University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Host Retrievers Saturday In NCAA First Round
May 3, 2009 | Men's Lacrosse
May 7, 2009
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team returns to action this Saturday for the first time in 13 days when the Tar Heels host UMBC in the first round of the 2009 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship. Game time is 2:30 p.m. at Fetzer Field. The game will be nationally televised on ESPNU.
The Tar Heels (11-5) are the No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament while the America East champion Retrievers (12-3) are unseeded. The game is one of only two first-round matchups which feature a pair of Top 10-ranked teams in this week's Inside Lacrosse/Nike media poll. UMBC is ranked No. 9 while North Carolina is No. 6.
UNC goes into the tournament with an 11-5 record in Coach Joe Breschi's first year as head coach while the Retrievers, coached by former UNC assistant coach Don Zimmerman, is 12-3 overall. UNC leads the all-time series with the Retrievers 16-6 but this will be the first meeting between the two teams in NCAA Tournament play. The teams last played on April 16, 2005 when the Tar Heels beat the Retrievers 11-5 in Catonsville, Md.
"We're thrilled for UNC to be included in the NCAA Tournament field and I know our players are very excited," said Tar Heel head coach Joe Breschi. "It's great to have a home game at Fetzer Field. I have great respect for the UMBC program and of course I've known Coach Zimmerman for a long time. He always brings his team into games as well prepared as any squad in the country. We expect their best effort on Saturday and we're looking forward to a great game."
Tickets will be available at the Fetzer Field gates on Saturday. Fans are encouraged to park in the Cobb Parking Deck, Highway 54 lot and Boshamer Stadium lots for free and in the Ramshead Parking Deck at a fee of $1.25 an hour. Because of graduation at Carolina on Sunday, there are many events on Saturday and fans are encouraged to plan accordingly and arrive early.
NCAA Tournament First Round
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Brown (12-3) at No. 8 Johns Hopkins (9-4), 12 Noon
UMBC (12-3) at No. 6 North Carolina (11-5), 2:30 p.m.
Hofstra (11-3) at No. 5 Cornell (10-3), 5 p.m.
Navy (11-4) at No. 3 Duke (13-3), 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Maryland (9-6) at No. 7 Notre Dame (15-0), 12 Noon
Villanova (11-5) at No. 1 Virginia (13-2), 2:30 p.m.
Massachusetts (9-5) at No. 4 Princeton (12-2), 5 p.m.
Siena (12-5) at No. 2 Syracuse (12-2), 7:30 p.m.
NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals
Saturday, May 16 at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y.
Siena-Syracuse Winner vs. Maryland-Notre Dame Winner
Hofstra-Cornell Winner vs. Princeton-Massachusetts Winner
Sunday, May 17 at U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
Villanova-Virginia Winner vs. Brown-Johns Hopkins Winner
Navy-Duke Winner vs. UMBC-North Carolina Winner
NCAA Tournament Semifinals
Saturday, May 23 at Foxborough, Mass.
NCAA Tournament Championship
Monday, May 25 at Foxborough, Mass.
Carolina Men's Lacrosse Tournament Notes
• The 2009 season marks North Carolina's 24th appearance in the NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship. Carolina's appearances have come in 1976, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2004, 2007, 2008 and 2009.
• This is Carolina's 22nd appearance as a Top 8 seed in the NCAA Championship. • North Carolina has an all-time record of 25-19 in NCAA Tournament play, a winning percentage of .568.
• The Tar Heels have won four NCAA championships - 1981, 1982, 1986, 1991 - and they also finished as the NCAA runnerup in 1993.
• Saturday's game will mark the 17th the Tar Heels have hosted in NCAA Tournament play. Carolina is 13-3 in history in NCAA Tournament games hosted in Chapel Hill, including a 10-2 mark in NCAA Tournament games played at Fetzer Field.
• Carolina has reached the Final Four phase of the NCAA Tournament 12 times in its history in 23 previous appearances.
