University of North Carolina Athletics
On The Attack: Sankey & Bitter Lead From The Front
February 26, 2014 | Men's Lacrosse
By Turner Walston
@TurnerWalston
Marcus Holman, Joey Sankey and Jimmy Bitter were on the attack for Carolina's best season in years in 2013. The trio put up 188 of the Tar Heels' 355 points, with Holman's 80 points marking the second best season in school history.
Carolina won the ACC Tournament for the first time since 1996, reached the NCAA quarterfinals and was ranked #1 in the final USILA coaches poll. But 2013 was Holman's senior season-he finished with 213 career points, the most in Carolina history-and the play of Sankey and Bitter, now juniors, will help dictate the Tar Heels' fortunes in 2014.
Joey Sankey played multiple sports while growing up in Philadelphia, but because he knew he wouldn't play football beyond high school (he's 5-foot-5 and 150 pounds), lacrosse offered his best chance to compete collegiately. Carolina was the first school to show interest, and Sankey rewarded that loyalty with a commitment.
For Jimmy Bitter, lacrosse is a family affair. His father Ward played at Boston College, as did two of his sisters. Two brothers played at Williams and the U.S. Naval Academy, respectively, and brother Billy was a three-time All-American at Carolina. Jimmy hung around campus often while visiting Billy and became comfortable with the program. "I don't think any other school could really match the full college experience like [Carolina] does," he said.
Because recruiting in lacrosse takes place years before a student-athlete will take the field in a college uniform, 2014 marks the first time that the Tar Heel roster is made up entirely of players recruited and signed by the current coaching staff, even though Joe Breschi is in his sixth season at the helm (see the GoHeels Spring Season Preview). Bitter and Sankey say there's been a change in atmosphere in the last two seasons to reflect that unity. "Last year was the first year where everything came together," Sankey said. "Everyone bought in to Coach Breschi's system, and the whole coaching staff is doing a great job with the culture of this program."
"I think we all know what to expect now," Bitter added. "Now, he has all four classes, we've been under him for three or four years, and I just feel like every practice we know exactly how they want us to act and what they expect from us out there on the field. Everybody being on the same page makes us play better."
What the coaching staff expects is for a team to play fast-and smart-with an attack-first mindset. That style of play allows Sankey and Bitter (5-9, 160) the room and freedom to operate in the open field. "We have a thing called 'green,' which just means every time we get it over the midfield line, pressure and try to go to the goal and see if it's there," Bitter said. "We have an offense and all that, but they give us some freedom to play fast and make decisions, which is really nice."
Don't get them wrong-there's a playbook and a structure to everything the Tar Heels do, but there is definitely some freestyling that goes on, branching out of the playbook with a foundations rooted in set play. The defensive midfielders start the offense and get the ball to the attackers, allowing the Tar Heels to get scoring opportunities out of their transition game, not unlike the Tar Heels of Roy Williams and Sylvia Hatchell.
But that freedom to improvise and make plays in the open field wouldn't be possible without hours of repetition in practice and continuous communication between players. "We're fast, but we know exactly where everyone is going to be," Sankey said. "We say, 'Look five seconds into the future, know where the next guy is going to end up, so a lot of it is about anticipation and really repping it out in practice, building that team chemistry."
One aspect of the game that Sankey and Bitter have to keep in mind is that an attack-all-the-time style can be wearing on a defense if missed shots are leading to an opponent's opportunities. "Sometimes if we're playing fast, there are times that we need to slow down, recognizing that the defense had a long possession, they're tired and we can't just get back into our sticks and go to the goal right away and then possibly have the defense play defense again." It's counter-intuitive, perhaps, but it's the mark of a smart player to keep that moderation in mind.The new season brings a new team chemistry without Holman up front with Bitter and Sankey, but because the leadership was modeled for them early in their careers, they're helping build up the players that will carry Carolina lacrosse into the future. It would be a lot to ask any one player to replace Holman's 80 points, so the Tar Heels have used the combination of sophomore Spencer Parks and senior Patrick Foster early in the season. "They're different players, but together they can kind of match what Marcus did on a point level," Bitter said. "They're both going to be huge contributors to our team this year."
So far, so good for the attack led by Bitter and Sankey. The Tar Heels are 3-0 and have outscored opponents 58-13. Sankey has tallied 15 points in three games, and Bitter six in two. They're scoring and leading up front and plan to continue to do so even as Carolina faces perhaps the nation's toughest schedule.
"In the spring, what we've realized is that we don't have to lead the way it was led in the past," Sankey said. "So we're kind of just trying to find our own way, and I think it's been working, recently so hopefully it will continue to work."
