University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina Seeks Upset of No. 2 Duke in Friday's ACC Semifinals
April 26, 2007 | Men's Lacrosse
April 26, 2007
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.-- The No. 9-ranked University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team will seek its first win in Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament play since 1996 Friday night when the Tar Heels meet No. 2-ranked Duke at 8:30 p.m. at Koskinen Stadium in Durham, N.C. The game will be the second semifinal game Friday. No. 3-ranked Virginia meets No. 6-ranked Maryland in the opening game of the tournament at 6 p.m. Duke is the tournament's No. 1 seed, while Virginia is No. 2, Maryland No. 3 and North Carolina No. 4. Virginia is the defending ACC Tournament champion while Maryland won back-to-back titles in 2004 and 2005. North Carolina is the nation's most improved team in 2007, having rebounded from a 4-10 finish in 2006 to post a 9-4 record through 13 games of the 2007 season. The Tar Heels head into the ACC Tournament having lost only one game outside of the league this year. Duke is 11-2 and finished the ACC regular season at 3-0. Friday's semifinal games will be webcast live on accselect.com with Michael Crowe providing the play-by-play and Stephen McElduff doing th analysis. Live stats will also be provided via CSTV Gametracker at www.TarHeelBlue.com. The winners of the two semifinal games on Friday will meet for the ACC championship on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. at Koskinen Stadium. That game will be broadcast live on the Regional Sports Network with play-by-play by Bob Rathbun and color commentary by former UNC head coach Willie Scroggs.
Potential Carlyle Cup Score Change: If North Carolina defeats Duke it could affect the result of the 2006-07 Carlyle Cup race. Duke currently leads the race 13.5 points to 12.5 points. North Carolina and Duke also play in women's lacrosse Friday and their our NCAA possibilities that the two schools could play again in men's lacrosse, women's lacrosse, men's tennis and women's tennis.
Tar Heels Show 5.5 Game Improvement So Far in 2007: Heading into the ACC Tournament this North Carolina team ranks as the most improved team in NCAA Division I in 2007. After going 4-10 in 2006, the current Tar Heel team is 9-4. That is a 5.5-game record improvement over last year's season.
Carolina Reaches The Nine-Win Plateau: With a 15-5 win over Providence on April 21, 2007, the North Carolina men's lacrosse team improved to 9-4 on the season. This marks only the second time since the 1996 season that Carolina has reached the nine-victory standard in a season. The other season was 2004 when Carolina finished 10-5 and reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament. The 2007 and 2004 teams are the only Carolina teams since 1996 to win at least nine games in a season. That 1996 team finished 12-5. Since then UNC was 6-7 in 1997, 7-8 in 1998, 6-9 in 1999, 8-6 in 2000, 6-6 in 2001, 8-5 in 2002, 7-6 in 2003, 10-5 in 2004, 5-8 in 2005, 4-10 in 2006 and 9-4 so far in 2007.
North Carolina Matches 2005 and 2006 Win Totals Combined: The win over Providence gives this Carolina team as many wins as the Tar Heels notched in the previous two seasons combined. North Carolina enters the 2007 ACC Tournament with a 9-4 record. Those nine wins match the totals of 2005 and 2006 when Carolina had five and four victories, respectively.
Tar Heels Seek End To ACC Tournament Losing Streak: Back in the Top 10 the past four weeks for the first time since the 2004 season, North Carolina enters the ACC Tournament intent on ending a pair of losing streaks against ACC opponents. Carolina has lost 10 successive games in the ACC Tournament. UNC's last win in ACC Tournament play came on April 21, 1996 when the Tar Heels defeated Virginia 13-11 in Charlottesville, Va. in the championship game of the 1996 ACC Tournament. Of Carolina's 10 successive ACC Tournament losses, seven have come by either a single goal or two goals. Carolina's last four losses in the ACC Tournament (2003-06) have come by a combined total of six goals. Carolina is also looking to end a 12-game losing streak against ACC opponents when it plays the Blue Devils on Friday night. Including ACC Tournament games, UNC has lost 12 in a row to conference foes since an 11-9 victory over Virginia on April 10, 2004 in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Carolina In The ACC Tournament: Carolina has an all-time record of 15-11 in ACC Tournament play. The Tar Heels won their first 13 games ever played in ACC Tournament play but have since lost 11 of 13 games. UNC has won seven ACC men's lacrosse tournament titles. The Tar Heels won the championship in 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1996.
