University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Head To Annapolis Seeking Final Four Berth
May 15, 2015 | Men's Lacrosse
TAR HEELS HEAD TO ANNAPOLIS TO PLAY IN NCAA QUARTERFINALS
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD COMPLETE GAME NOTES PACKAGE AS A PDF FILE
2015 UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA MEN'S LACROSSE GAME NOTES
Game 17: North Carolina Tar Heels (13-3 overall, #3 NCAA Tournament Seed, Ranked #5 USILA Division I Men's Lacrosse Coaches Poll, Ranked #3 Cascade/Maverik Media Poll) vs. Maryland Terrapins (13-3 overall, #6 NCAA Tournament Seed, Ranked #7 USILA Division I Men's Lacrosse Coaches Poll, Ranked #8 Cascade/Maverik Media Poll)
Sunday, May 17, 2015
2:30 p.m. EDT
Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium
Annapolis, Md.
KEY LINKS FOR SUNDAY'S GAME
Live Stats: GoHeels.com
Television Information: ESPN2; Eamon McAnaney, Play-by-Play Announcer; Quint Kessenich & Paul Carcaterra, Analysts
Webcast Information: WatchESPN
Purchase Tickets To NCAA Quarterfinals: www.NavySports.com
LEARN ABOUT THE 2015 TAR HEELS
2015 UNC Lacrosse Media Guide: View 2015 Media Guide Online
Watch Carolina Lacrosse Highlights: UNCTarHeelsAthletics On YouTube
2015 UNC Lacrosse Statistics: Cumulative Statistics Online
UNC Lacrosse Player & Coach Biographies: Meet The 2015 Tar Heels Online
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS
Follow UNC Men's Lacrosse On Facebook: Facebook Page
Follow The Tar Heels On Twitter: @UNCMensLacrosse
Follow The Tar Heels On Instagram: Follow The Heels
HEELS-TERRAPINS MEET IN NCAA QUARTERFINALS SUNDAY: The University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team, under the direction of seventh-year head coach Joe Breschi, is back in action in Annapolis, Md. on Sunday, May 17 when the Tar Heels compete in the 2015 NCAA Tournament quarterfinals at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md.
Carolina, 13-3 overall and an at-large selection from the Atlantic Coast Conference, will meet Maryland, an at-large selection from the Big 10 Conference. The Terrapins have a record of 13-3 this season.
The Tar Heels are seeded third in the NCAA Tournament while Maryland is seeded sixth.
The game will be nationally televised by ESPN2 and will also be available on WatchESPN. Eamon McAnaney will be the play-by-play announcer while Quint Kessenich and Paul Carcaterra provide the analysis.
Face-off Sunday at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium will be at 2:30 p.m. The game is the second of a quarterfinal doubleheader at Navy with second-seeded and ACC champion Syracuse meeting Big 10 Conference champion Johns Hopkins at 12 noon.
Fans can also order tickets in advance by visiting the U.S. Naval Academy athletics website at www.NavySports.com.
CAROLINA VS. MARYLAND: Sunday's game will mark the 66th meeting between the Tar Heels and the Terrapins. Maryland leads the all-time series 41-24.
The two teams met earlier this season with the Terrapins defeating the Tar Heels 10-8 on March 22, 2015 in the Pacific Coast Lacrosse Shootout at Santa Ana Stadium in Santa Ana, Calif. The Terps built a five-goal lead in the third quarter at 7-2 before the Tar Heels staged a late rally that fell short.
The game will be the third NCAA Tournament meeting between Carolina and Maryland. The Tar Heels beat Maryland 12-10 in the NCAA quarterfinals in 1986 at College Park, Md. The Terrapins defeated UNC 13-6 in the NCAA Tournament first round in 2011 in Chapel Hill, N.C.
THE TAR HEELS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: Carolina has earned an NCAA Tournament bid for the ninth straight year and the seventh straight year under coach Joe Breschi.
The Tar Heels are appearing in the NCAA Tournament field for the 30th time since the beginning of the tournament in 1971. Carolina's initial tournament appearance came in 1976 under coach Paul Doty.
