University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Head To Richmond To Meet Spiders
March 13, 2015 | Men's Lacrosse
Carolina Travels To Richmond To Battle Spiders
2015 UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA MEN'S LACROSSE GAME NOTES
Game 8: North Carolina Tar Heels (7-0, #2 USILA Division I Coaches Poll/#2 Cascade/Maverik/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll) vs. Richmond Spiders (4-2)
Saturday, March 14, 2015
1:00 p.m. EST
Robins Stadium
Richmond, Va.
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TAR HEELS HEAD TO RICHMOND FOR SATURDAY SHOOTOUT: The University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team, under the direction of seventh-year head coach Joe Breschi, plays its first road game of the 2015 season Saturday when the Tar Heels travel to Richmond, Va. Carolina will meet the Richmond Spiders at 1 p.m. at Robins Stadium.
This will mark the first ever meeting between the two teams. The Spiders are in their second year as a varsity program.
Carolina began it season with seven successive home games, going 7-0 in that span including victories over Johns Hopkins, top-ranked Denver and 2014 NCAA quarterfinalist Bryant. In its most recent game, the Tar Heels outlasted the Bulldogs 10-9 at Fetzer Field this past Tuesday, twice rallying the the second half to claim the victory.
Richmond has started the season 4-2. The Spiders played their first five games at home at Robins Stadium before they traveled to Emmitsburg, Md., this past Wednesday where they defeated Mt. St. Mary's 8-7.
VIDEO FOR SATURDAY: North Carolina's match versus Richmond will be broadcast live on SpiderTV. This is a pay service and the link to the Tar Heels vs. Spiders game can be found here.
SATURDAY'S BASICS: The Tar Heels are ranked second in the U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Division I Coaches poll and in the Cascade/Maverik media poll run in conjunction with Inside Lacrosse Magazine. The Tar Heels are ranked behind Syracuse in both polls while Denver is third in both polls. Duke and Notre Dame are tied for fourth in the coaches' poll while in the media poll the Fighting Irish are ranked fourth and the Blue Devils are fifth.
In the media poll, Syracuse received 19 of 24 first-place votes while the Tar Heels earned five first place votes. In the coaches' poll, Syracuse received 11 first-place votes and the Tar Heels received one first-place vote.
North Carolina is 7-0 after opening its season with a 19-4 victory over Furman on February 7 at Fetzer Field, a 15-9 triumph over High Point on February 10 at Navy Field, a 20-8 win over Massachusetts February 14 at Fetzer Field, a 13-11 victory over #9-ranked Johns Hopkins February 21 at Navy Field, a 12-10 victory over #1 Denver on February 27 at Navy Field and a 26-6 triumph over Manhattan College on March 7 at Navy Field. In Carolina's most recent game, the Tar Heels toughed out a 10-9 victory at Fetzer Field over Bryant University.
The Richmond Spiders enter Saturday's game with a record of 4-2. The Spiders began the season with home wins over Saint Joseph's 9-5 and Rutgers 15-7. Unbeaten Marquette downed the Spiders 11-10 in overtime before Richmond fell at home to UMBC 9-5. In its past two games, Richmond beat VMI 20-1 at home and Mt. St. Mary's 8-7 on the road.
THE HEAD COACHES: Joe Breschi, UNC Class of 1990, leads the Tar Heels in his seventh season at Carolina. He coached his 100th game at UNC in Carolina's 2015 season opener versus Furman. Breschi is 76-30 in his seven years at Carolina, a winning percentage of 71.7 percent. He also coached 11 years at Ohio State and is 168-93 overall in 18 seasons as a head coach. His overall winning percentage at Ohio State and UNC is 64.4 percent.
Dan Chemotti is the inaugural coach in Richmond Spiders lacrosse history. A 2002 Duke alumnus, Chemotti was the offensive coordinator at Loyola when the Greyhounds won the 2012 NCAA championship. He served on the Loyola staff for five years before being hired at Richmond in October 2012. A year ago, the Spiders finished 6-11 but they won the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament and earned the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament where they lost 13-5 to Air Force in the first round. In his two seasons at Richmond, Chemotti has led the Spiders to a record of 10-13.