Tim Kaiser Named All-ACC: Tim Kaiser, a junior defenseman for the University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team from Baltimore, Md.'s Loyola Blakefield High School, was named Thursday night to the 2007 All-Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Lacrosse Team. Kaiser was the lone Tar Heel named to the 11-man squad. Kaiser is the third Tar Heel defenseman in the past four years to be named to the team, which is voted on by the league's four head coaches. Ronnie Staines was named to the team in 2004 and Stephen McElduff earned All-ACC honors in 2006. Kaiser is a three-year starter in UNC's close defense. He leads the Tar Heels this year in caused turnovers with 29 and is second on the squad in ground balls with 62. He has scored two goals this year and also has an assist. He has been a key cog in UNC's improvement from a 4-10 record in 2006 to a 9-4 mark this year.
Carolina Seeks First NCAA Nod Since 2004:
Ranked No. 9 nationally and sporting a 9-4 record, North Carolina has strongly positioned itself for a 2007 NCAA Tournament bid regardless of its performance in the ACC Tournament. With an outstanding record and one of the nation's strongest strengths of schedule, the Heels have a great chance to be named to the 16-team NCAA field which will be announced May 6. If so, this UNC would be only the third team since 1996 to make the NCAA Tournament. Carolina played in 17 straight NCAA Tournaments from 1980 through 1996. Since then, UNC's only NCAA appearances have come in 1998 and 2004. In 21 NCAA Tournament appearances, the Tar Heels have an all-time record of 24-17. Carolina won NCAA championships in 1981, 1982, 1986 and 1991. UNC's last Final Four appearance came in 1993.The Tar Heels Versus Duke: Carolina is 37-18 all-time against Duke although the Tar Heels have lost four in a row to the Blue Devils by a combined total of nine goals. Although Carolina has lost four games in a row against the Blue Devils, the Heels did beat Duke in three successive regular season games in 2002, 2003 and 2004. The final of those three games was a 10-9 overtime win over the Blue Devils at Koskinen Stadium. Only one of the last nine meetings between the two teams was decided by more than three goals. That was a 14-9 win by Carolina over the Blue Devils at Fetzer Field in 2003. UNC is 5-13 against the Blue Devils since the 1995 ACC Tournament championship game. But prior to that, UNC had won 30 of 31 games against the Blue Devils from 1968 through 1995. The two teams have played 26 times in Durham, 24 times in Chapel Hill and five times at neutral sites. UNC leads the series in Durham 18-8 including regular season wins in 1999, 2002 and 2004. UNC is 3-2 in its last five games played at Koskinen Stadium.
Haus Named National Coach of the Week After Win Over Hopkins: John Haus was selected April 2 as the U.S. Lacrosse Coach of the Week for the week ending April 1. He was recognized on CSTV's lacrosse broadcast the following weekend. Haus and North Carolina jumped back into the thick of the NCAA Tournament picture with a 13-10 victory over Johns Hopkins March 31. It was Carolina's first victory over the Blue Jays since 1994, ending a string of 13 straight defeats. UNC rose to No. 10 in the USILA and No. 11 in the Inside Lacrosse polls following that win.
Carolina in Season Openers: After beating Ohio State 14-10 on February 17, 2007, Carolina has an all-time record of 30-20 in season-opening games in its history, dating back to 1949, including a 7-0 mark in season openers under head coach John Haus. During Haus' tenure, the Tar Heels have recorded season-opening wins against Fairfield in 2001, Ohio State in 2002, Bucknell in 2003, Massachusetts in 2004, Denver in 2005 and Ohio State in both 2006 and in 2007. The Tar Heels have won 20 of their past 22 season openers including the past nine years in a row. The only losses in the past 22 years have been a 17-10 loss at Syracuse on March 3, 1994 and a 13-12 loss to Butler on February 22, 1998 at Fetzer Field.
