University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heel Men's Lacrosse Meets Duke Friday
April 25, 2008 | Men's Lacrosse
April 25, 2008
North Carolina Heads To ACC Tournament Friday: The University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team begins the post-season phase of its 2008 campaign Friday when the Tar Heels meet defending ACC champion Duke in the ACC Tournament semifinals at 5 p.m. at Klockner Stadium in Charlottesville, Va. The Tar Heels head into the match with a record of 8-4 overall and 0-3 in the ACC. Carolina is ranked No. 12 this week in the U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Poll and No. 10 in the Inside Lacrosse/Nike Poll. Duke, the 2007 NCAA runnerup, is ranked No. 2 by the U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Poll and No. 1 in the Inside Lacrosse/Nike Poll. The Blue Devils are seeded No. 1 in the ACC Tournament while the Tar Heels are seeded No. 4. Duke defeated the Tar Heels in the regular season meeting at Durham, N.C. by a 19-9 score.
Tar Heels Play One of Country's Most Rugged Schedules:
UNC enters the ACC Tournament with a record of 5-4 this year against nationally-ranked Top 20 teams. UNC is ranked No. 12 in this week's USILA coaches poll. Carolina has wins over No. 6 Johns Hopkins, No. 7 Notre Dame, No. 8 Cornell, No. 18 Denver and No. 20 Hofstra. UNC has lost to No. 2 Duke, No. 3 Virginia, No. 8 Maryland and No. 13 Ohio State according to the USILA coaches poll ratings. Carolina is ranked No. 10 in this week's Inside Lacrosse/Nike media poll. Carolina has wins over No. 6 Johns Hopkins, No. 8 Cornell, No. 12 Notre Dame, No. 18 Denver and No. 19 Hofstra. The Tar Heels have lost to No. 1 Duke, No. 3 Virginia, No. 5 Maryland and No. 9 Ohio State according to the Inside Lacrosse Poll.
Hunt and Zimmerman Named To All-ACC Team: University of North Carolina men's lacrosse players Ben Hunt of Arnold, Md. and Grant Zimmerman from Cockeysville, Md. were named to the 2008 All-Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Lacrosse Team. This marks the first time since 2004 that more than one Tar Heel player has been named to the team. Hunt, a junior midfielder, is Carolina's second leading scorer overall and leading goal scorer in 2008. He has 28 points for the team, trailing only Bart Wagner's total of 30. His 20 goals are the most on the team, three ahead of the 17 scored by attackman Michael B. Burns. Hunt has scored on 37.0 percent of his 54 shots and he has placed 72.2 percent of his shots on goal. He leads the Tar Heels in extra-man goals with nine, five more than Bart Wagner. He has 26 ground balls. Zimmerman, a redshirt junior goalkeeper, has played 678 minutes this year and compiled an 8-4 goalkeeper record. He has 144 saves and 100 goals allowed, a save percentage of .590, up from .510 a year ago. He has faced 430 opponent shots and has a goals against average of only 8.85. He leads UNC in ground balls with 55 and has started all 12 games for the Tar Heels this season.
North Carolina Versus Duke: Friday's match will mark the 59th meeting between North Carolina and Duke on the lacrosse field. The teams first met in 1952 when Blue Devils defeated North Carolina 11-7 in Durham. North Carolina leads the all-time series with Duke by a 37-21 margin. Earlier this season, the Blue Devils defeated the Tar Heels in Durham by a 19-9 score on March 15, 2008. Carolina's last win over Duke came on March 20, 2004 when the Tar Heels defeated the Blue Devils 10-9 in overtime at Koskinen Stadium in Durha, N.C. Duke has won seven in a row in the series since 2005. The Tar Heels has won three in a row in the series prior to that, winning in 2002, 2003 and 2004.
Last Week For the Tar Heels:
North Carolina ended a two-match losing streak by defeating Hofstra 13-9 on Senior Day at Kenan Stadium on April 19. The Tar Heels improved to 4-0 in games played at Kenan Stadium over the past six seven seasons. It marked the final regular-season home match for 10 Tar Heel seniors -- Rob Driscoll, Tim McCall, Fletcher Gregory, Nick Tintle, Mike Munnelly, Jamie DeBole, Brian Connors, Tim Kaiser, Brian Burke and Andrew Moss. Red-shirt juniors Michael B. Burns and Grant Zimmerman were also part of the recruiting class that enrolled in August 2004. Zimmerman made 13 saves and allowed only eight goals in nearly 58 minutes of action. Redshirt sophomore Gavin Petracca had his high point game of the campaign with four goals and one assist. Michael B. Burns had three goals for the Tar Heels and Nick Tintle had a goal and three assists.