CAROLINA VERSUS RICHMOND: Saturday's game will mark the first-ever meeting between Richmond and North Carolina.
TENTATIVE DEPTH CHART FOR SATURDAY'S CONTEST: Carolina's pre-game depth chart for the game versus Richmond looks at follows. This is a tentative depth chart and subject to change.
Starting Attack Unit
#1, Luke Goldstock, Sophomore; #11, Joey Sankey, Senior; #4, Jimmy Bitter, Senior
Attack Reserve
#18, Walker Chafee, Senior
1st Midfield Unit
#12, Chad Tutton, Senior; #2, Patrick Kelly, Junior; # 42, Peyton Klawinski, Sophomore
2nd Midfield Unit
#5, Joe Costigan, Redshirt Junior; #32, Duncan Hutchins, Redshirt Senior; #0, Steve Pontrello, Junior
Short Stick Defensive Midfielders
#28, Tate Jozokos, Sophomore; #21, Michael Tagliaferri, Redshirt Sophomore; #6, Jake Matthai, Junior; #3, Brett Bedard, Sophomore; #44, Drew Hays, Senior
Long Stick Defensive Midfielders
#15, Ryan Kilpatrick, Senior; #99, Evan Connell, Junior; Jack Lambert, Redshirt Freshman
Face-Off
#24, Stephen Kelly, Sophomore
Close Defense
#40, Jake Bailey, Senior; #17, Austin Pifani, Sophomore; #77, Zach Powers, Junior
Goalkeeper Rotation
#30, Brian Balkam, Redshirt Freshman, First Half; #26, Kieran Burke, Junior, Second Half
NOTING THE TAR HEELS POST BRYANT
• Sophomore attackman Luke Goldstock had a career high six goals in Tuesday's game. That's one more than his previous career mark of five he set in last Saturday's victory over Manhattan.
• Senior defenseman Jake Bailey had a career high 10 ground balls in the game. His previous career high was five last season – against Duke and against Virginia in the ACC Showcase game.
• Luke Goldstock now has six career hat tricks, including five this season.
• Duncan Hutchins matched his career high with two assists. He also had two versus UMBC in 2011 and against Penn State in 2012.
• Jimmy Bitter's two goals versus Bryant give him 106 career tallies, the seventh most in UNC history
• Jimmy Bitter has now recorded at least one point in 48 successive games dating back to March 16, 2012. That's the second longest current streak in the nation in NCAA Division I, trailing only a 51-game streak by Shayne Adams, a red-shirt senior attackman at Detroit. During his 48-game scoring streak, Bitter has scored 98 goals and passed for 56 assists for 154 points. The 48-game streak is the third longest in Carolina history behind 50-game streaks by Dennis Goldstein (2-28-89 to 5-27-91) and Ryan Wade (5-11-91 to 5-21-94).
• Joey Sankey has recorded at least one point in 43 successive games, a streak that began on April 20, 2012. That is tied for the third longest active streak in NCAA Division I and it is equals the sixth longest streak in Carolina history. During that streak, Sankey has scored 85 goals and passed for 70 assists for 155 points.
• In Bitter's 48-game streak and Sankey's 43-game streak, they have totaled 154 and 155 points, respectively.
• Jimmy Bitter has scored a goal in 21 straight games, dating back to February 16, 2014. That is the fourth longest active streak in the country in NCAA Division I. Bitter's streak began on February 16, 2014 and he has scored 48 goals in that time. The 21-game goal scoring streak is the sixth longest in UNC history.
• Jimmy Bitter now has 165 career points at UNC. He has moved into 12th place in Carolina history in Carolina points. Mac Ford (1982-85) and Jed Prossner (2002-05) are tied for 10th with 172 career points.
• Joey Sankey has now totaled 186 career points, a total which ranks seventh in UNC history. John Webster (1990-93) ranks sixth in Tar Heel history with 188 points.
• Joey Sankey recorded two assists against Bryant and has 83 career helpers, a total which moves him into a tie for fourth place in UNC history with Brendan Carey (1993-96).