UNC's 13-Game Start at 9-4: The Tar Heels head into the ACC Tournament with a 9-4 record, equaling the win totals of the past two seasons combined. UNC was 5-8 in 2005 and 4-10 in 2006. The Tar Heels beat Notre Dame 11-8 on March 10 to exceed last year's win total and when they beat Vermont 13-6 on March 13 they pushed past their win total of 2005. Only one other time in the past 11 years of Carolina lacrosse has UNC stood as well as 9-4 as the 13-game mark of the season. That came in 2004 when the Heels were also 9-4 en route to a final mark of 10-5.
3-Game Winning Streak To Start Season: Carolina started the 2007 campaign with three straight wins. The last time the Heels started a season 3-0 was 2002 when North Carolina started 6-0 en route to a final record of 8-5.
Wins Against Top 10 Teams A Big Boost for the Tar Heels: Since the start of the 2005 season the Tar Heels had particular trouble against teams ranked in the Top 10. That is until the Tar Heels beat a No.5 Johns Hopkins team 13-10 on March 31. Of course much of the difficulty beating Top 10 teams in 2005 and 2006 can be attributed to the fact the Heels had the No. 1 strength of schedule in the country in 2005 and the No. 4 SOS in 2006. The Tar Heels have continued to play a difficult schedule in 2007 and they currently have the No. 6 schedule strength according to LaxPower.com. In 2004, the Heels went 6-3 against teams ranked in the Top 10, a large part of the reason the Heels advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals that season. Since a 15-9 loss to No. 1-ranked Johns Hopkins on May 22, 2004, the Heels were 1-16 against Top 10 teams heading into this year's game against Hopkins. The only win in that stretch came against No. 10 Cornell on March 23, 2005, a 9-5 Tar Heel victory at Fetzer Field. With Duke ranked No. 2 in this week's Nike/Inside Lacrosse poll, the Tar Heels have another chance at pulling off a win against a Top 10 team. UNC is 2-17 in its last 19 games against Top 10 teams heading into the game against Duke. In 2004, the Tar Heels won their first four games of the season against Top 10 teams before losing back-to-back games against Maryland and Johns Hopkins. Later in the year the Tar Heels beat a Ohio State team ranked in the Top 10 on back-to-back Saturdays to end the regular season and start the NCAA Tournament.
Versus the Current Top 10: Carolina has played five games this season against teams ranked in the Top 10 of the April 23, 2007 Nike/Inside Lacrosse poll. UNC is 2-3 against those teams. The Tar Heels beat No. 5 Johns Hopkins and No. 10 Notre Dame while falling to No. 2 Duke, No. 3 Virginia and No. 6 Maryland.
Carolina's Youth Movement: Coach John Haus' seventh Tar Heel team is a youthful bunch indeed. The Tar Heels field only a four-member senior class made up of attackman Sam Wagner of Annapolis, Md. and midfielders David Ryan of Darien, Conn., Tom Sciolla of Moorestown, N.J. and Ben Staines of Gambrills, Md. In 2006, the Tar Heels had an unusually large senior class which included 13 players. There are 41 players on the Tar Heels' 2007 team, 37 of whom will be back in 2008. That means 90.2 percent of the team will return next season. Four Tar Heels out of the 41 are eligible to red-shirt due to season-long injury problems -- junior midfielder Mike Munnelly, freshman midfielder Mike Burns, freshman attackman Joe Howard and freshman defenseman Hunter Meldman are all eligible to apply for an additional year of varsity play should they so choose in the future.
A Completely Revamped Starting Lineup: The Tar Heels began the season against Ohio State with four players making their first career starts and another two making only their second career starts. Of the players who started against the Buckeyes, only attackman Bart Wagner, defensemen Brian Burke and Tim Kaiser and goalkeeper Grant Zimmerman had made more than one career start. Carolina's face-off midfield gave the Tar Heels a bit more experience on the field with Ben Staines beginning this year with four career starts and Shane Walterhoefer having started seven times. When looking at the starting unit including the players running in the first midfield unit the Tar Heels really put an inexperienced team on the field in the first 13 games of the season. Midfielders Ben Hunt and Nick Tintle had each made one career start prior to 2007 while attackmen Gavin Petracca and Matthias McCall, midfielder Sean Burke and defenseman Jack Ryan all started for the first time in the win over Ohio State.
