University of North Carolina Athletics
Heels Continue Home Stand Saturday Versus Dartmouth
February 19, 2014 | Men's Lacrosse
2014 UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA MEN'S LACROSSE GAME NOTES
Game 3
#3/#3 North Carolina (2-0) vs. Dartmouth College (0-0)
Saturday, February 22, 2014
2:00 p.m.
Fetzer Field
Chapel Hill, N.C.
Live Stats: GoHeels.com
Live Video: GoHeelsTV
Follow The Tar Heels On Twitter: UNCTarHeelLax
2014 UNC Lacrosse Media Guide: Yearbook
Buy Season & Individual Game Tickets: GoHeels Ticket Center
The Coaches
North Carolina: Joe Breschi, North Carolina '90; 6th year at UNC, 61-25; 17th year overall, 153-88
Dartmouth: Andrew Towers, Brown '94; 5th year at Dartmouth, 18-37; 6th year overall, 18-51
TAR HEELS TAKE ON BIG GREEN SATURDAY: The #3/#3 North Carolina men's lacrosse team plays the second game in a three-match home stand this Saturday when Coach Joe Breschi's Tar Heels meet the Dartmouth College Big Green at Fetzer Field. Game time is 2 p.m.
Saturday's game will be part of a lacrosse doubleheader at Fetzer Field. The #1 Tar Heel women will play Vanderbilt at 11 a.m. The women's game is free of charge but fans will need tickets for the UNC-Dartmouth game. They can be purchased in advance at the GoHeels.com Ticket Center or in person on game day at the Carmichael Arena Ticket Office which will open at 1 p.m.
Lacrosse fans should be aware that the men's lacrosse game is just one of 10 home events the Tar Heel athletic program is hosting on campus between the late morning hours and mid afternoon hours. Parking will be at a premium so fans are encouraged to arrive early. Traffic on campus is expected to be heavy.
For fans of Carolina lacrosse who cannot be there in person, please follow along with live stats at GoHeels.com.
The game between the Tar Heels and the Big Green will also be streamed live on GoHeelsTV. This will be a single camera operation with no announcers. It is the first of 10 straight games the Tar Heels will be featured on live TV or webcast.
LAST TIME OUT FOR THE HEELS: Carolina won its eighth straight home opener with a 21-5 win over Manhattan on Sunday, February 16 at the Navy Field Turf facility in the first ever meeting between the two teams.
Just as it did against Furman the previous Sunday, the Tar Heels came out as a serious bunch and built a huge first-half lead, allowing Coach Breschi to play his entire roster. Carolina led 7-1 after the first quarter and 13-3 at halftime and then outscored the Jaspers 8-2 in the second half.
Twelve different Tar Heels scored goals against the Jaspers and nine players had assists. Three Tar Heels - Joey Sankey, Chad Tutton and Shane Simpson - had hat tricks. Jimmy Bitter and Sankey each had two assists.
Carolina had a 66-28 edge in shots and a 40-29 advantage in ground balls. Carolina was also excellent at the X, winning 18 of 30 draws despite the fact three-year face-off starters R.G. Keenan sat out the match with an injury.
CAROLINA OPENS SEASON WITH IMPRESSIVE WIN OVER FURMAN: North Carolina opened its season with a 19-3 win at first-year program Furman on Sunday, Feb. 9. One of the most noticeable things in the box score in UNC's was the balanced nature of the scoring. The Tar Heels had 14 different players score goals in the game. Junior attackman Joey Sankey led the Tar Heels with three goals and the other multiple goal scorers with two each were senior midfielder T.J. Kemp, sophomore attackman Spencer Parks and sophomore midfielder Brent Armstrong.
Carolina's leading scorer points wise against the Paladins was sophomore attackman Patrick Kelly who had a career-high four points. Kelly scored a goal and led the Tar Heels with three assists. Those were the first three assists of Kelly's career.
A quartet of freshmen scored their first career goals against the Paladins - attackman Luke Goldstock and midfielders Michael Tagliaferri, Shane Simpson and Peyton Klawinski.
ANOTHER SEASON OPENING WIN: Carolina's victory over Furman on February 9 was the 16th in a row for the Tar Heels in a season opener. UNC has won every season opener since the 1999 season. Carolina's last loss in a season opener came on February 22, 1988 when the Tar Heels fell to Butler 13-12.
TWO MORE HAT TRICKS FOR JOEY: Joey Sankey has recorded hat tricks in each of the first two games of the season. That runs his career total to 10. Junior midfielder Chad Tutton notched his ninth career hat trick in the victory over Manhattan. Also recording a hat trick versus the Jaspers was Tutton's fellow Canadian, freshman midfielder Shane Simpson.
KUDOS TO MARCUS: The Tar Heel lacrosse program received great news earlier this month when Marcus Holman was named to the U.S. National Team that will play this summer in the 2014 World Lacrosse Games in Denver, Colo. Holman is one of 30 U.S. players named to the team and one of six attackmen chosen. The U.S. National Team is being coached this year by Furman head mentor Richie Meade.
Holman is the son of UNC assistant coach Brian Holman and brother to former Tar Heel lacrosse player Matt Holman and current UNC women's lacrosse standout Sydney Holman.
THE POLLS: UNC is ranked No. 3 in the first regular-season USILA coaches poll and No. 3 in the first regular-season media poll from Inside Lacrosse. Both polls were released last Monday.
DEFENSE DOES ITS JOB IN OPENING TWO GAMES: Carolina limited Furman to three goals in the Tar Heels' season-opening victory over the Paladins February 9 and surrendered only five against the Manhattan Jaspers the following Sunday. The three goals allowed against Furman were fewest goals allowed in a game by Carolina since March 18, 2008 when the Tar Heels beat Marist 12-3 at Fetzer Field.
