University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Set To Battle No. 2 Duke In ACC Semifinals Friday
April 26, 2005 | Men's Lacrosse
April 26, 2005
2005 UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA MEN'S LACROSSE GAME NOTES
North Carolina Tar Heels (5-7) vs. No. 2 Duke Blue Devils (13-1)
2005 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament Semifinals
M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, Md.
Friday, April 29, 2005, 6:00 p.m.
North Carolina Men's Lacrosse Media Contact: Dave Lohse, 919-962-7257, dlohse@uncaa.unc.edu
Carolina Athletics on the World Wide Web at
http://TarHeelBlue.collegesports.com
TAR HEELS MEET DUKE FRIDAY IN ACC TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS: The North Carolina men's lacrosse team will begin its quest for its first Atlantic Coast Conference championship since 1996 when the Tar Heels play in the 2005 ACC Tournament semifinals against the No. 2-ranked Duke Blue Devils on Friday, April 29, 2005 at 6 p.m. This year's ACC Tournament will be staged at the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md., the home of the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League. M&T Bank Stadium served as the host for the NCAA semifinal and final rounds in men's lacrosse in both 2003 and 2004. After starting the season 2-7, North Carolina has won its past three matches to improve to 5-7 on the season heading into the ACC Tournament. If the Tar Heels were to win this weekend's ACC Tournament, they would even their record at 7-7and they would attain the .500 record necessary to be eligible for a bid to the 2005 NCAA Tournament. The ACC Tournament champion does not receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament so all four conference schools must earn their NCAA bids via the at-large basis. NCAA bids will be released on May 9. Duke (13-1) and North Carolina (5-7) will play in the opening semifinal match on Friday night at 6 p.m. The second semifinal game will pit third-ranked Virginia (9-2) against 10th-ranked Maryland (6-5) at 8:30 p.m. North Carolina is the only unranked team in the field. The championship game will be played Sunday at 3:30 p.m. The title game will be on live television on the Regional Sports Network which includes Comcast, Fox Sports South and the Sunshine Network. Duke is the No. 1 seed in the tournament, Virginia the No. 2 seed, Maryland the No. 3 seed and North Carolina the No. 4 seed.
DUKE AND TAR HEELS MEET FOR SECOND TIME THIS SEASON: North Carolina and Duke will be playing for the second time this season when they meet in the ACC Tournament semifinals on Friday night. Duke won the regular season meeting between the two teams 12-10 at Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill on March 19. Carolina led the game 8-6 in the early stages of the third quarter but the Blue Devils then ran off six successive goals over a span of the third and fourth quarters to go ahead 12-8 before UNC scored two late goals to cut the final margin to 12-10. Midfielder Peter Lamade led Duke with four goals in the game while attackmen Matt Danowski and Dan Flannery each scored twice. Danowski added three assists. Carolina was led by Ryan Blair who had three goals and three assists while midfielder Ryan Walterhoefer scored three goals. North Carolina outshot the third-ranked Blue Devils 35-28 in the match and Carolina won 16 of 26 face-offs. Aaron Fenton had 10 saves as Duke improved to 7-0. Paul Spellman made nine saves for UNC.
