University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels & Terps Ready For First Round Matchup Sunday
May 12, 2011 | Men's Lacrosse
May 12, 2011
TAR HEELS PLAY HOST TO ACC CHAMPION MARYLAND IN NCAA FIRST ROUND: The eighth-ranked North Carolina men's lacrosse team has earned an at-large invitation to the 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship and will play host to seventh-ranked Maryland Sunday at 1 p.m. in an NCAA first round game at Fetzer Field. General admission tickets will be available at the Carmichael Arena Ticket Office on game day and the Fetzer Field gates will open at 12 noon. North Carolina (10-5) and 2011 ACC Tournament champion Maryland (10-4) both earned at-large bids to this year's tournament. This will be only the second meeting all-time between the two teams in the NCAA Tournament and it will be the third meeting between the squads during the 2011 season. The first round game will be nationally televised on ESPN with Eamon McAnaney doing the play-by-play and Paul Carcaterra serving as the color analyst.
PURCHASING TICKETS FOR FRIDAY'S GAME: Individual tickets for Sunday's game are all general admission Ticket prices are $10 for adults and $5 for students and senior citizens. They can be purchased in advance at the Ticket Center on TarHeelBlue.com or at the Carmichael Arena Ticket Office on game day beginning at 12 Noon.
THE BASICS OF THE MATCHUP: The Tar Heels head into the game with an overall record of 10-5 while Maryland is 10-4. Both teams finished 1-2 in the ACC regular season but the Terrapins defeated the Tar Heels in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament and then went on to win their first conference tournament championship since 2005. Carolina is ranked ninth in the USILA coaches poll and eighth in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse media poll. The Terrapins are seventh in the media poll and eighth in the coaches poll.
UNC VS. MARYLAND IN 2011: Sunday's game will mark the third matchup between North Carolina and Maryland in 2011. The two teams split the previous two meetings. In both games, the winning team rallied from four-goal deficits to earn the victories. On March 26 at Byrd Stadium in College Park, Md., the Tar Heels defeated the Terps 11-6 in the regular season matchup behind a seven-point performance by freshman attackman Nicky Galasso. UNC trailed 4-0 in the first quarter of the game before scoring eight straight goals and going on to win in College Park for the first time since 2003. Less than a month later, on April 22, the Terps avenged that loss by defeating the Tar Heels 7-6 in the ACC Tournament semifinals at Koskinen Stadium in Durham, N.C. The Tar Heels led that game 6-2 heading into the fourth quarter before the Terps went on a five-goal run in less than 10 minutes to pull out a scintillating 7-6 victory.
THE ONLY PREVIOUS NCAA MEETING: Throughout their long histories, Carolina and Maryland have actually played only one previous time in NCAA Tournament and ironically, that meeting was also set up by NCAA fiat, just as it was this season. Just as this season when the two teams were slotted into the bracket to play each other in the first round the same circumstance came about on May 18, 1986 when fourth-seeded Maryland played host to fifth-seeded North Carolina in a quarterfinal game at Byrd Stadium in College Park, Md. in what was then a 10-team tournament bracket. The Tar Heels beat the Terps that day 12-10 to advance to the first-ever Memorial Day weekend Final Four setup where the Tar Heels beat both Johns Hopkins and Virginia in overtime to win their third of four NCAA championships. Earlier that season the Terps had beaten the Tar Heels 10-9 at Fetzer Field on March 29, 1986, ending a five-game UNC winning streak at the start of the 1986 season. Point of fact, the head coaches on that day were Willie Scroggs for North Carolina and Dick Edell for Maryland.
CAROLINA IN NCAA TOURNAMENT PLAY: The Tar Heels are appearing in the NCAA Tournament for the 26th time in school history. That equals the fifth most tournament appearances in NCAA history. The Naval Midshipmen have also made 26 NCAA Tournament appearances. Johns Hopkins has made the most NCAA Tournament appearances in history with 40 while Maryland and Virginia are tied for second with 34 NCAA bids each. Syracuse is fourth on the all-time list with 30 NCAA invites.
CAROLINA'S ALL-TIME TOURNAMENT RECORD: Carolina is making its 26th NCAA Tournament appearance this year and has an all-time record of 27-21 in tournament history. The Tar Heels have won four NCAA Tournament championships -- 1981, 1982, 1986 and 1991. UNC will be looking to advance to the NCAA quarterfinals for the fifth time since 2004. UNC won first round games in 2004 and 2007 under former head coach John Haus and in 2009 and 2010 under head coach Joe Breschi. UNC's last appearance in the NCAA semifinals came in 1993. UNC AS A NO. 8 SEED: Carolina will be playing its fifth game as a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday when it meets Maryland. The Tar Heels are 2-2 in the previous four games. Carolina beat Ohio State in 2004 and Navy in 2007 as No. 8 seeds in first round games but lost quarterfinal games that year to top-seeded Johns Hopkins in `04 and to #1 seed Duke in `07.
