University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC Renews Long Rivalry With Johns Hopkins Sunday
February 26, 2016 | Men's Lacrosse
UNC Hits Road For First Time This Season, Heading To Hopkins
2016 UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA MEN'S LACROSSE GAME NOTES
Game 4: North Carolina Tar Heels (2-1 overall, Ranked #10 USILA Division I Men's Lacrosse Coaches Poll, Ranked #11 Cascade/Maverik Media Poll) at Johns Hopkins Blue Jays (Ranked #8 USILA Division I Men's Lacrosse Coaches Poll, Ranked #8 Cascade/Maverik Media Poll)
Sunday, February 28, 2016
12 p.m. EST
Homewood Field
Baltimore, Md.
KEY LINKS FOR SUNDAY'S GAME
Live Stats: GoHeels.com
ESPNU/ESPN3: Watch Live
Purchase Tickets to UNC Home Games: GoHeels.com Ticket Center
LEARN ABOUT THE 2016 TAR HEELS
2016 UNC Lacrosse Media Guide: Media Guide
Watch Carolina Lacrosse Highlights: UNCTarHeelsAthletics On YouTube
2016 UNC Lacrosse Statistics: Combined Statistics
UNC Lacrosse Player & Coach Biographies: Meet The 2016 Tar Heels Online
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TAR HEELS HEAD TO HOPKINS FOR FIRST ROAD TRIP OF CAMPAIGN: The University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team, under the direction of eighth-year head coach Joe Breschi, returns to action this Sunday when its plays at Johns Hopkins University at 12 noon p.m. EST. The match will be played at historic Homewood Field on the Johns Hopkins campus in Baltimore, Md. Both teams will be looking for bounce back from tough losses last weekend. The Tar Heels (2-1) fell at home to Hofstra 10-5 on February 20 while Loyola downed the Blue Jays 9-8 on the road the same day in the annual crosstown rivalry game. Sunday's game will televised nationally on ESPNU and webcast on ESPN3. Eamon McAnaney will be the play-by-play announcer for ESPNU while Quint Kessenich will be the analyst. Live stats links will be available on both GoHeels.com and the Johns Hopkins University athletic website.
PURCHASE UNC MEN'S LACROSSE TICKETS: Fans can purchase tickets all UNC men's lacrosse game in advance at the GoHeels.com Ticket Center. All tickets are $5 and seating is general admission. A reminder that at all UNC home games, Carolina students, faculty and staff will be admitted free of charge by showing their UNC One Cards at the Fetzer Field or Kenan Stadium gates. The upcoming home games against Denver and Richmond will be played at Fetzer Field while the games against Virginia and Notre Dame will be played at Kenan Stadium.
CAROLINA OPENS WITH BIG WIN OVER MICHIGAN: The 2016 version of the University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team opened its season in impressive style February 6, defeating Michigan 20-10 before a crowd of 2,006 fans at Fetzer Field on a sunny and chilly afternoon. UNC's restyled starting attack got five points each from senior Steve Pontrello, junior Luke Goldstock and sophomore Chris Cloutier as the Tar Heels led 10-6 at halftime and then broke the game open by scoring the first seven goals of the second half. Cloutier, stepping in at attack with the Tar Heels' minus Joey Sankey and Jimmy Bitter lost to graduation, had a tremendous first career start with five goals on seven shots. Pontrello had four goals and an assist, topping his career bests for both goals and points in a game. Luke Goldstock, picked up where he left off from last year, when he scored 50 goals, as he had two goals and three assists. This early season game ended up being a shooter's day for both teams as the Tar Heels scored 20 goals on 43 shots and Michigan tallied 10 times on 25 shots. UNC led in ground balls 44-24 with eight Tar Heels claiming three or more grounders led by senior Jake Matthai's five. Carolina had a 20-14 edge in the face-off circle with junior Stephen Kelly winning 12 of 21 and freshman Charles Kelly going 7 for 12. The other thing that stood out on the stat sheet was Carolina's man-down defensive unit which limited Michigan to one goal on six attempts. For the Tar Heels, William McBride had two goals and an assist and freshman Timmy Kelly notched his first two career goals. Patrick Kelly had a goal and an assist for the Tar Heels. William McBride's two goals in the game were a career high for the sophomore midfielder. Luke Goldstock scored a goal and recorded a point for the 18th straight game against the Wolverines.
TAR HEELS SWEEP ACC PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARDS: No. 6 North Carolina swept the season's first set of weekly ACC honors, as senior attackman Steve Pontrello was tapped as the Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Week, and teammate senior short-stick defensive midfielder Jake Matthai was the ACC Men's Lacrosse Defensive Player of the Week. The awards were announced on Monday, February 8, 2016. A three-year starter in the midfield, Pontrello opened his senior year with his first-ever starting assignment on attack and excelled with four goals and one assist for five points in the Tar Heels' 20-10 victory over Michigan. Pontrello scored four times on six shots. His four goals were a career high (previous was three) and his five points were also a career high (previous was four). Matthai led the Tar Heels defensively in the season-opening victory over the Wolverines. He helped limit the Michigan midfield corps to just three goals in the game, led Carolina in a 13-for-14 clearing effort, and had a team high five ground balls as the Tar Heels dominated the ground ball game 44-24. He also scored his first goal of the season in the fourth quarter to finish off a strong offensive effort by Carolina.