A Quick Look At the UNC Depth Chart: Of the top 27 players on UNC's current depth chart, only three are seniors. Altogether, the Heels have only four seniors on their 41-man roster and four of those players have not played this year due to injury. With a nine-man recruiting class coming in during the fall 2007 term, Carolina's 46-man roster next year will be one of the most experienced and deepest in the nation. This 2007 version of Carolina is truly an extraordinarily youthful Tar Heel team. In fact it is a team playing for the present but at the same time building for a bright future. Currently, senior Tom Sciolla runs in a group of eight players that rotate to comprise the first, second and third midfield units and seniors Ben Staines and David Ryan are the top two players on the depth chart at short stick defensive midfield. The top 27 players on the Heels' normal depth chart include three seniors, seven juniors, nine sophomores and eight freshmen. Besides the three seniors, UNC's close defense is one of the most experienced parts of the team with juniors Brian Burke and Tim Kaiser currently starting. Juniors Ryan Walterhoefer, Brian Connors and Rob Driscoll are running in the rotations currently used in the top three midfield units. Junior Fletcher Gregory is No. 3 on the depth chart at short stick defensive midfield. Carolina's top five attackmen are all sophomores and freshmen and the face-off man is a sophomore. The top two players at the rope position are both true freshmen. However, the Tar Heels lost Kerry McCormick, the No. 2 rope, to a broken arm in practice prior to the game against Hopkins and he will not return to the lineup until NCAA Tournament play. Carolina plays a sophomore goalkeeper with a freshman as the backup and sophomore at the No. 3 spot on the depth chart.
UNC's Rugged Schedules: The University of North Carolina played the fourth most difficult schedule in the nation according to the Lax Power schedule ratings in 2006. The 2005 team played the nation's No. 1-ranked schedule according to Lax Power. While the Tar Heels have tested themselves against solid competition the past two seasons, UNC has not fared well, going 5-8 in 2005 and 4-10 in 2006. UNC again is competing against a very difficult schedule in 2007 as five Tar Heel opponents are in the Top 10 of the current Inside Lacrosse media poll and seven are rated in the Top 20. Carolina opponents ranked in the current Inside Lacrosse media poll include Top 10 teams Johns Hopkins, Virginia, Duke, Notre Dame and Maryland and Top 20 teams also include Navy and Ohio State. Navy is ranked 11th so the No. 9 Tar Heels have played six of their first 13 games against teams ranked in the nation's top 11 squads. The Tar Heels' 2007 strength of schedule is currently ranked No. 6 in the nation by Lax Power.com.
Youth Wins Out: In an effort to earn its first NCAA Tournament bid since 2004, the Tar Heels are hoping youth will be served in the 2007 campaign. Although the Tar Heels have veteran leadership with three seniors and seven juniors in the 27-man deep depth chart, the bulk of the depth chart is concentrated in the freshman and sophomore classes with 17 players from those two classes. If the Tar Heels are able to rebound from back-to-back losing seasons and earn an NCAA bid in 2007, they should have a very bright future with so many players in significant roles returning for the coming two and three seasons, respectively.
Tar Heels Go 7-1 at Home: Carolina finished its home season in 2006 at 1-4. That included losses in the first four home games of 2006. The last time Carolina had lost its first four home games in a season was 1954 when the Tar Heels lost their opening five home games of the campaign. Carolina significantly improved its home record in 2007 with a mark of 7-1. The only loss was a 9-7 setback to No. 2-ranked Duke and that was in a game that the Tar Heels led at one point 6-1. The seven home wins for Carolina are the most since the Tar Heels went 8-2 at home in 2000.
Tintle Earns Preseason All-America Nod: Junior Nick Tintle, a starter in Carolina's top short-stick offensive midfield unit, was named this year as a preseason honorable mention All-America by Face-Off Yearbook and Inside Lacrosse Magazine. Tintle was UNC's top midfield scorer last year with 17 points on 12 goals and five assists. Through 13 games this season Tintle has exceeded his entire point total for last season as he has 13 goals and 11 assists for 24 points.
