University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Maryland
Tar Heels Go To 9-0 As Holman Leads UNC Past No. 4 Terps
March 27, 2010 | Men's Lacrosse
March 27, 2010
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Freshman attackman Marcus Holman, a late addition to the starting lineup in lieu of the injured Billy Bitter, led third-ranked North Carolina to a 9-7 win over fourth-ranked Maryland in a battle of unbeaten men's lacrosse teams Saturday afternoon before a near sellout crowd of 4,817 sun-drenched fans at Fetzer Field. Holman scored four goals and added an assist and goalkeeper Chris Madalon made 11 saves while limiting a Maryland team that came into the game scoring 12.11 goals per contest to only seven.
Carolina's win improves the Tar Heels to 9-0 on the season, its best start since the 1993 team captured its first nine games as well. The Tar Heels are 2-0 in the ACC, the first time the squad has won two ACC regular-season games since 2004 and the first time it started with two league wins since 2003. Maryland fell to 6-1 on the season and is 1-1 in the ACC.
Bitter, a first-team All-America attackman last year, has a leg injury and was held out by team medical personnel in a game-time decision, allowing Holman to start for the first time since the Tar Heels played Lehigh on February 20. The freshman responded with four goals, matching the career-high four he had in UNC's 11-4 win at Navy on February 25. He also had an assist, giving him a career-high five points in the game. Sophomore attackman Thomas Wood also had a big day for the Tar Heels with two goals and two assists while redshirt senior attackman Gavin Petracca and sophomore midfielder Jimmy Dunster both added a goal and an assist. Sean DeLaney had UNC's other goal and it proved to be the score that put the Heels ahead for good in the third quarter.
Maryland was led by two goals each by Ryan Young and Adam Sear. Grant Catalino had a goal and an assist for the Terrapins. Dean Hart and Owen Blye added single tallies for the Terps with Blye's score being the first of his career.
Maryland outshot the Tar Heels 33-28 and also won the ground ball war 33-28. The Tar Heels won the face-off battle 11-8 with Michael Burns taking all 19 draws for UNC. His 11 wins were one short of his career high in a game as were his six ground balls. Maryland scored on three of four extra-man opportunities in the game while Carolina went one-for-two in man-up situations.
Madalon was a big difference in the game for the Tar Heels as the redshirt junior made 11 saves while allowing only seven goals. Seven of Madalon's 11 saves came in the second half when the Heels outscored the Terps 5-3. Brian Phipps made seven saves for the Terrapins while allowing nine goals. Carolina has now held 20 of its past 28 opponents to single digits in goals. Maryland held UNC to single digits in scoring for only the second time this season and the second time in Carolina's last 17 matches.
The victory was the first regular-season win for the Tar Heels over Maryland in Chapel Hill since March 23, 1996 when UNC beat the Terps 17-16 at Fetzer Field behind a school record eight goals by Jason Wade. Maryland had won 12 of the last 13 regular-season meetings with the only Tar Heel win in that time being a 10-6 Carolina victory at Maryland in 2003. The Tar Heels did defeat the Terps in the ACC Tournament semifinals last year at Kenan Stadium 16-10 in their most recent meeting.
The win also broke a 23-game losing streak for the Tar Heels against teams ranked in the U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association's coaches' poll Top 4. The last win for the Tar Heels over a team ranked fourth or better came on March 22, 2003 when UNC beat Maryland 10-6 at Byrd Stadium in College Park, Md. UNC lost 23 in a row since then including losses to No. 1 Virginia and No. 3 Duke last season.
Carolina ran off to an early lead over the Terps before Maryland staged a strong second period rally to tie the game at halftime 4-4. It has been a pattern this year for UNC to grab early leads, weather opponent rallies and then pull away for victories.
It was the Terps who struck first as Dean Hart scored a fast break goal off a Tar Heel turnover at 13:49 of the first quarter. Brian Farrell assisted on the goal for Maryland. The goal put Maryland up 1-0 and marked the first time all year UNC has trailed in a match.