UNC had held each of its first two opponents to five goals or less. The last time UNC accomplished that feat was the 2010 season when it limited it first fours opponents of the campaign to five goals or less.
BURKE EXCELS IN THE CAGE: North Carolina sophomore goalkeeper Kieran Burke started his 19th successive game for Carolina in the Tar Heels' match against Manhattan. Burke was stellar in the cage, making seven saves and allowing only four goals in 45 minutes of action. That performance came on the Heels of the previous Sunday's effort when he notched seven saves and allowed only two goals in 45 minutes of action versus Furman. Redshirt freshman Duncan Saunders and senior Bradley Dunn have shared fourth quarter goalkeeping duties for the Tar Heels in each of the first two games, gaining valuable experience in the process.
SCORING DROUGHT FOR PALADINS: The North Carolina defense held Furman scoreless for a period of 34:12 in victory over the Paladins. After Ben Levin scored for the Paladins with 2:49 left in the first quarter to tie the game at 2-2, the Tar Heels kept Furman off the scoreboard until 13:37 remained in the game when Kenny Meinsen scored for the Paladins.
The last time a Carolina team had held an opponent scoreless for that long a period of time was April 13, 2013 when UNC blanked Hofstra for a span of 34:38 in a 14-5 victory over the Pride at Hempstead, N.Y.
OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION: North Carolina's 21-goal offensive effort versus Manhattan marked the largest goal output for UNC in head coach Joe Breschi's six years as head coach. The Tar Heels had scored 20 goals in a game three times previously during his tenure.
The 21 goals were the most for UNC in a game since April 26, 2001 when UNC beat NCAA Division II school Pfeiffer 27-7 at Henry Stadium. The last time Carolina scored more than 21 goals against an NCAA Division I team was April 16, 1997 in a 22-2 victory at VMI.
TUTTON'S SCORING STREAK: With three goals against Manhattan last Sunday, junior midfielder Chad Tutton has now scored in 15 successive games dating back to March 9, 2013. That equals the eighth longest current scoring streak amongst NCAA Division I players.
Tutton has scored goals in 27 of the past 28 games he has played in. The only game in that streak when he did not score came at Notre Dame on March 2, 2013.
The stellar Canadian midfielder had scored in 12 successive games from March 21, 2012 through February 23, 2013 prior to having his scoring streak broken against the Fighting Irish.
Just a junior, Tutton has two of the 15 longest goal scoring streaks in Tar Heel lacrosse lore.
POINTS STREAKS FOR JOEY AND JIMMY: Carolina junior attackmen Jimmy Bitter and Joey Sankey have two of the 15 longest point scoring streaks currently active in NCAA Division I.
Bitter has recorded points in 28 successive games dating back to March 16, 2012. That equals the 11th longest streak in the nation.
Sankey has recorded at least one point in a game in 23 consecutive contests. His scoring streak began on April 20, 2012. Sankey's streak is the 15th longest in NCAA Division I.
Sankey and Bitter were the two fastest Tar Heels in history to reach 50-goal totals in their careers. Both are moving up the career points charts as well. Sankey has 108 career points and Bitter is four points shy of the century mark at 96 career points.
Sankey has 64 carer goals and Bitter has 60.
MORE ON JIMMY AND JOEY: Since entering the Tar Heel starting lineup on a full-time basis on March 18, 2012 versus Dartmouth, Jimmy Bitter and Joey Sankey have been remarkably consistent performers, especially when paired with their old line mate, Marcus Holman, 2013 Tewaraaton Trophy Finalist.
In addition to his long point streak, Sankey has scored goals in 20 of the past 23 games he has played in. Bitter, who has a longer point streak, has scored goals in 23 of the past 25 games. He also has eight career hat tricks, a total just behind fellow juniors Sankey and Chad Tutton.
KEENAN PASSES 600 MARK IN FACE-OFF WINS: Senior midfielder R.G. Keenan started his senior season with an outstanding performance at the X against the Furman Paladins. He won 11 of 17 face-offs. Keenan's 11 wins give him 605 face-off victories in his career. He ranks second on the Tar Heel record board behind only Shane Walterhoefer, who won 723 face-offs from 2006-09.
Brothers Frankie and Stephen Kelly combined to win five of eight face-offs against Furman, giving the Tar Heels a solid 1-2-3 punch at draws. Keenan missed the Manhattan game due to injury.
FRANKIE'S CAREER DAY: Senior midfielder Frankie Kelly, easily one of the most popular of all Tar Heel players, stepped in for R.G. Keenan in the Manhattan match and the Tar Heels did not miss a beat.
Kelly had a career high for face-off wins in a game, going 14 of 18 from the X. Kelly's previous career high was 12 wins versus Dartmouth on March 21, 2012. Kelly won 77.7 percent of his face-offs against the Jaspers, a career best percentage. He won 72.7 percent in a match against Presbyterian on April 14, 2012.
PLAYING ITS DEPTH: One of the plusses of posting comfortable wins over Furman and Manhattan was the fact Coach Joe Breschi could play his roster in the 19-3 win over the Paladins and the 21-5 victory over the Jaspers. Thirty-eight players saw action in both games for Carolina. Every player dressed for both games were in the lineup.
CAROLINA VERSUS DARTMOUTH: Carolina is 10-3 all-time versus Dartmouth. UNC has won 10 in a row against the Big Green. This will mark the fifth straight year the teams have faced each other. Carolina won 13-5 last year at Fetzer Field.
UNC VERSUS IVY LEAGUE FOES: Dartmouth is the first of three teams from the Ivy League UNC will play in 2014. The Tar Heels play at Princeton on March 7 and host Harvard on March 18.