THE LAST TIME OUT FOR THE TAR HEELS: Freshman Pat Foster's overtime goal lifted 12th-ranked North Carolina to a dramatic 9-8 victory over third-ranked Notre Dame May 6 before a national TV audience on ESPNU and the largest Fetzer Field crowd of the season. The overtime period was necessary after Notre Dame (10-2) had rallied from three goals down in the last two minutes to tie the game but freshman R.G. Keenan's face-off win and Foster's dodge from behind the goal on the left side provided the Tar Heels (10-5) with the winning formula in overtime. It was Senior Night for 10 Tar Heels before a crowd of 4,016 fans at Fetzer Field and the game had more twists and turns than would normally be expected of a game where only 17 goals were scored. Carolina got six goals from freshmen and three more from sophomore Marcus Holman while Notre Dame's balanced attack was relentless, scoring four goals in the final 6:22 of regulation and three in the final 1:24. It was a night for unassisted goals on both sides of the ball with the two teams combining for only five assists on 17 goals. Holman, who has been sidelined since Carolina loss at Virginia on April 9, made his return a triumphant one as he scored three times while freshmen Nicky Galasso, Pat Foster and Ryan Creighton each had a pair of goals.
AN OVERTIME WIN FOR THE TAR HEELS: Carolina's overtime win over Notre Dame on May 6 was only the second in extra time for the Tar Heels since 2004. The 9-8 victory over the Fighting Irish was the first in an extra period for UNC since Carolina beat Johns Hopkins at Fetzer Field 10-9 on March 28, 2009. The win improved the Tar Heels to 2-1 in overtime games under head coach Joe Breschi. Carolina is now 8-6 in one-goal games since Breschi became the head coach in 2009.
A FRESHMAN OVERTIME WINNER: When freshman Pat Foster scored the game-winning goal for the Tar Heels 1:03 in the extra session of the 9-8 victory over third-ranked Notre Dame on May 6, he accomplished something no other Tar Heels had pulled off in 25 years. Foster became the first UNC freshman to score a game-winning overtime goal since April 19, 1986 when freshman attackman Corey Gavitt scored just seconds into overtime to give the Tar Heels a 10-9 overtime victory over Duke at Fetzer Field.
THREE TAR HEELS NAMED ALL-ACC WITH GALASSO EARNING FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR HONORS: The All-ACC Team for 2011 included three North Carolina players -- senior attackman Billy Bitter, senior defenseman Ryan Flanagan and freshman attackman Nicky Galasso. Galasso, from West Islip, N.Y., was voted ACC Freshman of the Year. Bitter was named to the All-ACC Team for the third straight year. The senior attackman from Manhasset, N.Y., thus became only the fourth Tar Heel in history to earn All-ACC honors three times. He joined attackman Michael Burnett (1981-83), midfielder Peter Voelkel (1981-83) and attackman Jed Prossner (2003-05) in that august company. Bitter is Carolina's second-leading scorer this year with 36 points. He has 22 goals and 14 assists. Bitter needs just four goals to reach the 100-goal plateau for his career. Only eight players in UNC history have scored 100 goals in their careers. His 172 points equal the seventh most in Carolina lacrosse history and his 76 assists are the eighth most in UNC history. Flanagan, a senior defenseman from West Islip, N.Y., was named All-ACC for the second year in a row. The last time a defenseman at North Carolina did that was in 2000 and 2001 when Bobby Gormsen won back-to-back all-league accolades as a close defenseman. Flanagan leads the Tar Heels in caused turnovers with 28 and he is second on the team in ground balls with 42. Earning the 2011 ACC Freshman of the Year honors and All-ACC accolades was North Carolina rookie attackman Nicky Galasso. Galasso made history with his selection to the All-ACC Team as he is the first freshman in Carolina history to be so honored. He is just the fourth Tar Heel to be named ACC Freshman of the Year, joining Jim Buczek in 1989, Jeff Sonke in 1998 and Marcus Holman in 2010 in winning the award. The newcomer from West Islip, N.Y., has tallied an impressive season point tally of 56, breaking the school record for points in a single season by a freshman. The previous record was 45 set by John Webster in 1990. Galasso also has had 32 assists this year, the most by a Tar Heel player since Brendan Carey had 40 in 1996. That is also UNC's freshman record for assists in a season, surpassing the 21 Pat Welsh had in 1995. Galasso's 32 assists are the fourth most in a single season in North Carolina history.
