University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Virginia
No. 11 Tar Heels Drop Overtime Decision To No. 2 Virginia, 10-9
April 7, 2007 | Men's Lacrosse
April 7, 2007
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. - No. 2-ranked Virginia got an extra-man goal in overtime from Garrett Billings with 1:38 to play in the first extra session to thwart No. 11 North Carolina's spirited upset bid of the defending national champion Cavaliers 10-9 at Klockner Stadium Saturday night before a frigid crowd of 2,566 fans.
After the two teams played even for over 62 minutes of play the game ended up turning on a pushing call against Carolina less than two minutes into the overtime period.
Virginia led for most of the game before the Tar Heels staged a frenzied second half rally, twice taking the lead before the Cavaliers were able to score the last two goals of the match.
The Virginia victory came despite magnificent performances by UNC attackman Bart Wagner, who had a career-high matching four goals to go along with one assist, and by sophomore goalkeeper Grant Zimmerman who equaled his career high with 15 saves, including 10 in the second half as the Tar Heels rallied from a three-goal deficit.
Michael Burns added two goals for the Tar Heels who are now 7-4 overall and 0-3 in the ACC. Virginia has won 10 in a row and is 10-1 overall and 2-0 in the ACC. Bent Hunt had a goal and two assists for UNC while Rob Driscoll had a goal and an assist. Gavin Petracca had the other goal for UNC while Sean Burke and Bobby McAuley each had two assists for Carolina.
Virginia had a balanced scoring attack with eight players scoring for the Wahoos. Danny Glading and Garrett Billings each scored two goals for Virginia. Ben Rubeor had a goal and two assists for UVa.
Virginia outshot the Tar Heels 37-34 but Carolina dominated in the face-off circle with 14 wins in 22 tries. UNC also had 57 ground balls to 42 for Virginia but the Tar Heels hurt themselves with 27 turnovers, including eight in the fourth quarter. The Tar Heels also had eight failed clears, which allowed the Cavaliers to own most of the possession time in the match.
The game was a far cry from the last meeting between the two teams when the Cavaliers routed the Tar Heels 21-13 in Chapel Hill last season as Carolina gave up its most goals in a game since 1999. But Saturday's game was a different story with the stats virtually even and the game going to overtime.
North Carolina jumped out to a 1-0 lead 1:03 into the match when Ben Hunt popped open on the crease and took a pass from Bart Wagner for the score. The Tar Heels held on to the lead for a little over four minutes before the Cavaliers tied the game off a failed clear by the Tar Heels. Mike Timms caused the failed clear at midfield and then fed Danny Glading for the goal.
Virginia went ahead 2-1 on a goal by Drew Garrison with 6:44 remaining in the first quarter. After Grant Zimmerman made a save for the Tar Heels, Garrison claimed the ball on the crease and scored unguarded. The Heels pulled even at 3:43 of the first quarter when Gavin Petracca took a pass behind the goal and rolled the crease to score past Kip Turner. The Cavaliers regained the lead just 12 seconds later when Ricky Smith won a ground ball clean off the ensuing face-off and fed Glading on the crease for his second goal of the game.
There was a flurry of scoring in the opening six minutes of the second half. The Tar Heels scored the first two goals of the quarter only to see the Cavaliers strike back for the last four goals of the quarter to take a 7-4 lead at intermission.
UNC tied the game at 3-3 on an empty net goal by Bart Wagner off an assist by Ben Hunt 54 seconds into the second half. The extra-man goal came off a broken clear. The Heels then took the lead at 4-3 with 12:58 left in the second quarter as Rob Driscoll scored on a bounced shot from the left side after taking a pass from Sean Burke.
But Virginia dominated possession the final 13 minutes of the second quarter and ran off four goals in a row. Garrett Billings scored 51 seconds after the goal by Driscoll on a low to high shot. Then 20 seconds later the Wahoos went ahead 5-4 on a goal by long pole Ricky Smith off the face-off. Virginia made it 6-4 on an extra-man goal by Brian Carroll with 9:35 left in the first half followed by Steve Giannone's unassisted goal from 12 yards out top with 5:41 to play.
The Tar Heels outscored the Cavaliers 3-0 in the third quarter to tie up the game at 7-7. With 10:07 to play in the quarter Bart Wagner took a cross crease pass on the left side from Bobby McAuley and scored from six yards out to cut the Virginia lead to two goals. At 7:26, the Heels cut the lead to one goal as Michael Burns took a pass on the left side from Bobby McAuley and scored on a bounce shot. Then at 5:02, the Heels tied the game at 7-7 as Wagner scored again off an assist by Rob Driscoll on a straight away shot from 12 yards away.
Carolina took the lead at 12:34 of the fourth quarter as Ben Hunt chased down a loose ball and fed a pass across the field to Bart Wagner for an 8-7 UNC lead. Virginia tied the score less than two minutes later on an unassisted goal by Ben Rubeor.
The Tar Heels took the lead with 9:35 to play as attackman Michael Burns dodged a pair of Virginia defenders and scored on a bounce shot. Virginia then forced overtime on a goal by Cavalier senior midfielder Drew Thompson as he drove the right side to score from eight yards out with 2:06 to play. Virginia had the final possession of regulation but Grant Zimmerman saved Drew Thompson's bounce shot from eight yards with 10 seconds to play.
In the extra period UNC won the face-off and had a shot by Brian Connors saved by Virginia's Kip Turner. UNC forced a failed clear by Virginia but then threw the ball away on the following possession. Virginia came down and benefited from a pushing call with possession whistled against Brian Burke and Virginia capitalized on the ensuing extra-man opportunity.
UNC will travel to face Fairfield next Sunday in Fairfield, Conn., a game that will face-off at 12 noon. Virginia travels to play at Duke next Saturday at 1 p.m.
