North Carolina
Virginia
Tar Heels Drop Overtime Thriller To Virginia
April 9, 2011 | Men's Lacrosse
April 9, 2011
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. - Steele Stanwick scored an unassisted goal with 46 seconds left in overtime to lift the ninth-ranked Virginia Cavaliers to an 11-10 victory over eighth-ranked North Carolina in men's lacrosse action at Klockner Stadium before a crowd of 4,598 fans. The ending blunted an amazing comeback by the Tar Heels who scored three times in the final 3:14 of play to force overtime in a game in which Carolina never led.
UNC has now lost back-to-back one-goal heartbreakers to Johns Hopkins and Virginia and is now 7-4 on the season and 1-2 in the ACC. Virginia saw its two-game losing streak end as the Cavaliers are now 8-3 and 1-1 in the ACC.
Virginia appeared to be in command, leading 10-7 with less than four minutes to play but the Tar Heels forced a turnover by Rhamel Bratton and got back-to-back goals by long-stick midfielder Mark Staines to pull within a single goal with 3:01 left to play. Virginia gained possession after that but Bratton missed a shot on an open goal and the Heels gained possession and called timeout with 1:35 to play. Carolina worked the ball around before Thomas Wood's goal with 5.6 seconds to play forced overtime, UNC's first overtime game since beating Johns Hopkins 10-9 on March 28, 2009.
Freshman R.G. Keenan won the ensuing face-off to give the Tar Heels possession in the overtime but Jimmy Dunster had a shot go wide and then a shot blocked and the Cavaliers were able to gain possession to set up for a final shot. The first two Virginia shots were not on target but Stanwick was able to get the game winner after UNC defenseman Charlie McComas slipped on the wet turf. Stanwick went around the left side and scored one-on-one with UNC goalie Steven Rastivo to notch the game-winning tally.
Colin Briggs finished with three goals and two assists to lead the Virginia effort while Stanwick had two goals and two assists and Rhamel Bratton had two goals and an assist. Chris Bocklet had two goals for Virginia and Nick O'Reilly had a goal and two assists.
UNC had one of its most balanced offensive games of the season with eight players scoring goals. Billy Bitter and Mark Staines each had two goals for UNC while Jimmy Dunster, Thomas Wood, R.G. Keenan, Ryan Creighton, Michael Burns and Ryan Flanagan eached scored once. UNC got three goals from defensemen, one from a defensive midfielder and one from the face-off man as all areas of the field helped keep the Tar Heels in the game. Nicky Galasso had a tremendous game for the Heels with three assists, breaking the UNC freshman record for assists in a season with 24.
The Tar Heels outshot the Cavaliers 42-34 and won the ground ball battle 38-33. R.G. Keenan led the Heels in ground balls with eight as he went 11-22 at the X. UNC forced the Wahoos into 17 turnovers while UNC committed only 11. Gray Smith and Ryan Flanagan each had two caused turnovers for UNC.
In the cage, Adam Ghitelman made 15 saves for Virginia while Steven Rastivo had eight for UNC. Both teams had one extra-man goal and both did well in the clearing game with Virginia going 24-26 and UNC 23-26.
The first quarter ended with the score tied at 1-1 with the Tar Heels outshooting the Cavaliers 7-3. Adam Ghitelman made five saves in the first quarter to lead the Wahoos' defensive effort. Virginia opened the scoring with 10:39 left in the first quarter on a 10-yard shot by Shamel Bratton assisted by his twin brother Rhamel Bratton. The Tar Heels tied the game at 9:44 on a half field shot by Ryan Flanagan after he caused a turnover, scooped up the ground ball and scored from about five yards inside the midfield line as he caught Ghitelman outside of the goal.
The Cavaliers outscored the Tar Heels 4-2 in the second half while outshooting Carolina 15-7 in the second 15 minutes of the game. Virginia opened the second quarter on the extra-man after a 30-second foul on the Tar Heels for illegal procedure but UNC killed off the infraction. Virginia took the lead 2-1 with 7:46 left in the first half on an extra-man goal by Craig Bocklet assisted by Steele Stanwick after Marcus Holman was assessed a 30-second foul for pushing.
