University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Hit The Road To Meet Midshipmen
February 23, 2012 | Men's Lacrosse
Feb. 23, 2012
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ANNAPOLIS, MD.--The fourth edition of head coach Joe Breschi's University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team continues its 2012 campaign this Saturday when the Tar Heels travel to Annapolis, Md. to meet the United State Naval Academy at 12 noon at Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
TAR HEELS AND MIDSHIPMEN MEET FOR 27TH TIME: North Carolina and Navy will be meeting for the 27th time on the lacrosse field when they hook up Saturday at Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The Tar Heels lead the all-time series 14-12. Carolina has won three in a row and four of the last five to take the lead in the series. That reversed a trend which saw Navy win five in a row in the series from 2003-07. UNC is 4-7 all-time in Annapolis but Carolina has won only once in Annapolis since 2001. A year ago UNC beat Navy 10-8 in a hard fought game in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels lead the back-and-forth game 9-8 going into the fourth quarter and Ryan Flanagan's goal in the opening minute of the final frame was the only score of the final 15 minutes.
HEAD COACH Joe Breschi: Joe Breschi is now in his fourth season as the head coach at his alma mater. His Tar Heel teams have a cumulative record of 38-15 for a winning percentage of 71.7 percent. He is in his 15th year overall as a collegiate head coach, including 11 seasons at Ohio State prior to coming to Chapel Hill. His career coaching record is 130-78 and his career winning percentage is 62.5 percent.
TWO TAR HEELS NAMED TO TEWAARATON TROPHY WATCH LIST: Eight ACC men's lacrosse student-athletes, including North Carolina attackmen Jack McBride and Nicky Galasso, were named to the 2012 Tewaaraton Award Watch List February 15. The list includes the top players across all three divisions of collegiate lacrosse and highlights the early contenders for the 2012 Tewaaraton Award. ACC players have won five of the 11 since its inception. McBride is a graduate student attackman from Madison, N.J., while Galasso is a sophomore attackman from West Islip, N.Y. The Tewaaraton Award was formally established in August of 2000 and is the preeminent lacrosse award honoring the nation's top collegiate lacrosse player for his extraordinary achievements on the field. The Selection Committee are made up of top collegiate coaches and are appointed each year by the Tewaaraton Award. The Selection Committee will make additions to the list as the season progresses and athletes earn a spot alongside these elite players. In late April, the list will be narrowed to 25 and these men will earn the distinction of Tewaaraton Nominees. In mid-May, the five finalists will be announced. These finalists will be invited to the Tewaaraton Award Ceremony, which will take place on May 31st, at the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C.
EMALA & KEENAN SWEEP FIRST ACC POW AWARDS: North Carolina junior midfielder Davey Emala and sophomore midfielder R.G. Keenan were named Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Lacrosse Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, for the week ending on Monday, Feb. 13. Emala, a transfer from Georgetown, started his Tar Heel career with six goals, including two game-winning goals, and added an assist while starting his first two games with the team. The Baltimore, Md., native also had six ground balls combined in the wins over No. 17 Penn State and Mercer. He had four goals and an assist in the win over the Nittany Lions and added two goals against Mercer in limited playing time. He scored his six goals on only 10 shots. Keenan won 74.4 percent of his faceoffs in the first two games of the season to help North Carolina dominate possession time in the two wins over the weekend. Keenan won a career-high 19 faceoffs in 27 attempts against the Nittany Lions and had seven ground balls. A day later, the Perry Hall, Md., native won 13 of 16 faceoffs against Mercer and scooped up six ground balls. Keenan's 19 wins versus Penn State exceeded his previous career high of 18, set in three games in 2011. His 81.2 percentage against Mercer was the second highest of his career in a game, exceeded only by the 85.7 winning percentage he had as a freshman last season against Dartmouth.