LAST TIME OUT FOR CAROLINA: Sophomore Luke Goldstock scored a career-high six goals to lead a second-half charge as second-ranked North Carolina rallied past Bryant 10-9 in men's lacrosse action March 10 at Fetzer Field. Carolina rallied from 6-2 and 9-8 second-half deficits to remain unbeaten on the season.
Goldstock, who had five goals and four assists last Saturday in Carolina's 26-6 win over Manhattan, followed that up with a six-goal game against the Bulldogs, who reached the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals last year but had started this season slowly, coming to Chapel Hill with a 1-4 record.
Bryant certainly did not look like a 1-4 team in the first half as it dominated the opening 30 minutes, taking a 6-2 lead into intermission. But UNC rallied twice in the second half to claim the victory and improve to 7-0 on the season.
Bryant's All-America goalkeeper Gunnar Waldt and NCAA record-setting face-off man Kevin Massa gave the Tar Heels fits all day. Waldt made 12 saves in the first half while allowing only two goals. After halftime, however, the Tar Heels were able to get to Waldt, scoring eight second-half goals against him while he made three saves in the final half. UNC junior Kieran Burke came on in the goal in the second half for the Tar Heels and he was huge, making six saves after intermission, including three in the last five minutes of the game to preserve the win for Carolina after the Tar Heels had taken a 10-9 lead with 5:34 to play.
Besides Goldstock's performance, Jimmy Bitter had two goals and an assist for UNC and Joey Sankey had a goal and two assists. Duncan Hutchins had a pair of helpers for the Heels. Shane Morrell led Bryant with two goals and an assist while Tucker James had a pair of goals and Tim Kennedy had a goal and two assists.
UNC outshot the Bulldogs 42-38 in the game and led in ground balls 41-33. Waldt finished the game with 15 saves for the Bulldogs. UNC platooned goalkeepers as it has all year. Brian Balkam played the first half and made two saves and Kieran Burke played the second half and had six saves while allowing only three goals.
JOZOKOS NAMED NCAA.COM & ACC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sophomore short stick defensive midfielder Tate Jozokos (6-0, 200, Wolfeboro, N.H.) was named both the NCAA.com and the Atlantic Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Week following Carolina's win over Denver.
Jozokos played the best game of his career in a 12-10 upset of No. 1 Denver. He scooped up a career-high five ground balls and limited the Pioneers' first-string midfielders to two goals on only four shots. Denver midfielders combined for just eight shots in the game. Two ground balls that Jozokos earned off face-offs proved especially important for North Carolina. In those possessions, Jozokos assisted a second-quarter goal by Ryan Kilpatrick that cut into a three-goal deficit and he then scored his second career goal early in the third quarter to put the Tar Heels in the lead for good in the game.
Jozokos is the first Tar Heel short stick defensive midfielder to ever win ACC Defensive Player of the Week honors. Previous winners from UNC have included face-off men, close defensemen and goalkeepers but this is the first time a SSDM has won the award.
SANKEY NAMED A SENIOR CLASS AWARD CANDIDATE: Twenty of the top NCAA® men's lacrosse student-athletes who excel both on and off the field were selected as candidates March 4 for the 2015 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate lacrosse. Amongst the final 20 candidates for the 2015 award is Joey Sankey, a senior attackman from the University of North Carolina and native of Warminster, Pa. You can view Sankey's complete bio here.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. The complete list of candidates appears below. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School ®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. The 20 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists later in the season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.
The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced in conjunction with the 2015 NCAA Men's Lacrosse National Championship in May.
TAR HEEL SENIOR TRIO NAMED TO TEWAARATON LIST: The Tewaaraton Foundation has announced the 2015 Tewaaraton Award men's watch list February 26. The list includes the top players across in NCAA Division I lacrosse and highlights the early contenders for the 2015 Tewaaraton Award, presented by Under Armour.
Three outstanding senior members of the 2015 University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team, currently ranked #4 in the nation, are on the Watch List. The group includes senior attackman Jimmy Bitter of Stowe, Vermont, senior attackman Joey Sankey of Warminster, Pa., and senior midfielder Chad Tutton of Courtice, Ontario. All three are off to magnificent starts in 2015 as they move up the UNC career scoring charts.