After the two teams combined for just three goals in the first 28 minutes of the half five goals were scored in the last two minutes of the half. The Cavaliers made it 3-1 with 1:58 left in the first half on a goal by Colin Briggs assisted by Steele Stanwick. Virginia increased its lead to 4-1 just 27 seconds later on a goal by Stanwick, assisted by Nick O'Reilly.
Carolina answered with 52 seconds left in the half in an unsettled situation off a clear as Michael Burns scored his first goal of the year assisted by Nicky Galasso. It was Galasso's 22nd assist of the season as he broke the Tar Heel record for assists by a freshman in a season which was initially established by Pat Welsh in 1985. Off the subsequent face-off, UNC scored 12 seconds later as R.G. Keenan scored his second goal of the season, pulling the Tar Heels within 4-3. Virginia won the following face-off and with 9.6 seconds left in the half Colin Briggs scored his second goal of the game on a dodge on the right side to make it 5-3 Wahoos.
The Tar Heels cut the lead to 5-4 with 13:17 left in the third quarter as Billy Bitter pounced on a ground ball after Pat Foster's initial shot was saved. Bitter scored on a bounced shot past Ghitelman just to the left of the crease. Virginia went back up by two goals with 9:08 left in the third quarter as Rhamel Bratton scored on a worm burner off an assist by Colin Briggs. The Tar Heels cut the lead to 6-5 on a goal by Jimmy Dunster assisted by Nicky Galasso with 6:03 left in the third quarter. Colin Briggs scored his third goal of the game to put the Wahoos up 7-5 with 2:11 left in the third quarter. Nick O'Reilly earned his second assist of the game on the goal. The Tar Heels got a very fortuitous goal with 1.8 seconds left in the third quarter as Thomas Wood stole an Adam Ghitleman clearing pass at midfield and fed Billy Bitter who finished past Ghitelman just as the quarter was about to end.
Virginia increased its lead on a coast-to-coast goal by Rhamel Bratton with 12:49 left in the fourth quarter. Bratton picked off a pass from behind the cage, pivoted and went all the way for the tally. Carolina answered that goal with a tally by Ryan Creighton with 9:50 left in the game off an assist by Nicky Galasso. Creighton, who normally plays defensive midfield, was left open on the crease and he finished Galasso's pass for the goal. Virginia countered just 43 seconds later as Chris Bocklet scored when he found himself alone in front and took a pass from Colin Briggs for the goal. The Cavaliers regained a three-goal lead, their biggest of the game, when Nick O'Reilly scored an unassisted goal with 6:53 to play as he rolled the crease on the right side.
The Tar Heels cut the lead to 10-8 with 3:14 to play as Mark Staines scored after a clear, assisted on the play by Billy Bitter. After Rhamel Bratton was flagged for a cross check against Bitter on the goal, UNC won the ensuing face-off and Mark Staines scored again to pull the Tar Heels within 10-9 with 3:01 to play in the game.
Virginia won the ensuing face-off and called timeout but Rhamel Bratton's shot went wide with a little less than two minutes left and Steven Rastivo backed up the play. The Tar Heels cleared the ball and called timeout with 1:35 left. The Tar Heels worked the ball around for a minute and a half before Jimmy Dunster found Thomas Wood on the crease and he deked Ghitelman and scored the tying goal with 5.4 seconds left.
It was a tough loss for the Tar Heels who have lost eight in a row to Virginia but the last four games have been decided by a total of five goals. Virginia has recorded four one-goal victories over UNC since 2007 including overtime wins in 2007, 2008 and 2010.
North Carolina will have two games in the coming week. The Heels will play host to Presbyterian on Thursday night at 7 p.m. at Fetzer Field before traveling to Bethlehem, Pa. to meet the Lehigh Mountain Hawks next Sunday at 12 noon. That game will be televised nationally on CBS College Sports Television.
The Tar Heels will then play in the ACC Tournament at Koskinen Stadium in Durham, N.C. on April 22 and 24. Saturday's result locks the Tar Heels into the middle of the bracket depending on the result of next Saturday's Duke-Virginia game. UNC will be either the No. 2 or No. 3 seed in the tournament depending on the outcome of that game.
