University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heel Men's Lacrosse Team Honored
September 27, 2014 | Men's Lacrosse
CHAPEL HILL—With head coach Joe Breschi serving as master of ceremonies, the University of North Carolina men's lacrosse program was honored Friday night at the Loudermilk Center on campus as the squad held its annual team banquet to honor the 2013-14 squad.
Team awards were passed out to multiple individuals as follows.
2014 Senior Ryan Creighton (West Chester, Pa.) was the winner of multiple awards headed by the Turnbull Trophy as the team's most valuable player. A three-time All-America and tri-captain of the 2014 Tar Heels, Creighton was also the recipient of the Ralph T. "Rip" Davy, III Memorial Award for senior leadership. Creighton was an All-ACC selection in 2014 and honorable mention All-America as a short stick defensive midfielder.
The Danny Fox Memorial Award given for distinguished service to the Tar Heel men's lacrosse program was presented to Katherine Fitzgerald, a 2014 alumna and native of Baltimore, Md. Fitzgerald had served as the team's videographer the past two school years.
Senior defenseman Jake Bailey (Fairport, N.Y.) took home two team awards on Friday night. He won the Kevin Reichardt Memorial Award as the most improved player on the 2014 team and he also earned the Dick Baddour Academic Success Award for the highest grade point average on the team during the 2013-14 school year.
2014 alumnus Frankie Kelly of Lutherville, Md., was the recipient of the Class of 1986 Dan Andrews Sportsmanship Award presented for sportsmanship and community service. He was also the recipient of the team's Athletic Director's Scholar Athlete Award for 2014 and is currently enrolled in the Master's of Accounting Program at Carolina.
The Needham Unsung Hero Award went to 2014 alumnus Pat Foster of Baltimore, Md. He rotated between midfielder and attackman throughout his career and had a stellar senior year in which he was the team's third-leading scorer with 37 points on 18 goals and 19 assists.
The Holmes Harden, Sr. Memorial Award for most ground balls went to current sophomore midfielder Stephen Kelly of Lutherville, Md. Despite breaking his wrist in the eighth game of the 2014 season, he led UNC in ground balls with 47 and won 74 of 121 face-offs (.612).
Defenseman Austin Pifani of Roslyn, Pa., was honored as the winner of the Jay Gallagher Memorial Award as the most valuable freshman on the 2014 team. He started all 15 games last year for UNC and was named an honorable mention All-America.
The team's awards for most valuable offensive and defensive players went to senior attackman Joey Sankey and junior goalkeeper Kieran Burke, respectively.
Sankey, from Warminster, Pa., led UNC in scoring in 2014 with 57 points on 33 goals and 24 assists. He was one of four players named All-ACC. He needs 57 points in his senior year to become UNC's all-time leading scorer.
Burke, from Fort Salonga, N.Y., finished his second year as the starting goalkeeper. He led the ACC in total saves with 153 and was second in save percentage at .558. He allowed only 8.47 goals per game as a sophomore. He has started every game for UNC over the past two seasons - 32 in a row.
Carolina also announced its team captains for 2014-15 - senior attackman Joey Sankey, senior attackman Jimmy Bitter, senior defenseman Jake Bailey and senior long stick defensive midfielder Ryan Kilpatrick.