THE ALL-TIME SERIES WITH MARYLAND: North Carolina and Maryland will be meeting for the 61st time in history on Sunday afternoon. The Terrapins lead the all-time series 39-21. Maryland has won 15 of the 25 previous games between the two teams played in Chapel Hill and the Terps are 21-8 against Carolina in games played in College Park, Md. The two squads have split six previous games at neutral sites. This will be the third game between the two teams in 2011 and the seventh meeting since the start of the 2009 season. Carolina and Maryland went 1-1 against each other in 2009, 2010 and 2011 to date. North Carolina head coach Joe Breschi is 3-3 against the Terps and Maryland coach John Tillman is 1-1 against the Tar Heels. While the two teams have split six games over the last three seasons, it was the Terps who completely dominated the series from 1997-2008, winning 13 of 14 meetings in that time period. The last time the two teams played at Fetzer Field, Carolina emerged with a 9-7 victory on March 27, 2010. That was Carolina's first win over the Terps at Fetzer Field since March 23, 1996 when the Tar Heels survived a 17-16 shootout with the Terrapins.
CAROLINA'S STELLAR MARK IN NON-CONFERENCE GAMES: UNC's record in non-conference games continues to be one of the best in the nation over the past five seasons. The Tar Heels have won 51 of their past 57 games against non-conference teams dating back to late in the 2006 season. In Joe Breschi's three seasons as head coach, the Tar Heels are 31-3 against non-conference teams. The only losses were to Notre Dame in 2009 and to Ohio State and Johns Hopkins earlier this season. The Tar Heels are 4-11 against ACC opponents in the past three years but three of those four wins have come against Maryland. UNC is 3-3 against Maryland, 1-5 against Duke and 0-3 against Virginia in the past three seasons.
BITTER CRACKS TOP 10 IN UNC CAREER POINTS & ASSISTS: Two-time first-team All-America attackman Billy Bitter moved into the Top 10 in career assists at Carolina against Ohio State on February 18 and into the Top 10 in career points at the University of Virginia on April 9. He needs only two more goals to move into the Top 10 in career goals as well. The senior has 14 assists this season and now has 76 for his career. With two assists against Penn on March 8, Bitter moved past Ryan Blair (2003-06) into eighth place in Tar Heel history. Blair had 68 career assists. Bitter is now chasing Spencer Deering (1994-97) for seventh place in Carolina history. Deering had 77 assists. UNC's leader is Bruce Ledwith (1970-73) with 119. Bitter enters the Maryland game with 172 career points, putting him into a tie for seventh place in UNC history in total points. With three points against Virginia on April 9 he moved past both Brendan Carey (1993-96) and Chase Martin (1997-2000) who were tied for ninth with 161 points each. Bitter's assists against Notre Dame on May 6 gave him the point he needed to tie Mac Ford (1982-85) and Jed Prossner (2002-05) for seventh place in Carolina history. Both of those players finished their careers with 172 points. Bitter now has 96 career goals, ranking 11th in Tar Heel lore. Only eight Tar Heels in history have reached the 100-goal plateau. Tenth place in Tar Heel history is held by Chase Martin with 98 goals from 1997-2000.
BITTER'S GOALS & ASSISTS AMONGST ACTIVE PLAYERS: Billy Bitter's 77 career assists rank him in 11th place amongst all active players in NCAA Division I men's lacrosse. Junior Rob Pannell of Cornell leads all active players with 138 assists. Bitter's 96 career goals are tied for the 16th most among active NCAA Division I players with Cody Lehrer of Mt. St. Mary's. Stony Brook senior attackman Jordan McBride leads the national list with 175 career goals, 41 more Trevor Moore of Robert Morris.
WOOD HAS 18-MATCH SCORING STREAK END: Prior to being shutout in the goal column in UNC's overtime win over Notre Dame, junior Thomas Wood had the longest scoring streak of any Tar Heel player, having recorded points in 18 straight games. Freshman Nicky Galasso now has the longest scoring streak for UNC at 15 games. Galasso has recorded at least one point in every game this season. Wood's scoring streak had begun against Dartmouth on March 19, 2010. He has scored 35 goals and passed for 18 assists for 53 points in those 18 games.
