University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Johns Hopkins
Carolina Topples Top-Ranked Johns Hopkins
April 1, 2012 | Men's Lacrosse
April 1, 2012
Post Game Press Conference (mp3)
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - R.G. Keenan won 18 face-offs and Jimmy Bitter and Marcus Holman led a balanced offensive effort as 11th-ranked North Carolina upset top-ranked Johns Hopkins 13-9 Sunday night before 25,934 fans in the Konica Minolta Big City Classic at MetLife Stadium.
The game was played before the largest regular-season lacrosse crowd in history at a lacrosse-only event and was the third game in the tripleheader that included Notre Dame's win over St. John's and Duke's victory over Syracuse.
Carolina, which improved to 8-3 on the season, had lost its last 11 games to No. 1-ranked teams, including two in the Big City Classic in the previous three years. But the Tar Heels persevered to score their first win over a top-ranked unit since beating Virginia on April 6, 1996 by a 19-18 score at Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill. Carolina improved to 6-22 all-time against No. 1-ranked teams and 3-7 against Blue Jay teams ranked No. 1 in the nation.
R.G. Keenan was named the Konica Minolta Big City Classic MVP as he won 18 of 25 face-offs, the sixth time in his career and the third time this campaign he has won at least 18 draws in a game. He led both teams with nine ground balls. That was Keenan's second highest ground ball total of the season, exceeded only by the 11 he had at Navy on February 25.
Jimmy Bitter, playing on a stage at the Big City Classic where his older brother Billy had always excelled, was magnificent with a three-goal effort. The three goals equaled his career high as he also had three goals in his career opener against Penn State on February 11. It was Bitter's goal with a little over six minutes to play in the game that gave the Tar Heels their final separation from the Blue Jays, sparking a three-goal run that put the Heels up 13-8 with less than three minutes to play in the contest.
Marcus Holman had two goals and four assists to lead the Tar Heels with five six points. That matched the career high for points in a game he had previously this season against both Navy and Dartmouth. Thomas Wood had two goals and both Nicky Galasso and Duncan Hutchins pitched in with a goal and an assist. Freshmen Joey Sankey, Chad Tutton and Ryan Kilpatrick also scored for the Tar Heels while Keenan notched his second goal of the campaign. Kilpatrick's goal was the first of his career.
Wood's two goals pushed his career point total to 100 as he becomes the 35th Tar Heel in history to reach the century mark in career points. Marcus Holman two goals give him 61 on his career, the 37th Tar Heel to reach the 60-goal plateau, and his six points give him 98 in his career.
Chris Boland led the Blue Jays with two goals and two assists while Rob Guida and Brandon Benn each had two goals for the Blue Jays who fell to 8-1 on the season. Greg Edmonds had a goal and an assist for the Blue Jays while Wells Stanwick led Hopkins in the assist column with three.
Carolina, which improved to 8-3 overall, has won three in a row and four of its last five matches after going through a two-match losing streak against Lehigh and Pennsylvania in early March. UNC outshot the Blue Jays 49-34, including a colossal 23-3 margin in the second quarter. Johns Hopkins came into the game leading the nation in scoring defense at 5.88 goals per game. The Blue Jays previous high for goals allowed this year had been last weekend when Virginia scored 10 against them.
The Tar Heels had a pronounced 27-15 edge in ground balls. Defenseman Logan Corey had a career-high six ground balls, three more than his previous best single-game performance. Senior long-stick midfielder Mark Staines had five ground balls for UNC.
The Tar Heels also excelled on the extra-man, scoring on three of four chances. The Blue Jays scored on three of their five chances.
Steven Rastivo finished with 10 saves for the Tar Heels, including seven in the second half as UNC staved off a furious rally by the Blue Jays. Pierce Bassett finished with 12 saves for Johns Hopkins. Both teams were effective in the riding game as each team was forced into four failed clears.
After the teams battled to a 4-4 tie after the end of the first period, Carolina took the lead for good with four unanswered goals in the second quarter. Jimmy Bitter opened the scoring for UNC at 12:47 of the opening period and after Zach Palmer tied it for Hopkins at 10:47, Carolina went up 11 seconds later on Kilpatrick's first career goal. Bassett made a save on a shot by R.G. Keenan, but Holman broke up Bassett's clearing pass and Kilpatrick jumped on the ground ball and finished into the empty net. Hopkins tied the game at 2-2 before Bitter got his second goal of the opening quarter and Keenan scored six seconds later for his second goal of the year to make it 4-2 Heels at 2:38. The Blue Jays then scored the final two goals of the quarter to tie the game for the last time.
The second quarter was all Carolina. Marcus Holman scored an extra-man goal goal off an assist by Nicky Galasso with 10:25 to play in the period. Holman was involved in three of UNC's four second-quarter goals as the Tar Heels built a lead they would never relinquish. After Joey Sankey scored at 8:17 off an assist by Jack McBride, Holman scored an unassisted goal on a terrific run from goal line extended on the left side exactly one minute later and then Thomas Wood tallied off an assist by Holman with 4:31 left in the half.
Three Johns Hopkins goals in the third quarter cut the Tar Heel lead to 8-7 but Hopkins never got the equalizer in the final six minutes of the third frame despite repeated chances to do so. Benn, Lee Coppersmith and Edmonds had the Hopkins' goals in the third period.
The Tar Heels were able to regroup in the fourth quarter and outscore the Blue Jays 5-2 and win going away. A key play came when Michael Pellegrino was called for slashing with two seconds left in the third quarter. Starting the fourth quarter on the extra man, the Heels took advantage as Holman found Galasso all alone in front of the cage for the put away that had the Heels up 9-7 just 39 seconds into the fourth quarter.
Less than two minutes later Chad Tutton put the Tar Heels up by three goals as he took a pass from Duncan Hutchins and powered a shot past Bassett with exactly 13 minutes to play. After Boland scored on the EMO for Hopkins at 7:42, Carolina ran off three goals in less than four minutes as Bitter, Wood and Hutchins added scores. Bitter took a pass from Holman and scored from eight yards out on the right side with 6:19 left. A little less than two minutes later, Wood was the beneficiary of Holman's fourth assist of the game and then at 2:37 it was Hutchins who scored into an empty net to make it 13-8.
Carolina earned its first win in the Big City Classic in four tries and improved to 5-7 all-time in NFL stadiums.
The Tar Heels have now won four of their last five games against Johns Hopkins but the Blue Jays still lead the overall series 24-17.
The Tar Heels return to action next Saturday when they will play host to Virginia, currently ranked #3 in the coaches poll and #2 in the media poll, at Fetzer Field at 1 p.m. The game will be nationally-televised by ESPN.