TAR HEELS CAN WIN BACK 1/2 POINT IN CARLYLE CUP RACE:
Friday will mark another matchup between old rivals North Carolina and Duke, meaning Carlyle Cup points will be on the line. The Carlyle Cup is awarded annually to the school which performs better in the all-sports competition based on head-to-head play in 23 sports. The award is sponsored by Carlyle and Company Earlier this year, Duke earned the one point awarded in men's lacrosse by defeating North Carolina 12-10 at Fetzer Field on March 19. However, the Tar Heels can earn back 1/2 point with a win in the ACC Tournament semifinals Friday. Play in all 23 sports has concluded for the 2004-05 school year with the exception of ACC Tournament competition in men's and women's lacrosse and baseball and possible matchups in NCAA play where win back points would be at stake. North Carolina currently leads this year's Cup standings 16 to 10.NORTH CAROLINA IN ACC TOURNAMENT PLAY:
The North Carolina men's lacrosse team has an all-time record of 15-9 in the Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Lacrosse Tournament heading into the semifinal round of the 2005 Tournament on Friday against Duke. The Tar Heels are 8-8 all-time in Tournament semifinal games and 7-1 all-time in Tournament championship games. Carolina is looking to end an eight-game losing streak in Tournament play on Friday. The Tar Heels have lost in the semifinal round each of the past eight years after winning in the semifinal round in each of the first eight years of the Tournament from 1989-96. UNC's last win in ACC Tournament play came on April 21, 1996 when the Tar Heels defeated Virginia 13-11 in the championship game at Charlottesville, Va. This will be the eighth meeting in ACC Tournament history between Duke and Carolina with the Tar Heels holding a 4-3 advantage, 3-2 in semifinals and 1-1 in championship games.LAX POWER RANKS UNC'S STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE NO. 1: Through games of April 26, Lax Power has rated North Carolina's 2005 men's lacrosse schedule the most difficult in the nation. The Tar Heels have an opponents power rating of 96.26. Maryland and Johns Hopkins have the second and third most difficult schedules according to Lax Power with opponent power ratings of 95.93 and 95.80. The Tar Heels are ranked seventh in this week's Lax Power computer rating of teams with a power rating of 97.03. Duke has the No. 1 power rating at 99.90 followed by Johns Hopkins at 99.68. Virginia is No. 3, Cornell No. 4, Maryland No. 5 and Massachusetts No. 6 in the Lax Power computer rating.
TAR HEELS SEEK WIN OVER TOP FIVE TEAM:
North Carolina is looking for an upset of the second-ranked Duke Blue Devils Friday in the semifinals of the 2005 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. The last time the Tar Heels beat a team ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation was March 22, 2003 when UNC defeated second-ranked Maryland 10-6 at Byrd Stadium in College Park, Md.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 Duke in the ACC Tournament semifinals.
Attack -- #1 Jed Prossner, #2 Mike McCall, #14 Ryan Blair.
Attack Off The Bench -- #7 Sean Link, #15 Drew Habeck, #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 Midfielders/Defensemen -- #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.
TAR HEELS IN NCAA STATISTICS THIS WEEK:
North Carolina junior attackman Ryan Blair (Auburn, N.Y.) ranks sixth nationally this week in assists per game with 2.17 per contest. Blair has 26 assists this season in 12 games. Blair is also ranked 11th this season in points per game in NCAA Division I statistics. Blair has 45 points in 12 games for an average of 3.75 points per game. Senior attackman Mike McCall (Yorktown, N.Y.) is ranked 13th nationally in goals per game. He has scored 30 goals this season in 12 games and is averaging 2.50 goals per game. As a team, the Tar Heels are ranked sixth in the nation this week in man-up offense. UNC has had 45 man-up offensive opportunities in 12 games this season and scored 19 times, a percentage of .422.ACC STATISTICAL LEADERS:
Junior attackman Ryan Blair ranks No. 1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference this week in assists per game at 2.17. Blair has 26 assists this year in 12 games. UNC's Jed Prossner is sixth in assists per game at 1.08 and senior midfielder Bryant Will is seventh with 1.00 per contest. Blair ranks third this week in the ACC stats in points per game at 3.75. Prossner is sixth at 3.42 and senior attackman Mike McCall eighth at 3.08. McCall is Carolina's top goal scorer in the ACC stats with 2.50 per game (30 goals in 12 games). He ranks third in the league. Prossner is sixth with 2.33 goals per game and Blair 10th with 1.58. McCall and Prossner rank first and second in the ACC in man-up goals per game at 0.67 and 0.58, respectively.PROSSNER MAKES FINAL 16 FOR TEWAARATON TROPHY:
The Tewaaraton Award Foundation announced the men's collegiate nominees for the 2005 Tewaaraton Trophy Monday. The list of men was narrowed to 16 from which five athletes will be chosen as the finalists for the award presented on June 2nd. North Carolina senior attackman Jed Prossner is amongst the final 16 nominees for the award. A year ago, Prossner was one of the five finalists. The 16 nominees still in the hunt this year are: Rob Bateman, Virginia; Jeff Bigas, Salisbury State; Joe Boulukos, Cornell; Chris Cara, Bucknell; Brian Crockett, Syracuse; Matt Danowski, Duke; Zack Greer, Duke; Kyle Harrison, Johns Hopkins; Mitch Hendler, Navy; Brodie Merrill, Georgetown Sean Morris, Massachusetts; Jed Prossner, North Carolina; John Walker, Army; Pat Walsh, Notre Dame; Joe Walters, Maryland; Matt Ward; Virginia.BLAIR TAPPED AS ACC CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK APRIL 25:
North Carolina's Ryan Blair and Duke's Dan Flannery were named this week's ACC Men's Lacrosse Co-Players of the Week April 25.. Blair, a junior attackman, recorded a career-high eight points as North Carolina defeated Colgate 12-6. The Auburn, N.Y., native tallied three goals and five assists in the match both career-highs. Blair's eight points broke his previous career high of six in a game he set earlier this season in contests against Denver, Duke and Virginia. It marked the sixth time he scored a career-high three goals in a game and his five assists broke his previous high mark of four against Maryland on March 22, 2003. Flannery, a junior attack, led No. 2 Duke to a 19-9 win over No. 7 Army. The Garden City, N.Y., native scored a career-high six goals while tallying one assist and two ground balls.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. Heading into the Duke game Friday, Spellman has now pushed his career save total to 648. 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.