WOOD'S LONG GOAL SCORING STREAK COMES TO AN END: UNC junior Thomas Wood had scored at least one goal in 18 straight games dating back to March 19, 2010 before that streak came to an end in UNC's 9-8 victory over Notre Dame on May 6. Wood had scored 35 goals in those 18 contests. Wood's 18-game goal-scoring streak was the fifth longest goal-scoring streak in the country before it came to an end. Freshman midfielder Ryan Creighton now has the longest goal-scoring streak on the Tar Heel team as he has scored at least once in the last five games beginning against Virginia on April 9.
BILLY BITTER'S HAT TRICKS: UNC senior Billy Bitter heads into the Maryland game with 15 hat tricks in his career. That equals the 13th most career hat tricks in the nation amongst active NCAA Division I players. Jordan McBride of Stony Brook has the most career hat tricks with 30.
CAROLINA'S DOUBLE DIGIT SCORING GAMES: In Coach Joe Breschi's three years as head lacrosse coach at UNC, Carolina's success has often been tied to hitting the 10-goal plateau in a game. In fact UNC's 11-10 overtime loss to Virginia on April 9 marked only the fourth time in Breschi's coaching tenure the Tar Heels have lost when they have hit the 10-goal plateau. UNC has scored at least 10 goals in a game in 34 of 48 games under Coach Breschi's direction dating back to the opening game of the 2009 season. Carolina is 30-4 in those 34 games, losing only 11-10 to Virginia on April 4, 2009, 15-13 to Duke on April 26, 2009, 12-11 to Duke on May 17, 2009 and 11-10 to Virginia on April 9, 2011. In the 14 games under Coach Breschi's tutelage in which the Tar Heels have not reached the 10-goal mark, UNC has not fared nearly as well. In fact their record in those 15 games is just 5-10. UNC is 2-4 in games this year in which it has failed to score 10 goals. The Tar Heels beat Princeton 9-5 on March 11, 2011 and Notre Dame 9-8 in overtime on May 6, 2011.
HAT TRICKS BY THE TAR HEELS: Carolina has 15 overall hat tricks this season led by Marcus Holman with four hat tricks, while Billy Bitter and Thomas Wood have three hat tricks each. Freshmen Nicky Galasso and Pat Foster have two hat tricks each and Jimmy Dunster has one.
CAROLINA AT THE HALF: Up until the Maryland game in the ACC Tournament, first half performances had been pretty predictable for the Tar Heels this season. But the Tar Heels surrendered a 4-1 halftime lead against the Terps and lost for the first time this season when leading at the half. UNC is 8-1 when leading at halftime this season and 2-1 when tied at the half. Carolina is 0-3 when trailing at halftime.
THE CLEARING GAME IMPROVES: Through 15 games in 2011, the Tar Heels have cleared at .891 percent. UNC has only 29 failed clears in 15 games, going 238 of 267. A year ago, UNC was successful on 83 percent of its clears (267 of 322).
TAR HEELS LEAD NATION IN COMMITTING FEWEST TURNOVERS: UNC had only seven turnovers against Princeton on March 11, the fewest in a game for the Tar Heels in coach Joe Breschi's 49-game head coaching tenure. The Tar Heels current rank first in the nation in fewest turnovers per game, averaging just 12.40 per contest.
NEAR DOMINANCE AT FETZER FIELD UNDER BRESCHI: With a 9-8 overtime win over Notre Dame on May 6, 2011, UNC is now 20-1 under head coach Joe Breschi in games played at Fetzer Field and 23-3 in home games overall (including three games played at Kenan Stadium, one game at Henry Stadium and one game on Navy Field). Duke's 14-9 win over Carolina on March 17, 2011 ended the Tar Heels' 17-game Fetzer Field winning streak. Prior to the loss, UNC had not lost a game at Fetzer Field since Joe Breschi became Carolina's head coach in 2009, a streak which had started with a win over Robert Morris in the 2009 season opener. Prior to the setback against the Blue Devils, Carolina's last loss at Fetzer Field had came on May 10, 2008, an 8-7 NCAA Tournament first round loss to Navy. UNC then won 17 straight at Fetzer Field before the Blue Devils spoiled the streak. Since the start of his UNC coaching career, Carolina's only three home losses under Breschi include two games played in 2009 -- both against Duke -- but both played at Kenan Stadium -- and then the March 17, 2011 loss to Duke at Fetzer Field. Carolina won 12 straight home games overall, regardless of Chapel Hill venue, between the 15-13 setback to Duke at Kenan Stadium on April 26, 2009 and the 14-9 loss to the Blue Devils at Fetzer Field on March 17, 2011. On Sunday, Maryland will seek to become the first team to beat UNC in Chapel Hill other than Duke since Joe Breschi became UNC head coach.
