University of North Carolina Athletics
No. 15 North Carolina Opens Season Saturday Versus Ohio State
February 18, 2006 | Men's Lacrosse
Feb. 18, 2006
BALTIMORE, MD.--The University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team begins its 2006 season with a renewed sense of optimism after a disappointing 2005 campaign and the Tar Heels will kick it off Saturday with a meeting against Ohio State at 1:30 p.m. The match is being played at Calvert Hall College High School in Baltimore, Md.
The Tar Heels are coming off a disappointing 5-8 season in 2005 after a 2004 campaign in which Carolina finished 10-5 overall and qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in six years. That 2004 team also won UNC's first NCAA Tournament game since 1993.
After an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2004 in which the Buckeyes lost to the Tar Heels in the first round, Ohio State is also seeking to bounce back from a losing season in 2005. Ohio State finished last season 6-8 overall and 2-3 in the Great Western Lacrosse League.
The game features a matchup of head coaches who both are University of North Carolina graduates and both were All-America defensemen at UNC. North Carolina's John Haus is a 1983 graduate of Carolina while Ohio State head coach Joe Breschi is a 1990 UNC graduate.
SEASON OPENERS AT CALVERT HALL: This will be the second time in three seasons that the North Carolina men's lacrosse team has opened its season with a game at Calvert Hall College High School in Baltimore, Md.
North Carolina also opened the 2004 season at Calvert Hall as UNC defeated Massachusetts 12-7 on February 28, 2004.
IN THE RANKINGS: In the preseason of every college lacrosse season there is always a confusing hodge podge of polls in NCAA Division I.
The Tar Heels were ranked No. 18 in the Lacrosse Magazine ranking and No. 14 in the Inside Lacrosse/Face-Off Yearbook coaches poll in preseason polls issued in December and January, respectively. Ohio State checked in at No. 21 in the Inside Lacrosse/Face-Off Yearbook poll
The Inside Lacrosse/Face-Off poll was based on the voting of 55 NCAA Division I head coaches out of the total of 56 NCAA Division I teams. The Inside Lacrosse media poll began on February 6, 2006 with a preseason poll where North Carolina placed No. 15. After the college lacrosse season began last weekend with the first regular-season games of the new year, the first regular season Inside Lacrosse media poll was issued February 13 with the Tar Heels again at No. 15 and Ohio State in the other receiving votes category.
THE NORTH CAROLINA-OHIO STATE SERIES: The Tar Heels lead the all-time series against the Buckeyes 11-0. The initial game was played during the 1965 season in Chapel Hill, N.C., resulting in an 8-5 Tar Heel win. The first three meetings in 1965, 1968 and 1972 were all decided by three goals or less. UNC recorded lopsided victories in games played in 1989, 1995 and 1998. UNC also defeated the Buckeyes in a closer game in 2000 in Chapel Hill by a 13-8 score.
The teams have played four times since 2002. The regular-season meetings between Carolina and Ohio State were one-goal affairs in both 2002 and 2003. UNC beat the Buckeyes 13-12 in triple overtime at Henry Stadium on the UNC campus in the season opener for both teams in 2002.
The following season in Columbus, Ohio, the Tar Heels prevailed 9-8. The teams played twice in 2004. UNC won the first meeting 12-6 in the final regular-season game for both teams. They were paired to play each other exactly one week later in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, again at Fetzer Field, and in a virtual carbon copy of the game the week before UNC won 13-6.
McELDUFF, BLAIR NAMED 2006 PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAS: A pair of North Carolina players were named to the preseason All-America Teams named by Inside Lacrosse and Face-Off Yearbook.
Stephen McElduff, a senior defenseman from Yorktown, N.Y., was named a first-team preseason All-America and senior attackman Ryan Blair of Auburn, N.Y. was named an honorable mention All-America choice.
TAR HEELS LOOK TO TURN AROUND CLOSE GAME DECISIONS IN 2006:
The Tar Heels lost an inordinate number of close matches in 2005 and head coach John Haus and his staff believe the Tar Heels have the makings of a much improved squad this season, the kind of squad which can turn some of those close losses into victories this year. In UNC's five wins last year the Tar Heels outscored their opponents by 31 goals while in the eight losses the Tar Heels were outscored by only 26 goals, an average of only 3.25 goals per game.Despite having a 5-8 record in 2005, UNC actually outscored its opponents 124-119 on the season.
BLAIR'S SEASON BEST TOTALS: UNC's 2005 leading scorer, Ryan Blair, had 22 goals, 29 assists and 51 points last season. Those were all season best totals for the attackman from Auburn, N.Y. 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.
McELDUFF'S CAREER STARTS: Senior defenseman Stephen McElduff heads into the 2006 season with 40 career starts. That is the seventh highest total number of career starts for any player currently competing in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
BLAIR'S CAREER ASSISTS: Senior Ryan Blair heads into the 2006 season tied for fifth amongst active NCAA Division I players in career assists. Blair has 58 assists to his credit and is tied with Xander Ritz of Maryland and John Walker of Army with that total.
Stony Brook's Jason Cappadoro leads all active players with 70 assists followed by Jon Birsner of Navy (69), Cam Howard of Delaware (68) and Matt Danowski of Duke (61).
CAROLINA SEEKS 22ND NCAA BID: The North Carolina lacrosse team begins the 2006 campaign hoping to earn the school's 22nd NCAA Tournament bid at the conclusion of the season. Carolina earned its 21st bid to the NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Tournament in 2004, advancing to the NCAA quarterfinals.
Only five schools have earned more bids to the NCAA Tournament than Carolina. Johns Hopkins leads all schools with 34 bids to the tournament while Virginia and Maryland have each been invited 28 times. Syracuse has earned 25 bids, Navy has 22 bids and North Carolina is sixth with 21 bids.