TAR HEELS OPEN WITH WIN IN SOUTHERN SHOWDOWN: Steven Rastivo made a career-high 18 saves and R.G. Keenan won a career-high 19 face-offs to power sixth-ranked North Carolina to a 14-10 victory over 17th-ranked Penn State Saturday before a crowd of 6,913 in the fourth annual Southern Showdown played at Kennesaw State University's Soccer Stadium on February 11. The game marked the 2012 men's lacrosse opener for both teams. Several newcomers were involved in UNC's 14-goal outburst as junior transfer Davey Emala (from Georgetown) led the Heels with four goals and an assist while freshman Jimmy Bitter and junior tri-captain Marcus Holman each had three goals with Holman also adding a helper. Graduate student transfer Jack McBride (from Princeton) also scored twice for the Tar Heels. Sophomores Pat Foster and Duncan Hutchins had three and two assists, respectively, as Carolina registered assists on 10 of 14 goals. It was a career high assist total for Foster, who started on attack with Holman and freshman Joey Sankey. Hutchins matched his career high for assists. He also had two against UMBC last year. Rastivo, who transferred to UNC from Penn State in January 2010, was brilliant in goal for the Tar Heels as he made a career high 18 saves and had a career high eight ground balls. He had 12 of his saves in the second half as Carolina protected an 8-5 halftime lead against an onslaught of 22 second half shots by the Lions. Rastivo's previous career high for saves was 13, which he achieved twice last season, against Maryland on March 26, 2011 and against Notre Dame on May 6, 2011. His previous career high for ground balls was four set against Ohio State as a freshman and Maryland as a sophomore. R.G. Keenan was equally instrumental in the victory as he won 19 of his 27 face-off attempts in the match while snaring seven ground balls. Keenan's previous high for face-offs won was 18, which he accomplished three times last season -- against Navy, Duke and Dartmouth. Keenan was only four face-off wins shy of the school record of 23 established by Shane Walterhoefer against Ohio State on April 21, 2008.
TAR HEELS EXPLODE FOR 20-GOAL OUTPUT IN WIN OVER MERCER: North Carolina got goals from 12 different players and assists from nine players and played virtually its entire roster as the sixth-ranked Tar Heels defeated the Mercer Bears 20-7 at the Lovett School in Atlanta February 12. UNC freshmen scored 12 goals and had seven assists in the match. The 12 goals were a school record total for freshmen in a game. Freshmen Joey Sankey and Chad Tutton each scored three goals to lead the way for the Tar Heels while freshmen Jimmy Bitter and Walker Chafee and juniors Davey Emala and Stephen Burns had two goals each. The two goals were a career high for Burns. Sankey, Tutton, Chafee, Drew Hays, T.J. Kemp and Derek Henson all had their first goals in UNC uniforms. Sankey finished with six points overall as he added three assists while Bitter finished with four points overall as he pitched in with two helpers. Burns, Chafee, Jimmy Dunster, Foster, Frankie Kelly, Kemp and Tutton also added assists. The assist was the first career point for Kelly. Sankey had nine ground balls for the Tar Heels, the most by a Tar Heel attackman since Billy Bitter had nine against Maryland on March 21, 2009.
KEENAN, BALANCED OFFENSE LEADS UNC PAST TITANS: R.G. Keenan won 16 of 18 face-offs, helping sixth-ranked North Carolina dominate possession en route to an 18-8 men's lacrosse victory over Detroit in the Tar Heels' home opener at Fetzer Field on February 18. Jimmy Dunster scored three goals for Coach Joe Breschi's team and Marcus Holman and Chad Tutton each had four-point games for Carolina, which got points from 13 different players. UNC, which is now 3-0 on the campaign, broke open a close game by scoring four goals in a span of two minutes in the first half and then went on a 12-2 scoring run from 10:43 in the second quarter to 5:05 in the fourth quarter to gain its biggest lead at 18-5. Detroit scored three goals in the final three minutes of the game to make the score look more respectable. Carolina outshot the Titans 44-26 and won the ground ball battle 51-32. UNC dominated the face-off X, thanks in large part to Keenan, 19-8. It was a sloppy game ball handling wise on both sides of the field as Detroit committed 25 turnovers and UNC 24. Dunster led the way with three goals for UNC while Holman and Tutton each had two goals and two assists. Joey Sankey and Pat Foster each had two goals and an assist and Davey Emala had a goal and two assists for Carolina. Ryan Creighton and Jimmy Bitter each scored twice for UNC and sophomore middie Will Campbell had a career-high two assists. Other goals came from Jack McBride and T.J. Kemp while freshmen Walker Chafee and Matt Shannon each had their first career assists.