BITTER NAMED ACC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: North Carolina's Jimmy Bitter was named the ACC Co-Offensive Player of the Week on February 24, 2015.
Bitter had a five-point game to lead the No. 4 Tar Heels to a 13-11 victory over No. 9 Johns Hopkins on Saturday, Feb. 22. Bitter scored four goals, one shy of his career high, and added an assist in UNC's victory. Bitter scored his four goals on just six shots, five of which were on goal. When he scored late in the first period it was his 100th career goal, putting the Tar Heels up 4-1 in the game. He had three goals in a scoring run, which lifted UNC from a 3-1 lead to a 7-2 advantage, a lead Carolina would never surrender.
HAT TRICKS FOR THE HEELS: Carolina's three starting attackmen all recorded hat tricks in the Tar Heels' 19-4 season-opening victory against Furman. Joey Sankey had four goals and Jimmy Bitter and Luke Goldstock each had three tallies.
The last time all three Tar Heel starting attackmen had hat tricks in the same game came on April 24, 2009. Billy Bitter, Gavin Petracca and Bart Wagner each totaled three goals in a 16-10 ACC Tournament semifinal victory over Maryland that day.
After not having accomplished that feat for five years, the Carolina starting attack has gone on to pull off a trio of hat tricks twice more this season as Bitter, Sankey and Goldstock all recorded three plus goal games versus both UMass and Johns Hopkins.
In UNC's win over High Point, Carolina again got a trio of hat tricks with Jimmy Bitter scoring four goals and Peyton Klawinski and Chad Tutton each scoring three times as the first midfield got into the act.
Against Manhattan last Saturday, the Tar Heels again had a trio of players with hat tricks. Attackman Luke Goldstock led the way with five goals while midfielders Michael Tagliaferri and Chad Tutton scored three times each.
POINTS STREAKS FOR JOEY AND JIMMY: Carolina senior attackmen Jimmy Bitter and Joey Sankey possess the second and fourth longest point scoring streaks currently active in NCAA Division I.
Jimmy Bitter has recorded points in 48 successive games dating back to March 16, 2012. That is the second longest streak in the nation behind only Shayne Adams of Detroit, who has recorded points in 52 successive games. During his 48-game skein, Bitter has recorded 98 goals and 56 assists for 154 points.
Joey Sankey has recorded at least one point in a game in 43 consecutive contests. That is tied for the third longest streak in the nation with Ohio State's Jesse King. Sankey's scoring streak began on April 20, 2012. During that span, Sankey has recorded 85 goals and added 70 assists for 155 points.
Bitter's 48 games with at least one point is the third longest streak in UNC history. The school record is 50 successive games with at least one point. That record is shared by attackman Dennis Goldstein (February 28, 1989 to May 27, 1991) and midfielder Ryan Wade (May 11, 1991 to May 21, 1994). Sankey's 43-game point streak is tied for the sixth longest scoring streak in the Tar Heel record book.
BITTER'S GOAL SCORING STREAK: Jimmy Bitter has tallied goals in 21 consecutive games dating back to February 16, 2014.
Joey Sankey had a 20-game goal scoring streak for the Tar Heels but it ended in Carolina's 12-10 win over Denver on February 27.
Bitter's 21-game goal scoring streak is the third longest current goal-scoring streak in NCAA Division I. Dan Lomas of High Point has scored in 23 straight games and Ryan Brown of Johns Hopkins has scored in 22 successive contests.
In Carolina history, three current Tar Heels have goal-scoring streaks that rank among the top nine in Tar Heel lore. Bitter's 21-game streak is the sixth longest, Joey Sankey's 20-game scoring streak equals the seventh longest (Mike McCall from 4/17/02 to 3/14/04). Chad Tutton's 19-game streak from March 3, 2013 through March 11, 2014 is the ninth-longest streak.
TAR HEELS ON THE CAREER SCORING CHARTS: A trio of Tar Heel seniors continue to move up UNC's career scoring charts. Senior attackman Joey Sankey has moved into seventh in career points with 186 while Jimmy Bitter is in 12th place with 165 career points. Chad Tutton is in at tie for 35th place with 105 career points. The Tar Heel record for career points is 213 by Marcus Holman (2010-13).