Two Tar Heels Named Preseason All-Conference: Two Tar Heels -- junior midfielder Nick Tintle and sophomore face-off specialist Shane Walterhoefer -- were named this season to the preseason All-Atlantic Coast Conference Team named by Face-Off Yearbook and Inside Lacrosse Magazine. Tintle tied for third on the Carolina team in 2006 with 12 goals scored. Walterhoefer had a dynamic freshman year in 2006 as he won 114 of 209 face-off attempts for 54.5 percent. Walterhoefer also led the Tar Heels in ground balls in 2006 with 64.
Petracca Named ACC Player of the Week February 19: Freshman attackman Gavin Petracca started his college season with a bang when he was named the ACC Player of the Week on February 19, 2007. Petracca was brilliant offensively in the Tar Heels' season opener against Ohio State February 17. In Carolina's 14-10 win over the Buckeyes, Petracca had four goals and one assist. His four goals came on only five shots.
Walterhoefer Cops ACC Player of the Week Honors February 26: After back-to-back amazing performances against Denver and Dartmouth on February 24 and 25, Shane Walterhoefer was named the co-ACC Player of the Week on February 26. Against Denver, Walterhoefer won 16 of 22 face-offs while also scooping up six ground balls. The following day against Dartmouth Walterhoefer was even more amazing as he won an astounding 19 of 21 face-offs and scooped up 13 ground balls. The 19 face-off wins and 13 ground balls were both career highs for Walterhoefer.
Walterhoefer In The Face-Off Circle: Shane Walterhoefer has won 179 of 289 face-offs this season, a brilliant .619 percentage. Walterhoefer leads the ACC and ranks seventh in the nation in face-off percentage this season. Nine times this season Walterhoefer has won 14 or more face-offs in a game including seven games with 15 or more wins. Only 27 times in UNC history has a player won 15 of more face-offs in a match. Walterhoefer has accounted for seven of those 27 performances in the 2007 season. Walterhoefer won 19 against Dartmouth, 17 against Maryland and against Providence, 16 against Denver and 15 each against Bellarmine, Vermont and Johns Hopkins. The 19 face-off wins against Dartmouth equaled the second most in a match in UNC history. The school record is 22 wins by Todd Oudemool against Towson on May 13, 1989. The only other 19-win performance came courtesy of Kevin Frew against Delaware on March 9, 2002.
Walt's Season and Career Face-Off Numbers: Shane Walterhoefer's 179 face-off wins this season are the second most in a season in UNC history. Only Kevin Frew with 219 in 2004 exceeds Walterhoefer's total. Walterhoefer now has 293 career face-off wins in less than two seasons and he is in fifth place in UNC history in that statistic. Kevin Frew has the school record of 446 face-off victories. Walterhoefer needs to win five face-offs to tie Jason Sanders for fourth place in career face-offs won.
Walterhoefer and Kaiser Dominate the Ground Balls: Face-off specialist Shane Walterhoefer and defenseman Tim Kaiser are Carolina's ground ball leaders this year with 86 and 62, respectively. Senior short-stick midfielder Ben Staines ranks third with 62 while goalkeeper Grant Zimmerman has 48 and attackman Bart Wagner 47. Walterhoefer had a career-high 13 ground balls against Dartmouth while Kaiser had a career-high 10 against Bellarmine. The 13 ground balls by Walterhoefer moved him into a tie for sixth place for most ground balls in a game in Tar Heel history. The school record is 15 which has been accomplished four times and there was another instance where a player had 14.
Kaiser Having All-America Season: Tar Heel junior defenseman Tim Kaiser is having an All-America calibre season for the Tar Heels so far in 2007. Kaiser has 29 caused turnovers so far this season. The only other players in double figures on the Tar Heel team are Ben Staines with 15 and Michael Jarvis with 13. Kaiser had five against Bellarmine and three each against Dartmouth, Notre Dame, Maryland, Virginia and Providence. Kaiser's five against Bellarmine equal the season high for any Tar Heel. Ben Staines also had five against Ohio State. Kaiser's 62 ground balls are nine more than any other Tar Heel who does not serve as a face-off specialist. He had a career high 10 ground balls against Bellarmine.