UNC SCORES MOST GOALS IN THREE YEARS IN WIN OVER MERCER: North Carolina's 20-goal outburst against Mercer on February 12 was the most goals it has scored in a game since it beat Denver 20-7 on February 14, 2009 at Fetzer Field.
KEENAN'S UPDATED FACEOFF NUMBERS: R.G. Keenan has now won 239 face-offs in his career heading into the game against Navy. That is the seventh most in UNC history. Steve Gilhuley is in sixth place with 248 face-off wins. In wins against Penn State and Mercer, Keenan passed former Tar Heels Ted Brown, Steve Stenersen, Mac Hammer, Michael Burns and Craig Hasslinger on the all-time face-offs won list. His 19 face-off wins against Penn State were a career high and equaled the sixth most in a game in UNC history.
UNC IN THE POLLS: The North Carolina men's lacrosse team headed into the 2012 campaign ranked sixth in both major preseason national polls. Carolina was ranked sixth in the January 30, 2012 coaches' poll conducted by the United State Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association. UNC received 204 points from the polls 14 voters. UNC was also ranked sixth in the Nike Division I media poll of January 30, 2012, receiving 342 points from 22 voters. The first regular-season polls of the season were issued on February 20, 2012. The Tar Heels were ranked fifth in the Nike Division I media poll with 360 points. In the most recent USILA coaches poll, Carolina is ranked fourth with 192 points.
UNC AT FETZER FIELD: After beating Detroit 18-8 on February 18, North Carolina will head into its next home game against Lehigh on March 3 with an all-time record of 248-115-2 at Fetzer Field. UNC has a 68.2 winning percentage all-time in history at Fetzer Field.
ANOTHER SEASON OPENING WIN: Carolina's 14-10 win over Penn State in the 2012 season opener was the 14th victory in a row in a season opener for the Tar Heels. The last time UNC lost a season opener was February 22, 1998 when the Tar Heels fell 13-12 to Butler at Fezter Field.
THE ALL-TIME RECORD: North Carolina has an all-time record of 423-263-2 in the sport of men's lacrosse. That is a winning percentage of .616.
TWO TAR HEELS NAMED PRESEASON ALL-ACC: Sophomore attackman Nicky Galasso and senior defenseman Charlie McComas were named preseason All-Atlantic Coast Conference by Face-Off Yearbook and Inside Lacrosse Magazine for the 2012 season. IL made the announcement on their website on December 12, 2011. Galasso, a native of West Islip, N.Y., started all 16 games for the Tar Heels in 2011 and led the team in scoring with 56 points. He scored 24 goals, one behind team leader Billy Bitter, and his 32 assists led the Heels, 18 more than Bitter's second place total. McComas is a three-year starter in the defense for Carolina, starting 15 games as a junior in 2011. He had 30 ground balls and nine caused turnovers last season.
SIX UNC PLAYERS NAMED FACE-OFF YEARBOOK PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAS: Six members of the 2012 University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team were named to the preseason All-America Team announced by Face-Off Yearbook and Inside Lacrosse Magazine on December 6, 2011. The preseason All-Americas were chosen by a vote of Division I head coaches and Yearbook and IL staff. Sophomore attackman Nicky Galasso was named a preseason first-team All-America, the only sophomore attackman on the first team. He led the Tar Heels in scoring as a freshman last year and was named the team's top freshman in 2011. Junior midfielder Marcus Holman, one of Carolina's tri-captains, was named a preseason third-team selection. Four more Tar Heels were named to the honorable mention team, including senior midfielder Jimmy Dunster, sophomore face-off man/midfielder R.G. Keenan, long stick defensive midfielder Mark Staines and defenseman Charlie McComas.