CAROLINA'S BIG FIRST HALF LEADS HEELS PAST PALADINS: Five Tar Heel players combined for 12 goals and UNC dominated the face-off circle in the final three quarters to emerge with a 14-6 victory over Furman in men's lacrosse action at Fetzer Field February 13. A crowd of 602 fans braved a 30 degree temperature at sun-soaked Fetzer Field to take in the action. Luke Goldstock scored in his 19th straight game to lead the Tar Heel offense with three goals and an assist. Steve Pontrello had three goals, Patrick Kelly had two goals and an assist and Michael Tagliaferri added a pair of goals. Peyton Klawinski and Jordan Prysko also scored for the Heels. Jake Matthai recorded a pair of assists. UNC's starting attack combined for eight goals and an assist while the first midfield unit had four goals and two assists. UNC outshot the Paladins in every quarter and finished with a 50-23 edge. UNC also won the ground ball battle 40-25 with junior midfielder Stephen Kelly leading the way with nine ground balls. After the Paladins won six of nine face-offs in the first quarter, UNC won 12 of the last 14 face-offs in the match, including all eight draws in the second half. Kelly finished 14 of 22 at the X for the Heels. Brian Balkam started in goal for the Tar Heels and played 58 minutes, making nine saves and allowing just five goals. He also had three ground balls and one caused turnover.
UNC DEPTH CHART: Heading into the game at Johns Hopkins the Tar Heel depth chart shapes up as follows.
Starting Attack-Luke Goldstock, Jr.; Steve Pontrello, Sr,; Chris Cloutier, So.
First Midfield-Timmy Kelly, So.; Patrick Kelly, Sr.; Michael Tagliaferri, RS Jr.
Second Midfield‑Shane Simpson, Jr.; William McBride, So.; Peyton Klawinski, Jr.
Close Defense–Austin Pifani, Jr.; Jack Rowlett, Fr.; Zach Powers, Sr.
Goalkeeper-Brian Balkam, RS So.
Short Stick Defensive Midfielders–Brett Bedard, Jr.; Jake Matthai, Sr.; Timmy Gehlbach, So.; Tate Jozokos, Jr.
Long Stick Defensive Midfielder–Mark Rizzo, RS Jr.; Jack Lambert, RS So.; Evan Connell, Sr.
Face-Offs–Stephen Kelly, Jr.; Charles Kelly, Fr.
Reserve Attack-Jordan Prysko, RS Fr.
RETURNING ALL-AMERICAS: The Tar Heels have three All-America players returning from the 2015 team. Close defenseman Austin Pifani was named second-team USILA All-America last year while short-stick defensive midfielder Tate Jozokos was a third-team selection. Attackman Luke Goldstock, who scored a school record 50 goals last season, was an honorable mention choice last year.
PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA & ALL-ACC: Tate Jozokos, Austin Pifani and Luke Goldstock were all named to the preseason All-ACC Team chosen by the conference's five head coaches. Face-Off Yearbook named Jozokos and Pifani as preseason first-team All-Americas going into 2016 while junior midfielder Peyton Klawinski was a third-team choice and Goldstock earned honorable mention status.
CAROLINA VS. HOPKINS SERIES NOTES: Sunday's game marks the 44th all-time meeting between North Carolina and Johns Hopkins on the men's lacrosse field. The Blue Jays leads the all-time series against Carolina 24-19. The first meeting in the series came in 1977 when the Blue Jays beat Carolina 16-9 at Homewood Field in the NCAA quarterfinals. The next meeting between the two teams came in 1981 when the Tar Heels downed the Blue Jays 14-13 in the NCAA championship game at Princeton, N.J. Beginning in 1982, the two teams began their annual regular-season series which continues to this day. There have been nine meetings in NCAA Tournament games between the two teams and five overtime games. Heading into Sunday UNC has won four straight games against the Blue Jays and eight of the last nine meetings. In last year's game in Chapel Hill, the Tar Heels prevailed 13-11.
UNC HEAD COACH JOE BRESCHI: Joe Breschi, UNC Class of 1990, leads the Tar Heels in his eighth season at Carolina. Breschi is 84-35 in his eight years at Carolina, a winning percentage of 70.6 percent. He also coached 11 years at Ohio State and is 176-98 overall in 19 seasons as a head coach. His overall winning percentage at Ohio State and UNC is 64.2 percent. On April 3, 2015, UNC head coach Joe Breschi won his 80th game at Carolina. His 80th win came in Carolina's 10-6 triumph at Virginia.