Coach John Haus: North Carolina head coach John Haus, a 1983 Carolina graduate, is in his seventh 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 49-44 in seven seasons. In 13 years as a collegiate head coach his teams are now 116-72. Including his time as a player, assistant coach and head coach he has been involved with teams that have a combined record of 221-107 in the collegiate ranks. That record has been compiled over 23 seasons of association with college lacrosse.
The All-Time Home Record: North Carolina has a record of 218-108-2 in home games dating back to the start of the varsity program in 1949. UNC's all-time winning percentage at historic Fetzer Field is better than 67 percent.
Zim's Career Highs in the Cage: Sophomore Grant Zimmerman has had at least 10 saves in a game eight times so far in 2007. He had a career high 15 saves in the win over Johns Hopkins and equaled that total of 15 in the overtime loss at Virginia, 13 in the victory over Dartmouth and has had 12 saves on three other instances. Zimmerman has had six games in which he has recorded more saves than his high in any game his freshman season which was 11. Zimmerman also had eight ground balls against Johns Hopkins, a career high. He also had seven ground balls in the game against Duke.
A Goalie's Rare Goal: In Carolina's 11-8 win over Notre Dame on March 17, Tar Heel sophomore goalkeeper Grant Zimmerman scored a first quarter goal. The goal for Zimmerman was the first by a Tar Heel goalkeeper since April 19, 1992 when Billy Daye scored for the Tar Heels in an 18-7 win over Villanova.
Carolina's Improved Offensive Production: North Carolina is averaging 10.97 goals per game so far during the 2007 season. That is over a two and a half-goal improvement over the 2006 average to date. The Heels averaged 8.50 goals per game last season. The Tar Heels' goals against average is 9.13, a significant improvement over the 9.93 average last year.
Carolina's Starting Attack Unit: North Carolina's starting attack unit of Bart Wagner, Gavin Petracca and Michael Burns have produced 36, 35 and 26 points so far in the 2007 season in 13 games. Compare those totals to 2006 when the top three attack scorers on the Carolina team had 29, 22 and 20 points, respectively in 14 games. Wagner led last year's scorers with 29 points followed by Ryan Blair with 22 and Michael Burns with 20. Six midfielders have totaled at least 10 points this season -- Nick Tintle and Ben Hunt with 24 each, Sean Burke with 16, Rob Driscoll with 14 and Sean Delaney and Brian Connors with 10.
Tar Heel Hat Tricks: Carolina has had 11 hat trick performances in the first 13 games of the season. Gavin Petracca had a season-high five goals against Vermont and he also had four versus Ohio State. Bart Wagner had a career high four goals against Duke and he matched that with four against Virginia. Ben Hunt has had a trio of three-goal games and Michael Burns has had a pair of three-goal games. Hunt had hat tricks against Dartmouth, Navy and Fairfield. All three efforts were career highs in a game for the sophomore midfielder. Burns had three each against Dartmouth and Vermont. He also had three each against Ohio State and Air Force as a freshman. Junior midfielder Rob Driscoll scored a career high three goals against Fairfield while freshman midfielder Sean Delaney had his first career hat trick against Providence.
A Statistical Oddity: In North Carolina's 13-6 win over Vermont on March 13, all 13 goals were scored by the Tar Heel attack unit. Gavin Petracca had five, Michael Burns three, Sean Delaney and Kevin Federico two each and Bart Wagner one.
A Reverse Statistical Oddity: In Carolina's 13-10 victory over Johns Hopkins on March 31, only one of the 13 goals came from an attackman as midfielders scored 11 goals and a defenseman one goal. Ironically, it was the game-winning goal which was the one scored by the attack as Michael Burns tallied with 7:11 to play to put the Heels ahead for good at 11-10.
Wagner's Assists: Sophomore attackman Bart Wagner has had three or more assists in a game three times this season. He had a career high four versus Vermont and three each against Ohio State and Dartmouth. Nick Tintle had a career high three assists against Dartmouth and Gavin Petracca had three apiece versus Bellarmine, Notre Dame and Johns Hopkins. Freshman Kevin Federico had his career high for assists in a game with three against Providence.