FRESHMAN TUTTON EARNS TEAM CANADA ROSTER SPOT: University of North Carolina freshman midfielder Chad Tutton, an Ontario native, was named to represent Canada at the 2012 FIL Under-19 Men's Field World Championships being held in Turku, Finland, the Canadian Lacrosse Association (CLA) announced December 8, 2011. Tutton was a key addition to Coach Joe Breschi's highly touted recruiting class in 2012. Tutton is a native of Courtice, Ontario. Tutton attended The Hill Academy. He is the first Canadian to play at UNC since Dave Werry graduated in 2006.
TAR HEELS CHOSEN TO COMPETE IN 2012 ESPNU WARRIOR CLASSIC IN CHARLOTTE: The ESPNU Warrior Classic, a men's college lacrosse doubleheader, has a new home at American Legion Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., home of Major League Lacrosse's Charlotte Hounds. The third annual event will be played Saturday, April 14, and will feature Rutgers vs. Syracuse in the first game at 11 a.m., followed by Hofstra vs. North Carolina at 1:30 p.m. Both games will be televised on ESPNU. Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for children, senior citizens and students with school ID. Group discounts are available at $12 per ticket (minimum 50 people).
McBRIDE RANKS EIGHTH NATIONALLY IN CAREER GOALS: While Carolina graduated one of the nation's top career goal scorers off the 2011 team when Billy Bitter left with 99 goals, it fortunately picked up another in the off season when graduate student Jack McBride enrolled in the Master's of Business Administration program in the Kenan-Flagler School of Business. McBride earned his degree from Princeton in 2011. He will play his final season of eligibility at Carolina in 2012. Heading into the 2012 season, McBride had the eighth most career goals of any active player, having scored 90 goals in his time at Princeton. McBride has scored three times so far this season and now has 93 career goals. He is currently tied for eighth place on the national list with Garrett Thul of Army. The national leader is Bryan Neufeld of Siena who has scored 123 goals in his career with the Saints.
TWO TAR HEELS EARN UNIVERSITY AWARDS: A pair of veteran Tar Heel leaders were recently awarded top honors from the University's academic and leadership divisions. Redshirt junior defenseman Logan Corey of Chapel Hill, N.C. was named the winner of the Athletic Director's Scholar-Athlete Award for 2011-12 for the UNC men's lacrosse team. Junior midfielder Marcus Holman of Baltimore, Md. was named one of 16 Tar Heel Leaders of Distinction presented by the Carolina Leadership Academy.
TAR HEELS TO APPEAR ON ESPN FAMILY OF NETWORKS SIX TIMES IN 2012: Six regular-season University of North Carolina men's lacrosse games will be televised in 2012 in the television schedule released last month by the ESPN Family of Networks and the Atlantic Coast Conference. North Carolina's three regular-season conference games will be on the network, including an April 7 game against defending NCAA champion Virginia on ESPN at 1 p.m.. The Tar Heels will also face Duke on Friday, March 16 at 5 p.m. on ESPNU and Maryland on Saturday, March 24 at 12 noon on ESPNU. In addition, UNC non-conference games against Princeton on Saturday, March 10 at 11 a.m., against Johns Hopkins on Sunday, April 1 at 6:30 p.m. and against Hofstra on Saturday, April 14 at 1:30 p.m. will also be televised on ESPNU. All three of those games are being played at neutral sites in Baltimore, Md., East Rutherford, N.J., and Charlotte, N.C., respectively.
