University of North Carolina Athletics
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Denver's Big Fourth Quarter Rallies Pioneers Past Carolina
February 26, 2006 | Men's Lacrosse
Feb. 26, 2006
DENVER, COLO. - After opening the 2006 Pioneer Face-Off Classic successfully Saturday against Air Force, the No. 13 rated North Carolina men's lacrosse team could not finish a 2-0 weekend Sunday as host Denver, the nation's Top 20 team, staged a furious fourth quarter rally to down the Tar Heels 11-8 at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. North Carolina held a 7-5 lead as late as 7:19 left in the game before being outscored 6-1 by the Pioneers in a span of 6:45.
Denver improved to 2-1 with the victory while Carolina fell to 2-1 with the loss. The Tar Heels have opened their 14-game regular-season schedule with three successive road games. The road experience should help UNC get used to playing in front of hostile crowds as it still plays six of its last 11 games this season on the road.
After Carolina led 6-4 at the half Sunday and 7-5 at the end of three quarters, the effects of playing back-to-back games on successive days over 5,000 feet above sea level eventually took its toll on the Tar Heels. Denver was the fresher team in the final period as the Pioneers outshot Carolina 13-8 in the final period and had a 14-6 edge in ground balls in the final 15 minutes. The aggressive Denver defense also forced the Tar Heels into eight turnovers in the final quarter alone. UNC had 21 turnovers for the game.
After Denver outscored the Tar Heels 3-2 in the first period while outshooting UNC 12-9 in the first 15 minutes, UNC seized the momentum in the second quarter to take a 6-3 lead with 5:01 left in the first half. After that point, however, the Denver defense buckled down and limited Carolina to only two goals in the final 35:01 of the game while the Pioneers scored eight of their own.
UNC's second quarter spurt featured goals by Nick Tintle, Rob Driscoll, Ryan Blair and Andrew McElduff over a span of just 5:57, erasing the 3-2 deficit and staking Carolina to its biggest lead of the game.
Denver rallied to get within 6-5 as Adam Goodwin scored 3:11 before halftime and then Ryan Zordani tallied an extra-man goal just 14 seconds into the fourth quarter.
Ryan Blair scored an unassisted goal for Carolina with 13:10 left in the third quarter to push UNC's lead back to two goals. Neither team dented the scoreboard for the next 20:51 of the match but it was Denver which had the winning spark at the end of the game, dominating play in the last eight minutes of play.
A goal by Adam Miller with 7:19 left in the match cut the Tar Heels' lead to one goal and Brandon Barcus scored just 41 seconds later to even the score.
Carolina had a one-minute extra-man situation obtained just 11 seconds after Denver had tied the game but UNC was unable to convert. The score remained tied until the 2:54 mark when Todd Ruport scored an unassisted goal to give Denver the lead for good. Just 36 seconds later Ryan Shaughnessy scored to put Denver up 9-7.
Rob Driscoll scored a goal with 1:57 to play to pull the Tar Heels back within one goal only to see that tally answered seven seconds later by Geoff Snyder, the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Zordani finished off the scoring for Denver with 34 seconds to play.
Denver benefited by dominating possession in the second half of play, including having five successive extra-man opportunities in a span of 12 minutes over the late stages of the third quarter and the first half of the fourth quarter.
Another key factor was Denver goalkeeper Jeb Hollingworth's play in the third quarter when he made seven saves. Hollingworth made 17 saves on the day while allowing only eight goals.
UNC outshot Denver 40-39 but the Pioneers led in every other statistical area. Denver had 36 ground balls to 29 for UNC, won 12 face-offs to nine for UNC and made 17 saves to 12 for the Tar Heels. Junior Trey Sheain played 58:10 in goal for UNC and he was credited with 12 saves while allowing 10 goals. Grant Zimmerman saw the first action of his UNC career by manning the goal the last 1:50 of the game.
Denver was led offensively by Zordani who had three goals. Brandon Barcus had two goals for the Pioneers to go along with one assist. Denver had eight different players scored its 11 goals.
Ryan Blair had two goals and two assists for UNC and Michael Burns had two goals and one assist. Mifielder Rob Driscoll added two goals for Carolina.
After flying back from Denver Monday, the Tar Heels return to the field in just five days and the foe will be a difficult one for UNC as No. 6-ranked Navy (2-0) visits Chapel Hill for Carolina's 2006 home opener. Game time is 1 p.m. Saturday at Fetzer Field. The Tar Heels will be seeking their first victory over the Midshipmen since the 2002 season. The Mids were NCAA finalists in 2004 and NCAA quarterfinalists in 2005. The Mids have opened their season with a 12-2 win at St. Joseph's and a 9-3 home win over Ohio State.
PIONEER FACE-OFF CLASSIC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Ryan Zordani, Attack, Denver; Ryan Blair, Attack, North Carolina; Michael Burns, Attack, North Carolina; Nick Tintle, Midfield, North Carolina; Griffin Nevitt, Midfield, Air Force; Greg Lewis, Midfield, Manhattan; David Breioling, Defense, Air Force; Rory Shepard, Defense, Denver; Stephen McElduff, Defense, North Carolina; Jed Hollingworth, Goal, Denver; Billy Staines, Long Stick Middle, North Carolina; Geoff Snider, MVP, Denver.