Five or More Points in a Game: UNC has had ine five-point or more performances in a game this season. Gavin Petracca has had four of those performances with a career-high six points against Vermont and five each against Ohio State, Bellarmine and Notre Dame. Bart Wagner has had a career-high five points against both Ohio State, Vermont, Virginia and Providence. He also had five points against the Buckeyes as a freshman. Nick Tintle is the other player with a five-point game. He had his career high against Dartmouth. Sean Burke, Rob Driscoll and Kevin Federico have each had games with four points, each representing a career high for points in a game.
Tar Heels End Losing Streak Against Blue Jays: North Carolina ended a 13-game losing streak against No. 5 Johns Hopkins with its 13-10 win March 31, 2007. The last Tar Heel win came on April 2, 1994 when UNC beat Johns Hopkins 11-9 at Homewood Field in Baltimore. Current Tar Heel head coach John Haus served as an assistant coach on that Johns Hopkins team.
Carolina Versus The Blue Jays: UNC is now 13-23 all-time against the Blue Jays. The three-goal margin of victory on March 31 was UNC's biggest against Hopkins since a 16-10 win in the 1993 NCAA semifinals on May 29, 1993.
UNC's Winning Streak at Kenan Stadium: The Tar Heels have won the last four games they have played at Kenan Stadium. The Tar Heels beat UMBC 15-11 on April 13, 2002, UMBC 17-6 on April 17, 2004, Fairfield 18-9 on April 15, 2006 and Johns Hopkins 13-10 on March 31, 2007.. Prior to the game in 2002, UNC had not played at Kenan Stadium in eight years.
Biggest Home Crowd In Five Years: The crowd of 3,582 at Kenan Stadium March 31 for the UNC versus Johns Hopkins game was the largest for a Tar Heel home game since April 13, 2002 when 6,235 fans watched the Tar Heels beat UMBC 15-11 at Kenan Stadium.
A Win Over The Top 10: The win against Hopkins was UNC's first over a Top 10 team since March 23, 2005 when the Tar Heels beat 10th-ranked Cornell 9-5 at Fetzer Field. UNC had lost 13 straight to Top 10 teams since that point in time.
Beating Number 5: The last time UNC beat a team ranked as high as No. 5 Johns Hopkins was March 20, 2004 when Carolina beat No. 5 Duke in Durham by a 10-9 score in overtime. Grant Zimmerman's older brother, Lance Zimmerman, scored the game-winning goal in that game for the Tar Heels.
A Higher Ranked Win: The last time UNC beat a team ranked higher than No. 5 was March 22, 2003 when the Heels whipped No. 2 Maryland 10-6 at College Park, Md.
A Career High For Benny: Ben Staines had a career high six ground balls in the win against Johns Hopkins. He exceeded that career high one week later with eight ground balls at Virginia.
Grant's Career Bests: Grant Zimmerman had a career high 15 saves against Johns Hopkins, including eight in the first quarter when the Tar Heels were outshot by Hopkins 12-6. Zimmerman's previous career best for saves was 13 earlier this year against Dartmouth on February 26, 2007. Zimmerman also had eight ground balls, the most in a game in his career. His previous high was seven earlier this year against Duke on March 17, 2007. Zimmerman matched his career high with 15 saves at Virginia, including one in which Zimmerman dove several yards across the mouth of the goal to knock away a Virginia shot headed into an empty net.
A More Balanced Scoring Punch: Five Tar Heels have 24 or more points in 13 games. Last season, only three reached 18 points in 14 games. Scoring Highs In the Hopkins Game: Nick Tintle, Rob Driscoll and Sean Burke all matched their career highs for goals in a game with two against Johns Hopkins Brian Connors had a career high three points in a game and a career high two goals as well.
Kaiser Scores Again: Tim Kaiser scored his second goal of the season and third of his career against Johns Hopkins. He also scored against Air Force as a freshman.
Burke's First Assist: Junior defenseman Brian Burke had the first assist of his career March 31 against Hopkins, ironically assisting a goal by his younger brother, Sean Burke. Burke scored the first goal of his career against Ohio State in the season opener.
A Rare Overtime Game: When Carolina played an overtime game at Virginia April 7, it was its first extra session game in over three years. UNC had not played an overtime game since March 20, 2007 when the Heels beat Duke 10-9 at Koskinen Stadium in Durham, N.C. UNC has played eight overtime games in coach John Haus' seven years as head coach.