On the career goal-scoring list, Jimmy Bitter is currently in seventh place with 107 career goals. Joey Sankey ranks eighth in career goals with 103. The school record for goals scored in a career is 128 by Bert Fett (1972-75). Chad Tutton has 85 goals in his career, which puts him in a tie for 22nd place.
Joey Sankey's 83 career assists have moved him into a tie for fourth place all-time at UNC. Jimmy Bitter has 58 career assists, including 17 this season. He has moved into a tie for 22nd place in that statistics.
HEAD COACH JOE BRESCHI: Joe Breschi is now in his seventh season as the head coach at his alma mater. Breschi led the Tar Heels to double-digit win totals and NCAA Tournament bids in each of his first six seasons in Chapel Hill.
Breschi Coaching Facts:
• 76-30 in six seasons at UNC (71.7)
• 168-93 in 17 seasons overall (64.4)
• 8-12 in ACC regular-season games
• 4-4 in ACC Tournament games
• 3-6 in NCAA Tournament games at UNC; 4-9 in NCAA Tournament games overall
• 16-13 in one-goal games at UNC
• 38-27 versus ranked teams at UNC; 38-3 versus unranked teams at UNC
• 63-10 versus non-conference teams at UNC
• 49-8 in home games at UNC
ANOTHER DOUBLE DIGIT WIN SEASON UNDER COACH BRESCHI: Despite playing against one of the nation's toughest schedules in 2014, the Tar Heels reached a double digit win total for the sixth successive year under the tutelage of head coach Joe Breschi, who was hired in June 2008. The Tar Heels were 10-5 in the 2014 campaign. Breschi is the first head coach in UNC history to post double digit win totals in each of his first six years mentoring the Tar Heels. Other than Breschi, Dave Klarmann (1991-94) is the only other coach to win 10 or more games in each of his first four seasons. Under Breschi's leadership, UNC went 12-6 in 2009, 13-3 in 2010, 10-6 in 2011, 11-6 in 2012, 13-4 in 2013 and 10-5 in 2014. The last time Carolina patched together six successive seasons with 10 or more wins was 1989-94 when the Tar Heels had at least double digits in wins for each of those six seasons.
UNC VERSUS RANKED OPPONENTS UNDER COACH BRESCHI: North Carolina has played nationally-ranked opponents 65 times in Joe Breschi's six-year coaching tenure. UNC is 38-27 in those games, a winning percentage of 58.5 percent. Conversely, the Tar Heels are 38-3 against unranked opponents in his seven seasons. Breschi is 76-30 overall at Carolina in his seven seasons as head coach. During Breschi's tenure, UNC's only losses to unranked teams came at Ohio State in 2011, at home to Lehigh in 2012 and at Pennsylvania in 2012.
CAROLINA'S IMPROVEMENT IN ONE-GOAL DECISIONS: Prior to Joe Breschi taking over as head coach in 2009, UNC went 1-7 in games decided by one goal from midway through the 2004 season through the end of the 2008 campaign. Carolina has improved tremendously in one-goal games since Breschi arrived for the 2009 season. UNC is 16-13 in games decided by one goal over the past seven years.
THREE TAR HEELS CHOSEN IN 2015 MLL DRAFT: Three members of the 2015 University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team were chosen Friday, January 24 in the 2015 Major League Lacrosse Draft. The trio will start their respective MLL careers this summer at the conclusion of their senior years in college.
UNC senior attackman Joey Sankey of Warminster, Pa. was the first Tar Heel chosen as he went in the second round to the Charlotte Hounds. Sankey was the ninth player picked overall. Tar Heel senior midfielder Chad Tutton of Courtice, Ontario was chosen in the second round by the Florida Launch. Tutton was the 13th pick overall. Senior attackman Jimmy Bitter was selected in the third round with the 22nd pick by the Ohio Machine. The Stowe, Vt. native will reunite with former Tar Heel Marcus Holman, UNC Class of 2013, when he joins the Machine. Holman has played for the Machine the past two years. Holman and Bitter started on the UNC attack together with Joey Sankey in the 2012 and 2013 seasons.
