forced by the Carolina defense. In addition, Howard scooped up a ground ball off the win on a face-off and went down and scored the second goal of his Tar Heel career with 8:34 left in the second quarter. Howard's goal gave the Tar Heels a 3-2 lead and they were never tied or headed thereafter.
BLAIR VERSUS THE CAVALIERS: North Carolina junior attackman Ryan Blair had three goals and three assists against Virginia on April 9. The six points matched Blair's career high for points in a game. Blair also had six points in a match against Denver on February 26, 2005 and against Duke on March 19, 2005.
McCALL & PROSSNER LEADS TAR HEELS PAST RETRIEVERS: North Carolina defeated UMBC 11-5 Apruil 16 led by the offensive antics of senior attackmen Jed Prossner and Mike McCall. Prossner equaled his season high for points in a match with six on three goals and three assists while McCall had four goals, all in a 5-1 UNC scoring run in the final 18 minutes of the game. Junior defensive midfielder Hayward Howard matched his career high for ground balls in a match with seven.
PROSSNER NOW THIRD IN CAREER GOALS: North Carolina senior attackman Jed Prossner (Easton, Md.) heads into the Colgate game in third place as the leading goal scorer in North Carolina men's lacrosse history. Prossner currently has 110 career goals at UNC. The all-time leader at UNC is Bert Fett who scored 128 goals from 1972-75. Prossner scored 41 goals during the 2004 season. That was the fifth most goals in a single season in Tar Heel history. The record output was 47 by Dennis Goldstein during UNC's national championship run in 1991. Prossner trails only Bert Fett (128) and Mac Ford (111) in UNC career goal scoring.
McCALL & WILL PASS MILESTONES: Senior Mike McCall (Yorktown, N.Y.) has passed the 95 goal mark in career goals this season. In fact, McCall's team-leading 28 goals this season has pushed his career total to 97 as he moves closer to the century mark in career goals. McCall is the 10th leading goal scorer in UNC history. Senior midfielder Bryant Will (Phoenix, Md.) has recorded 12 assists this season to pass the 50 mark in his career. Will now has a total of 58 assists. He is aiming for the UNC Top 10 list which currently has Matt Crofton (1997-2000) and Chase Martin (1997-2000) tied for the No. 9 spot with 63 assists apiece. Will has the most career assists among active Tar Heel players with 58. Jed Prossner has 57 career assists, Ryan Blair 50, Mike McCall 38 and Lance Zimmerman 27.
CAROLINA SEEKS 22ND NCAA BID: The University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team began the 2005 campaign hoping to earn the school's 22nd NCAA Tournament bid at the conclusion of this regular season. Carolina earned its 21st bid to the NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Tournament last year, advancing to the NCAA quarterfinals. Only four schools have earned more bids to the NCAA Tournament than Carolina. Johns Hopkins leads all schools with 33 bids to the tournament while Virginia and Maryland have each been invited 27 times. Syracuse has earned 24 bids while North Carolina and Navy are tied for fifth with 21 bids each.
UNC FINISHES NO. 6 IN USILA POLL LAST YEAR: The University of North Carolina began the 2005 season ranked No. 10 in the first United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association poll, which was issued on March 7, 2005. The Tar Heels dropped to No. 15 in the second poll issued on March 14, 2005 and to No. 19 in the USILA poll of March 21, 2005. UNC was ranked No. 17 in the poll issued on March 28, 2005. UNC was unranked in the polls issued on April 4, 2005, April 11, 2005 and April 18. 2005.. The 2004 Tar Heel team finished sixth nationally in the final U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association coaches poll. That was the highest finish for the Tar Heels in the final poll since the 1996 season when UNC was second. The only other time since then when the Tar Heels had finished in the Top 10 was 1998 when North Carolina was 10th in the final poll despite a final record of 7-8.
PROSSNER AND WILL NAMED TO TEWAARATON TROPHY WATCH LIST: Tar Heel senior attackman Jed Prossner (Easton, Md.) and senior midfielder Bryant Will (Phoenix, Md.) were named in the preseason to the list of 37 players on the Watch List for the 2005 Tewaaraton Trophy given to the National Player of the Year. Prossner was named to the Watch List for the third straight year. A year ago, Prossner became the first Tar Heel men's lacrosse player in history to be named a finalist for the prestigious Tewaaraton Trophy. Five finalists are named for the award each year.
WINNINGEST SEASON SINCE 1996: North Carolina finished the 2004 season with a record of 10-5. The 10 wins were the most in a season by the Tar Heels since 1996 when Carolina finished the season with a record of 12-5. It was also the first time since the 1996 campaign that the Tar Heels reached double digits in the win column.
THREE SUCCESSIVE WINNING SEASONS: With a 10-5 record last year, UNC has now posted a winning record for three successive seasons, having gone 8-5 in 2002, 7-6 in 2003 and 10-5 in 2004. The last time UNC had three successive winning campaigns was 1994-96 when the Tar Heels were 10-5, 9-7 and 12-5, respectively.
TAR HEELS POST BIGGEST OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION SINCE 2001: When North Carolina defeated Denver 18-12 on February 26, 2005, it marked the most goals scored in a game by the Tar Heels since a 27-7 win over Pfeiffer on April 26, 2001. It was the most goals in a game by UNC against an NCAA Division I opponent since March 13, 1999 when the Tar Heels smacked Air Force 18-5 in Colorado Springs, Colo.
LARGEST ROAD MARGIN IN NEARLY TWO YEARS: When Carolina defeated UMBC 11-5 on April 16, the Tar Heels recorded their largest margin of victory in a road game since April 23, 2003 when Carolina won 13-7 at Stony Brook.
TAR HEELS ON PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA TEAM: Six UNC players were named to the preseason All-America teams named by Face-Off Yearbook and Inside Lacrosse for the 2005 season. The Tar Heels had two players named to the first team with senior attackman Jed Prossner (Easton Md.) and senior midfielder Bryant Will (Phoenix, Md.) tapped for the top team. Junior defenseman Stephen McElduff (Yorktown, N.Y.) was named to the second-team preseason All-America team while senior attackman Mike McCall (Yorktown, N.Y.), senior midfielder Lance Zimmerman (Cockeysville, Md.) and senior goalkeeper Paul Spellman (Cockeysville, Md.) were all named honorable mention.
COACH John Haus: North Carolina head coach John Haus, a 1983 Carolina graduate, is in his fifth 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. As the head coach at Johns Hopkins his teams went 20-7 in 1999 and 2000. As the Tar Heel head coach his teams are 35-29 in four seasons. In 11 years as a collegiate head coach his teams are now 102-57. Including his time as a player, assistant coach and head coach he has been involved with teams that have a combined record of 207-92 in the collegiate ranks.
THE ALL-TIME HOME RECORD: North Carolina has a record of 210-103-2 in home games dating back to the start of the varsity program in 1949.
Players Mentioned