FIVE UNC PLAYERS CHOSEN IN 2012 MLL DRAFT: Four seniors and one graduate student from the 2012 University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team were selected Janaury 15 in the 2012 Major Lacrosse League Collegiate Draft held in Philadelphia, Pa. Senior midfielder Jimmy Dunster of Cos Cob, Conn. was the first Tar Heel chosen in the draft being picked up by the Chesapeake Bayhawks in the third round with the 22nd overall pick. Graduate student Jack McBride, an attackman from Madison, N.J., was chosen in the third round with the 23rd pick by the Hamilton Nationals. Senior defenseman Mark Staines of Gambrills, Md. was the 32nd pick, going in the fourth round to the Boston Cannons. The last two Tar Heel picks both went to the Rochester Rattlers. Senior defenseman Charlie McComas of Parkton, Md. went in the seventh round with the 51st pick and senior forward Thomas Wood went to the Rattlers in the eighth round with the 59th pick.
CAROLINA ALUMNUS MEADE NAMED NATIONAL TEAM COACH: United States Lacrosse named Richie Meade, a 1976 University of North Carolina alumnus and former assistant coach at UNC, as the head coach of the 2014 U.S. men's national senior team. Meade will lead Team USA in its title defense at the 2014 Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) World Championship, hosted by US Lacrosse and held in Denver, Colo., July 10-19, 2014. He becomes the 12th head coach in the history of the U.S. men's senior team program.
THREE TAR HEELS ELECTED TEAM CAPTAINS: Two seniors and one junior have been named as tri-captains of the 2012 University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team. The three captains were chosen by a vote of their teammates. Senior defenseman Mark Stainesof Gambrills, Md. and senior defenseman Charlie McComas of Parkton, Md. have been chosen as two of the captains. The third captain is junior attackman Marcus Holman of Baltimore, Md. This marks the first time in Coach Joe Breschi's tenure that the Tar Heels have elected tri-captains. The 2009 team had four captains and each of the past two teams had co-captains. The last Tar Heel to serve as a captain in his junior year prior to Holman's election was Fletcher Gregory, who captained the 2007 team a junior and 2008 team as a senior.
TAR HEELS TO APPEAR THIS SPRING IN TWO INSIDE LACROSSE EVENTS: The University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team will compete in a pair of events this spring sponsored by Inside Lacrosse Magazine and Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. Coach Joe Breschi's UNC Tar Heels will play Princeton in the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic on Saturday, March 10, 2012 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md. Just three weeks later, the Tar Heels will face off against Johns Hopkins at the Konica Minolta Big City Classic which will be played on Sunday, April 1, 2012 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. This will mark UNC's first ever appearance in the Face-Off Classic in Baltimore and it will be the first of three games that day. North Carolina and Princeton will meet at 11 a.m. followed by games between Virginia and Cornell at 1:30 p.m. and Johns Hopkins and UMBC at 4 p.m. Carolina's appearance in the Big City Classic will be its fourth in a row and the second straight year the Tar Heels have faced off against the Blue Jays in the event. UNC and Hopkins will be the last game of the day-long lacrosse festival at the home of the New York Giants and New York Jets. Notre Dame and St. John's start the day at 1 p.m. followed by Duke versus Syracuse at 4 p.m. UNC and Johns Hopkins will share the limelight of the primetime spot as they do battle at 6:30 p.m.
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 seven seasons. The Tar Heels have won 54 of their past 60 games against non-conference teams dating back to late in the 2006 season. In Joe Breschi's four seasons as head coach, the Tar Heels are 34-3 against non-conference teams. The only losses were to Notre Dame in 2009 and to Ohio State and Johns Hopkins in 2011.
CAROLINA'S DOUBLE DIGIT SCORING GAMES: In Coach Joe Breschi's four 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, 2011 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 37 of 52 games under Coach Breschi's direction dating back to the opening game of the 2009 season. Carolina is 33-4 in those 37 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 15 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 16 games is just 5-11.
NEAR DOMINANCE AT FETZER FIELD UNDER BRESCHI: With an 18-8 win over Detroit on February 18, 2012, UNC is now 21-2 under head coach Joe Breschi in games played at Fetzer Field and 24-4 in home games overall (including three games played at Kenan Stadium, one game at Henry Stadium and one game on Navy Field). The Tar Heels had a 17-game Fetzer Field winning streak from 2009-11.