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 nine seasons. The Tar Heels have won 84 of their past 98 games against non-conference teams dating back to April 15, 2006. In Joe Breschi's seven seasons as head coach, the Tar Heels are 63-10 against non-conference teams. The only losses were to Notre Dame in 2009, to Ohio State and Johns Hopkins in 2011, to Lehigh, Pennsylvania and Denver in 2012, to Massachusetts, Notre Dame and Denver in 2013 and to Denver in 2014.
CAROLINA'S DOUBLE DIGIT SCORING GAMES: In Coach Joe Breschi's seven years as head lacrosse coach at UNC, Carolina's success has clearly been tied to hitting the 10-goal plateau in a game. In fact UNC's 13-11 loss to Virginia on April 26, 2014, marked only the 12th time in Breschi's coaching tenure that the Tar Heels have lost when they have reached the 10-goal plateau. UNC has scored at least 10 goals in a game in 81 of 106 games under Coach Breschi's direction dating back to the opening game of the 2009 season. Carolina is 69-12 in those 81 games. In the 25 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 as when it scores in double figures. In fact, the Tar Heels' record in those 25 games is just 7-18.
NEAR DOMINANCE AT HOME UNDER BRESCHI: UNC is 49-8 in home games in Coach Joe Breschi's seven years at the helm of the Tar Heels. That's a winning percentage of 86.0 percent. UNC's only home losses during Breschi's four-year tenure include regular-season and ACC Tournament games to Duke in 2009, a regular-season loss to Duke in 2011, an NCAA Tournament loss to Maryland in 2011, regular-season losses to Lehigh and Virginia in 2012, an NCAA Tournament loss to Denver in 2012, a regular-season loss to Duke in 2013 and a regular-season loss to Notre Dame in 2014.
CAROLINA IN HOME GAMES: North Carolina has an all-time record of 274-120-2 in home games. That included a 6-1 home record in 2014 and a 7-0 record so far in 2015. UNC has a 69.4 winning percentage all-time in history in home games.
THE ALL-TIME RECORD: North Carolina has an all-time record of 462-278-2 in the sport of men's lacrosse. That is a winning percentage of .624.
SIX TAR HEELS NAMED PRESEASON ALL-ACC: Six Tar Heels were chosen for the preseason All-ACC Team for 2015. The team was selected in a vote by the ACC's five head coaches. Tar Heels on the preseason team include senior attackman Joey Sankey, senior midfielder Chad Tutton, senior long-stick midfielder Ryan Kilpatick, sophomore face-off man Stephen Kelly, sophomore defenseman Austin Pifani and junior goalkeeper Kieran Burke.
INSIDE LACROSSE PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAS: Six members of the 2015 University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team were named to the preseason All-America Teams chosen by Inside Lacrosse magazine.
A trio of Tar Heels were named to the second-team preseason All-America Team – senior attackman Joey Sankey, senior midfielder Chad Tutton and sophomore defenseman Austin Pifani.
Another three Carolina players have been named to the honorable mention preseason All-America unit - senior attackman Jimmy Bitter, senior long-stick midfielder Ryan Kilpatrick and junior goalkeeper Kieran Burke.
Sankey led the Tar Heels in scoring in 2014 with 57 points on a team-leading total of 33 goals and squad-pacing 24 assists. He shot .355 on the season and started all 15 games for the Heels.
Pifani started 15 games on close defense for the Tar Heels as a fresman in 2015. He scooped up 32 ground balls, the second highest total on the team, and caused 10 turnovers. He spearheaded a much improved UNC defense that surrendered only 8.34 goals per game.
Tutton was Carolina's leading scorer in the midfield, starting all 15 games in the first unit. His 23 goals ranked third on the team and he added five assists for 28 points. He led Carolina in game-winning goals with three.
Jimmy Bitter was second on last year's team in goals scored with 30, playing in 14 games. He was tied for second on the team in points with 37. He shot .370 on the campaign and had 31 ground balls (tied for first in the attack and offensive midfield units) while committing only 16 turnovers.