Carolina's all-time NCAA Tournament record is 29-25 heading into the game Maryland. UNC is one of just five schools to have qualified for the NCAA Tournament 30 or more times. Johns Hopkins leads with 43 all-time appearances followed by Maryland with 38, Virginia with 37, Syracuse with 34 and the Tar Heels with 30.
TAR HEELS ADVANCE VERSUS COLGATE: Carolina earned its spot in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals by defeating Colgate 19-12 last Sunday in the first round.
UNC's starting attack trio of Luke Goldstock (5 goals, 1 assist), Jimmy Bitter (2 goals, 4 assists) and Joey Sankey (4 goals, 1 assist) combined for 11 goals and 6 assists. Midfielders Steve Pontrello and Walker Chafee had three goals and an assist and two goals and an assist, respectively.
Stephen Kelly won 20 face-offs in the win over the Raiders, the second highest total of his career. Kelly also led UNC with 11 ground balls while Kieran Burke made 11 saves for the Tar Heels in the win.
CAROLINA'S #3 SEED: North Carolina is the No. 3 seed in the 2015 NCAA Tournament. That is the highest seed for the Tar Heels since 1993 when they were the #1 seed. That is also the last season in which the Tar Heels advanced to Memorial Day championship weekend.
Since then Carolina had been the #4 seed in 1994, 1996, 2008 and 2010.
UNC will be looking for its first NCAA Tournament quarterfinal win since 1993 versus the Terrapins on Sunday. The Tar Heels have fallen in their last seven NCAA Tournament quarterfinal games (1994, 1996, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2013).
VERSUS THE NCAA FIELD: Carolina played 11 of its 16 games in 2015 against teams which qualified for the NCAA Tournament field this year, going 8-3 in those games.
Carolina holds wins over NCAA participants Colgate, High Point, Johns Hopkins, Denver, Bryant, Duke, Virginia and Syracuse. The Tar Heels lost to Maryland, Notre Dame and Syracuse.
Two of Carolina's other opponents - Massachusetts and Richmond - fell in their conference tournament finals.
SUNDAY'S BASICS: The Tar Heels are 13-3 overall heading into Sunday's game and they are ranked #4 by the Inside Lacrosse media poll and #5 by the USILA coaches poll. UNC started the season 12-1 and bounced back from one-goal losses to the top two seeds in the NCAA Tournament in its final two regular-season games - 15-14 to Notre Dame and 9-8 to Syracuse – by beating Colgate in the NCAA Tournament first round.
Maryland is also 13-3 and advanced by beating Yale 8-7 in the NCAA first round at Byrd Stadium in College Park, Md. The Terps shared the Big 10 Conference regular season championship. They are ranked seventh in the USILA coaches poll and eighth in the Inside Lacrosse media poll.
SUNDAY'S TV COVERAGE: Sunday's NCAA Tournament quarterfinal game will be nationally televised on ESPN2. Eamon McAnaney will be the play by play announcer and Quint Kessenich and Paul Carcaterra will serve as color analysts. The game will be simulcast on WatchESPN.
UNC HEAD COACH JOE BRESCHI: Joe Breschi, UNC Class of 1990, leads the Tar Heels in his seventh season at Carolina. Earlier this year, he coached his 100th game at UNC in Carolina's 2015 season opener versus Furman. Breschi is 82-33 in his seven years at Carolina, a winning percentage of 71.3 percent. He also coached 11 years at Ohio State and is 174-96 overall in 18 seasons as a head coach. His overall winning percentage at Ohio State and UNC is 64.4 percent. On April 3, UNC head coach Joe Breschi won his 80th game at Carolina. His 80th win came in Carolina's 10-6 triumph at Virginia.
TICKETS TO THE NCAA TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS: Tickets for this Sunday's NCAA Tournament game versus Maryland are currently on sale at the U.S. Naval Academy's athletic department website at www.NavySports.com.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD COMPLETE GAME NOTES PACKAGE AS A PDF FILE