Carolina then went on a four-goal scoring run. Phipps made a save on a shot by Cryder DiPietro but Holman pounced on the ground ball and fed Thomas Wood on the door step for the equalizer at 8:52 of the opening period. The Tar Heels scored another opportunistic goal after a shot by Jimmy Dunster hit the pipe with a little over four minutes left in the quarter. Sean DeLaney pushed the ball through a pack of players where Dunster retrieved the ball and fed Holman for the go-ahead goal at 3:57 of the period. Holman was unattended on the crease where he faked once before depositing the ball in the back of the net. Carolina added to the lead when Gavin Petracca picked up a ground ball and fed Wood for his second goal of the period at 1:41. Wood took the pass on the crease, spun and stuck the ball past Phipps, making it 3-1 Carolina.
UNC made it 4-1 at 8:21 of the second quarter as Jimmy Dunster made a strong move to the cage and scored an unassisted goal. But Maryland rallied and tied the score by halftime. Owen Blye scored an unassisted goal at 6:21 to make it 4-2. Adam Sear then scored man up for the Terps at 3:03 of the period with an assist by Travis Reed after Tyler Morton was flagged for 30 seconds for pushing. That goal was followed by another Terp goal, this one by Ryan Young at 2:12 that tied things up. Young came from behind, established position on the left side and then turned and powered a shot past Madalon.
Maryland opened the third quarter with a man advantage after the Tar Heels were hit with a minute penalty as the first half expired. Sean Jackson had to sit out the first minute of the third quarter for an illegal body check. Maryland, which had scored 13 goals on the extra-man in 21 attempts this season to that point, was held scoreless on the man-up chance despite getting three shots off. That seemed to switch the momentum back to Carolina and the Tar Heels capitalized. The first two Terp shots were off goal and Madalon saved the third to snuff out any thoughts of a Maryland lead.
Sean DeLaney scored the goal that put UNC up for good with 12:15 left in the third quarter, taking an assist by Thomas Wood and going high and hard past Phipps over the goalie's lefy shoulder. DeLaney was shaken up on the play as he took a hit just after he let go of the ball. He left the field on his own power and did not return to the match. The Tar Heels then played the final 27:15 of the game without Bitter and DeLaney, both 2009 All-Americas, but still found a way to win. Head coach Joe Breschi went deep on his bench, using 25 players, including Jeff Muscatello, Ian Braddish and Zander Walters in the midfield and Joe Howard on attack.
The Heels made it 6-4 on a man-up goal by Gavin Petracca, assisted by Thomas Wood with 9:07 left in the third quarter. Maryland's Jake Bernhardt was banished for a minute at 9:37 for a crosse to the face of UNC's Michael Burns. Wood was behind the goal and found Petracca on the left side. His right-handed shot pinged in off a pipe past Phipps.
Holman then made it 7-4 with 1:36 left in the third quarter as he scored the second of his four goals. The Tar Heels ended up outscoring the Terps 3-0 despite being outshot in the period 10-7. Holman again showed his power, coming around the crease and beating Phipps one-one-one.
Three times in the fourth quarter Maryland pulled within two goals but could never get closer that. The Terps scored their second EMO goal of the game at 12:32 as Adam Sear scored off an assist by Grant Catalino after UNC's Cryder DiPietro was sent off for an illegal body check. On the ensuing face-off, Milton Lyles and Marcus Holman hooked up on a play that gave the Tar Heels immediate momentum in the closely-fought game. Just 14 seconds after the Maryland score, Lyles emerged from the face-off pack with a ground ball, took a couple of steps and he fed Holman who had slipped behind the defense. Holman went top shelf just inside the corner past Phipps from 10 yards out on the left side and UNC's lead was 8-5 at 12:18.
Maryland again cut the Tar Heel lead to two goals on its third man-up goal of the game as Ryan Young scored unassisted at 7:16 of the quarter. Thomas Wood had been penalized for a hold. UNC forced a turnover on the play but Charlie McComas' pass back to Chis Madalon resulted in a turnover. Young seized the loose ball and as Madalon was rushing to get back in the net went five hole on the UNC keeper.
UNC iced the game on Holman's fourth goal of the contest as he rolled the creas and beat a double team and scored unassisted with 2:31 to play. Phipps had come out of the goal on the play, but Holman stuck turned the corner and stuck his shot just inside the pipe.
A late turnover by the Heels led to a goal by Grant Catalino with 17 seconds to play but that would prove to be the final margin ay 9-7. Brett Schmidt had the assist on the play.
Carolina will travel to Homewood Field next Saturday to meet No. 12 Johns Hopkins (4-4) in a noon game to be televised nationally on ESPNU. The Tar Heels are 15-23 all-time versus Hopkins but have won three in a row in the series.