Kilpatrick, who will captain this year's team with Sankey, Bitter and defenseman Jake Bailey, has been the top player at the LSM position for the Tar Heels for the past three years. Last year he had 23 ground balls and 11 caused turnovers (second highest on team behind Ryan Creighton).
Kieran Burke showed great improvement last year as he started all 15 games. He allowed only 8.47 goals per contest and had a save percentage of .558. He was second on the team in ground balls with 35. He has started 32 games in a row for UNC over the past two campaigns.
UNC CLAIMS ANOTHER SEASON OPENING WIN: The Tar Heels beat Furman 19-4 in their 2015 season opener on February 7. UNC has won every season opener since the 1999 season, running its streak to 17 seasons in a row with the win over the Paladins. Carolina's last loss in a season opener came on February 22, 1988 when the Tar Heels fell to Butler 13-12 at Fetzer Field.
CAROLINA THIS YEAR ON ESPN FAMILY OF NETWORKS: A total of eight University of North Carolina men's lacrosse games will be televised on the ESPN family of networks. The Tar Heels could also have additional exposure during the 2015 ACC Lacrosse Tournament. Five of UNC's games will be televised on ESPNU - Denver on February 27, Duke on March 29, Virginia on April 3, Syracuse on April 11 and Notre Dame on April 18. Three additional UNC games will be shown on ESPN3 - all games to be played at Fetzer Field. Carolina's non-conference games against High Point, Bryant and Harvard will all be aired on ESPN3. Those three games are midweek contests scheduled on Tuesdays. All three games of the 2015 ACC Men's Lacrosse Championship at PPL Park will air on ESPNU for a total of 34 broadcasts throughout the 2015 season. All five ACC teams will make at least five appearances on an ESPN platform this season.
UNC Men's Lacrosse Television Schedule
Tuesday, Feb. 10, High Point at North Carolina, 4 p.m. (ESPN3)
Friday, Feb. 27, Denver at North Carolina, 4 p.m. (ESPNU)
Tuesday, March 10, Bryant at North Carolina, 4 p.m. (ESPN3)
Tuesday, March 17, Harvard at North Carolina, 7 p.m. (ESPN3)
Sunday, March 29, Duke at North Carolina, 1 p.m. (ESPNU)
Friday, April 3, North Carolina at Virginia, 7 p.m. (ESPNU)
Saturday, April 11, Syracuse at North Carolina, 4 p.m. (ESPNU)
Saturday, April 18, North Carolina at Notre Dame, 4 p.m. (ESPNU)
Friday, April 24, ACC Championship Semifinal 1, 5:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
ACC Championship Semifinal 2, 8 p.m. (ESPNU)
Sunday, April 26, ACC Championship, 1 p.m. (ESPNU)
LOCAL YOUTH PLAYERS INVITED TO BE BALL BOYS AT FETZER FIELD: if you are interested in being a ball boy or having your local club team play at halftime, please contact Alexis Barlow at alexisb@unc.edu (youth 8th grade and below). Come enjoy a fun afternoon/evening at Fetzer Field and be a part of the action.
TAR HEELS FINISH FEBRUARY UNBEATEN: North Carolina played five games in the month of February, going 5-0 and finishing the month off with a 12-10 over top-ranked Denver at Navy Field on February 27. The five games in the month were the most games UNC has played in the opening month of the season since the 2009 squad started off with five February contests.
CAROLINA VERSUS NUMBER ONE: The 2015 season marks the fourth straight year UNC has defeated a team ranked #1 in the nation. Those wins came against Johns Hopkins 13-9 on April 1, 2012, against Maryland 10-8 on March 23, 2013, against Maryland 11-8 on March 22, 2014 and against Denver 12-10 on February 27, 2015. Prior to the win against Johns Hopkins in 2012, Carolina had not beaten a #1-ranked team since April 6, 1996 when UNC beat Virginia 19-18 at Fetzer Field. UNC has won each of its last three games against #1-ranked teams. Carolina's last defeat against a No. 1 team came on April 7, 2012 when UNC lost to Virginia 15-10 at Fetzer Field.
