Tar Heels Head To Ohio State For Game At The Horseshoe

February 17, 2011 | Men's Lacrosse

By: UNC Athletic Communications

Feb. 17, 2011

GAME #2
North Carolina (1-0) at Ohio State (2-0)
Ohio Sadium, Columbus, Ohio
Saturday, February 19, 2011, 12 noon

The third-ranked North Carolina men's lacrosse team hits the road this weekend for the first time when Head Coach Joe Breschi's Tar Heels take on the Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday, Feb. 19 at 12 noon. The game will be played at Ohio Stadium (The Horseshoe). Live stats links will be available both on the Ohio State website and TarHeelBlue.com.

The Tar Heels head into the match with a 1-0 record after having beaten Robert Morris 14-11 last Saturday in the season opener at Fetzer Field. Ohio State is 2-0 after victories over Detroit 4-3 and Mercer 20-2.

A RETURN TO COLUMBUS FOR COACH BRESCHI: The North Carolina and Ohio State programs are familiar with each other to be sure. UNC coach Joe Breschi returns to the site of his first head coaching job after having led the Buckeyes from 1998 through 2008, including three NCAA Tournament appearances.

Head UNC assistant coach Pat Myers was a player for the Buckeyes under Breschi and also served as a volunteer assistant there. Pat's older brother, Nick Myers, was Coach Breschi's chief assistant at OSU and took over the heading coaching reins after Breschi moved to UNC in June 2008

GALASSO NAMED ACC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: North Carolina freshman midfielder Nicky Galasso was named the first 2011 Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Lacrosse Player of the Week for the period ending on Monday, February 14. Galasso scored four goals and had one assist in his collegiate debut as the third-ranked Tar Heels held off No. 21 Robert Morris 14-11 in its season opener. The rookie from West Islip, N.Y., opened the scoring in the game 53 seconds into the match on an unassisted goal and scored on his first three shots on goal. Galasso capped the day with one of the biggest plays after Robert Morris had cut UNC's lead to 12-11 in the fourth quarter. He scored with 2:45 to play to give the Tar Heels a two-goal cushion en route to the eventual 14-11 win. Galasso scored his four goals on six shots on goal and he also had two ground balls.

FLANAGAN TAPPED AS A LOWE'S SENIOR CLASS CANDIDATE: Senior defenseman Ryan Flanagan of the University of North Carolina is among 20 NCAA® men's lacrosse student-athletes who excel both on and off the field and were selected as candidates Wednesday for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award in lacrosse. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition. The list of candidates follows this release. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. The 2011 candidate class includes 13 student-athletes with cumulative grade point averages of 3.0 or better. Ten are from teams ranked in the Inside Lacrosse preseason top 20, and eight players competed in the NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship last season, with two on the winning team.

THE CAROLINA CAPTAINS: For the first time in recent memory, the 2011 Carolina team is represented on the field by a pair of senior captains who were elected to those posts unanimously by their peers. Senior midfielder Michael Burns and senior defenseman Ryan Flanagan were elected to those posts in the fall. Ironically neither player was on campus when the vote took place. Burns was studying abroad in England while Flanagan was doing community service with Fields of Growth International in Uganda.

TAR HEELS ARE BALANCED ON OFFENSE IN SEASON OPENING WIN: Freshman Nicky Galasso scored four goals in his collegiate men's lacrosse debut as third-ranked North Carolina defeated Robert Morris 14-11 in the season opener for both teams at Fetzer Field LAST Saturday afternoon. Galasso led a stellar offensive effort by the Tar Heels that saw senior Billy Bitter and sophomore Marcus Holman score three goals each while freshman Mark McNeill scored twice, both of the goals in the fourth quarter of the game as the Tar Heels successfully rode out a rally by the Colonials. Junior Thomas Wood had a goal and three assists and Jimmy Dunster also added a goal.

UNC outshot the Colonials 43-31 and had a 36-22 edge in ground balls. UNC also won 14 face-off attempts to 11 for RMU. Chris Madalon went the entire way in goal for UNC and made 11 saves in 60 minutes. Madalon made nine of his 11 saves in the first half as the Tar Heels built a 9-6 halftime edge. He also had two key fourth quarter saves as the Tar Heels held off the Colonials. Besides Keenan's eight ground balls for UNC, Flanagan and Bitter had four grounders apiece. Casey Abbott led RMU with four ground balls.

CAROLINA IS LED BY 10-MAN SENIOR CLASS: While much attention has been showered on UNC's talented freshman class in 2011, the fact is this year's senior class is also one of the most talented in the nation. Most of the seniors on the roster will be running in UNC's regular 25-28 man rotation of starters and key reserves. The senior group includes attackman Billy Bitter, midfielder Chris Hunt, goalkeeper Chris Madalon, midfielder Ed Prevost, defenseman Kevin Piegare, defenseman Ryan Flanagan, midfielder Michael Burns, midfielder Matt Davie, defenseman Milton Lyles and defenseman Emmit Kellar. Lyles will be redshirting in 2011 after surgery to repair an ACL tear last fall. Bitter will be a starter on attack while Flanagan and Piegare will start on defense and Madalon in the goal. Burns is UNC's top short stick defensive midfielder while Hunt and Prevost are both expected to earn roles in the top three offensive midfielder positions.

THE SERIES WITH THE BUCKEYES: North Carolina and Ohio State will be meeting for the 17th time in history on Saturday. UNC leads the all-time series 15-1. Ohio State defeated the Tar Heels 14-11 at a neutral site in Baltimore in 2008 when Coach Joe Breschi piloted the Buckeye program. Both of the past two games have also been close. UNC won again in Baltimore in 2009 by a 12-11 score fueled by four goals by Billy Bitter. A year ago, the tar Heels won 19-13 in Chapel Hill after the game was tied 10-10 at the half after an early four-goal lead by OSU. Thomas Wood had five goals and an assist and Gavin Petracca three goals and three assists in last season's tilt.

CAROLINA IN THE POLLS: Carolina is currently ranked third in both the U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association coaches poll and the Inside Lacrosse/Nike media poll. Face-Off Magazine, Inside Lacrosse and the USILA all ranked UNC No. 3 in the preseason.

CAROLINA CONTINUES TO THRIVE IN NON-LEAGUE GAMES: UNC's record in non-conference games continues to be one of the best in the nation over the past four seasons. After a 14-11 win over Robert Morris last Saturday the Tar Heels have now won 43 of their past 47 games against non-conference teams dating back to late in the 2006 season. UNC's only losses over that span came at Navy in 2007, against Ohio State at a neutral site and at home against Navy (NCAA Tournament first round) in 2008 and at Notre Dame in 2009. In Joe Breschi's three seasons as head coach, the Tar Heels are 23-1 against non-conference teams.

FOUR TAR HEELS NAMED PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAS: Four players on the 2011 University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team were named preseason All-Americas by Face-Off Yearbook and Inside Lacrosse. Attackman Billy Bitter (Manhasset, N.Y.) was named a first-team All-America while senior defenseman Ryan Flanagan (West Islip, N.Y.) was also accorded first-team status. Junior midfielder Jimmy Dunster (Cos Cob, Conn.) earned second-team preseason All-America honors and junior defenseman Charlie McComas (Parkton, Md.) was tabbed for the third team.

TRIO OF TAR HEELS NAMED PRESEASON ALL-ACC: Face-Off Yearbook and Inside Lacrosse tapped three players as preseason All-ACC Team members -- senior attackman Billy Bitter, senior defenseman Ryan Flanagan and junior midfielder Jimmy Dunster.