UNC EXTENDS WINNING STREAK TO THREE BY KNOCKING OFF COLGATE:
Playing for the first time in his career in Upstate New York near his Auburn, N.Y. hometown, junior attackman Ryan Blair recorded a career-high eight points as the North Carolina men's lacrosse team defeated Colgate 12-6 at Tyler's Field on April 20. Blair equaled his career high with three goals while recording a career-high five assists in the match while both Jed Prossner and Mike McCall scored historic goals for the Tar Heels. In a game of competing scoring runs, Blair led the Tar Heels to a 7-1 halftime lead as he assisted on the first five UNC goals of the game and then scored the seventh goal of the game on his own. The offensive heroics of Carolina's talented attack trio of Blair, Prossner and McCall propelled North Carolina to its third victory in a row as the Tar Heels improved to 5-7 on the season. The Red Raiders lost for only the second time at home this season and fell to 7-6 with the loss. With his two goals against the Red Raiders, senior attackman Jed Prossner (Easton, Md.) increased his career total 112 and in the process moved passed Mac Ford (111 goals from 1982-85) into second place on the UNC career scoring chart. Only Bert Fett with 128 goals from 1972-75 now stands ahead of Prossner on the all-time goal chart in Tar Heel lore. Senior attackman Mike McCall (Yorktown, N.Y.) scored a pair of goals as well. McCall's second goal, with five minutes left in the fourth quarter, was the 99th tally of his career and moved him into a tie for eighth place in career goal scoring with Harper Peterson (99 goals from 1968-70). Blair's eight points broke his previous career high of six in a game he set earlier this season in contests against Denver, Duke and Virginia. It marked the sixth time he scored a career-high three goals in a game and his five assists broke his previous high mark of four against Maryland on March 22, 2003. Freshman midfielder Rob Driscoll had his top scoring game of the season with a pair of goals against Colgate while freshman midfielder Mike Munnelly scored his first career goal and sophomore midfielder Tom Sciolla had his first goal of the season and second of his career. Junior defensive midfielder Billy Staines had his second career assist in as many games.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 deadlock 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 THREE STRAIGHT 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 equaled 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's 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 41 points so far in the 2005 campaign, senior attackman Jed Prossner has moved into eighth place all-time in career points at North Carolina. Prossner now has 169 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 41 (28 goals and 13 assists) 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 (41 goals and 15 assists).McCALL VAULTS INTO TOP 10 IN CAREER GOALS SCORING:
Senior attackman Mike McCall (Yorktown, N.Y.) tallied two goals in UNC's win over Colgate on April 20, running his team-leading season total to 30. That total broke his previous career best for goals in a season which was 29 in 2004. McCall's career total is now 99 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. McCall is now tied with Harper Peterson (1968-70) for the No. 8 spot with 99 career goals. Ahead of McCall on the list are Merrill Turnbull in seventh place with 101 goals from 1994-97 and Jeff Sonke with 102 career goals from 1998-2001. McCall has 37 points this season, the best total he has ever produced in a single season. The most he had previously in a single year was 36 in 2004.BLAIR'S SEASON BEST TOTALS:
UNC leading scorer, junior Ryan Blair has 19 goals, 26 assists and 45 points this season. Those are all season best totals for the attackman during his Carolina career. Previously, Blair's best totals were 18 goals during the 2004 season, 16 assists during the 2004 season and 34 points in the 2004 campaign.
Players Mentioned
