University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Honor 2011 Men's Lacrosse Team
October 3, 2011 | Men's Lacrosse
Oct. 3, 2011
Read Feature On UNC Alumnus Flanagan In NCAA Champion Magazine 
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Head Coach Joe Breschi and his staff honored the 2011 University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team on Saturday, October 1, 2011 during the annual team banquet at the Blue Zone in the Loudermilk Center for Excellence at Kenan Stadium.
Carolina feted its 2011 squad which finished in the Top 10 nationally for the fifth straight year and reached the NCAA Tournament for a fifth successive season. UNC finished the 2011 campaign with a 10-6 mark.
Marcus Holman, a midfielder from Baltimore, Md., won the Turnbull Trophy as UNC's team Most Valuable Player. He was the first sophomore to win the award since Billy Bitter did so in 2009. Holman missed four starts for the Tar Heels in the midfield after suffering an injury against Virginia but was still UNC's leading scorer at that position and the fourth-leading overall scorer on the team. He scored 23 goals and had five assists for 28 points. Holman had 19 ground balls and six caused turnovers and he scored on 34.8 percent of his shots in 2011.
Ryan Flanagan, a West Islip, N.Y. native and 2011 alumnus, won the Most Valuable Defensive Player Award for the third successive season. The indestructible Flanagan started 15 games on defense for the Tar Heels as a senior and earned second-team All-America honors. Flanagan led the team in caused turnovers with 29 and he was second on the team in ground balls with 44. He had a string of 56 straight starting assignments broken when he had to sit out the Presbyterian game on April 14, 2011. Flanagan also had three goals and two assists as a senior.
The incomparable Billy Bitter was named the recipient of the Most Valuable Offensive Player Award for the second successive year after winning the Turnbull Trophy as a sophomore in 2009. Bitter finished his Carolina career ranked seventh all-time in points in a UNC career with 175. He finished eighth in career assists with 76 and he was tied for ninth in career goals scored with 99. As a senior Billy Bitter led the Tar Heels in goal scoring with 25 goals and he was second on the team in both assists with 14 and in points with 39. The Manhasset, N.Y.. native had 35 ground balls to his credit and scored on 28.7 percent of his shots.
Retiring UNC Director of Athletics Dick Baddour was involved in two awards on the day. Baddour was the recipient of the Danny Fox Memorial Award for Service to Carolina Lacrosse. The award is named for the late Danny Fox, a long-time benefactor of the program, who passed away at a young age in 2002. The Tar Heels also instituted the Dick Baddour Academic Success Award for the player with the highest grade point average on the team. Current senior midfielder Logan Corey of Chapel Hill, N.C. was the recipient of the inaugural award.
Pat Foster, a Lutherville, Md., midfielder and a current UNC sophomore, won the Kevin Reichardt Memorial Award as the team's Most Improved Player. The award honors former UNC midfielder Kevin Reichardt who had his life taken in 1995. Foster was a worthy recipient as the converted attackman had a stellar freshman year, seeing his playing time increase dramatically during the course of the year after his switch to the midfield line. Foster was UNC's sixth-leading scorer with 17 points. He had 15 goals, including game winners against Navy and Notre Dame. He scored on 50 percent of his shots, the highest figure on the team for a non-defenseman.
2011 alumnus Chris Hunt won the Class of 1986 Sportsmanship Award, named to honor Dan Andrews of that national championship class of players. Hunt was a standout scholar-athlete who was not only an All-ACC Academic selection but a stellar player on the field as a short-stick defensive midfielder. He has graduated from UNC's School of Business Administration. Hunt played in 15 games as a senior and had a goal, an assist and 10 ground balls.
Face-off man extraordinaire R.G. Keenan won the Holmes Harden Sr. Memorial Award as the top ground ball producer on the 2011 Carolina team. The Award honors Holmes Harden Sr., who passed away in 1991. Harden sent three sons to Carolina -- Boyd, Graham and Holmes, Jr. -- all of whom earned All-America honors. Keenan was the runaway winner of the award for the Tar Heels. He scooped up 109 ground balls in 2011, a total which was 65 more than any other Tar Heel player.
Attackman Nicky Galasso of West Islip, N.Y., earned the award as the Jay Gallagher Outstanding Freshman, named in honor of the late Tar Heel player from the 1970s. Galasso had arguably the most dynamic freshman season in Carolina lore. He led UNC in points with 56 and assists with 32 and his 24 goals were only one behind Billy Bitter's team-leading 25 total. Galasso scored on 31.6 percent of his shots. He broke school records for points in a season by a freshman, which was originally set by John Webster with 45 in 1990, and for assists in a season by a freshman, which was originally set by Pat Welsh in 1985 with 21 helpers.
The yeoman-like work of senior long-stick midfielder Mark Staines was recognized with his selection as the winner of the Needham Unsung Hero Award for 2011. No recipient ever deserved it more. With UNC low in numbers at long stick midfield Staines, along with Kieran McDonald, took all the runs there virtually the entire season. But instead of Staines' game tiring down as the season went on, it got better. He played in all 16 games and had five goals scored on just nine shots. He was second on the team with 15 caused turnovers and he also was among the Top 5 in ground balls with 30. He scored on 55.6 percent of his shots a year ago.
Two worthy Tar Heels shared the Ralph T. "Rip" Davy, III Memorial Award given for Senior Leadership. 2011 co-captains Ryan Flanagan and Michael Burns shared the award. Burns, a midfielder from Medford Lakes, N.J., and Flanagan were elected to co-captain the 2011 team in the fall semester of 2010 despite the fact they were studying overseas and volunterring overseas at the time. And the vote was unanimous, attesting to their style of leadership and the respect they commanded from their teammates. The award honors one of the true UNC leaders of the past, the late Ralph "Rip" Davy. Davy was the captain of legendary UNC lacrosse coach Willie Scroggs' first-ever Tar Heels team in 1979. That same season Davy was the first UNC defenseman ever named a first-team All-America selection.