ANOTHER DOUBLE DIGIT WIN SEASON UNDER COACH BRESCHI: Despite playing against the nation's fourth toughest schedule in 2015, the Tar Heels reached a double digit win total for the seventh successive year under the tutelage of head coach Joe Breschi, who was hired in June 2008. Breschi is the first head coach in UNC history to post double digit win totals in each of his first seven 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, 10-5 in 2014 and 13-4 in 2015. The 2009-15 streak marks the first time UNC has won 10 or more games in a season in seven straight years. UNC won 10 or more games in six straight seasons from 1989-94.
GOLDSTOCK SCORING STREAKS: Heading into the game at Johns Hopkins, UNC junior attackman Luke Goldstock has scored a goal in 20 straight games. That is the fifth longest active streak in the nation. Goldstock has scored 56 goals in that span. That 20-game goal scoring streak equals the seventh longest streak in UNC lacrosse history. Goldstock has also recorded at least one point in 20 straight games which equals the 17th longest current streak in the nation. Over those 20 games, the Niskayuna, N.Y., native has scored 56 goals and added 22 assists for 78 points. His 20-game point scoring streak equals the 17th longest in Tar Heel history.
CAROLINA'S MLL DRAFTEES: After having four players drafted this past January in the Major League Lacrosse Draft, UNC ranks in a tie for sixth all-time in total number of draftees with 31. Syracuse has had the most players drafted with 57, followed by Virginia with 49, Maryland with 47, Johns Hopkins with 44, Duke with 34 and North Carolina and Towson with 31. Massachusetts has had 26 draftees followed by Hofstra with 25, Cornell with 23, Georgetown with 23 and Loyola with 20.
UNC VERSUS RANKED OPPONENTS UNDER COACH BRESCHI: North Carolina has played nationally ranked opponents 74 times in Joe Breschi's eight-year coaching tenure. UNC will face #8 Johns Hopkins on Sunday. UNC is 43-31 in those games, a winning percentage of 58.1 percent. Conversely, the Tar Heels are 41-4 against unranked opponents in his eight seasons for an outstanding winning percentage of 91.1 percent. Breschi is 84-35 overall at Carolina in his eight 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, at Pennsylvania in 2012 and at home to Hofstra in 2016.
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 89 of their past 106 games against non-conference teams dating back to April 15, 2006. In Joe Breschi's eight seasons as head coach, the Tar Heels are a brilliant 68-13 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, to Denver in 2014, to Maryland twice in 2015 and to Hofstra in 2016
NEAR DOMINANCE AT HOME UNDER BRESCHI: UNC is 55-9 in home games in Coach Joe Breschi's eight years at the helm of the Tar Heels. That's a winning percentage of 85.9 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 and an NCAA Tournament loss to Denver in 2012, a regular-season loss to Duke in 2013, a regular-season loss to Notre Dame in 2014 and a rregular-season loss to Hofstra in 2016. The Tar Heels had won 17 successive home games under Breschi's tutelage before being upset at home by Hofstra on February 20.
CAROLINA IN HOME GAMES: North Carolina has an all-time record of 280-121-2 in home games. That included a perfect 11-0 record in 2015. In Joe Breschi's eight-year tenure as head coach he has twice led Carolina to unbeaten records at home – 7-0 in 2010 and 11-0 in 2015. Since 1949, UNC has had eight undefeated home seasons, two under the tutelage of Breschi. UNC has a 69.7 percent winning percentage all-time in history in home games.
THE ALL-TIME RECORD: North Carolina has an all-time record of 469-283-2 in the sport of men's lacrosse. That is a winning percentage of .623.
SUNDAY'S TV COVERAGE: Sunday's UNC vs. Johns Hopkins game will be nationally televised on ESPNU. Eamon McAnaney will be the play by play announcer and Quint Kessenich will serve as color analyst. The game will be simulcast on WatchESPN.
TAR HEEL ODDS AND ENDS HEADING INTO JOHNS HOPKINS GAME
As A Team
• Carolina's 20 goals in the season opener versus Michigan were the most it had scored since beating Manhattan 26-6 on March 7, 2015.
• UNC is currently 43-31 against nationally ranked teams in Coach Joe Breschi's eight years as head coach. The Tar Heels are 77-13 in games in which they have scored 10 or more goals under Coach Joe Breschi. The Tar Heels are 4-4 against #1-ranked teams during Coach Breschi's tenure.
• Carolina had won 17 straight home games before being upset by Hofstra 10-5 at Fetzer Field on February 20. That was the longest home winning streak since UNC won 26 games in a row in Chapel Hill more than two decades ago. That streak started with a 26-13 win over Duke on April 21, 1990 and was ended by Virginia on April 9, 1994 when the Cavaliers won 16-6 at Fetzer Field. The Tar Heels were 11-0 at home in 2015 and last lost in Chapel Hill on March 1, 2014 versus Notre Dame, 11-10, before falling to Hofstra.
• In 2015, Carolina recorded 10 or more wins for the seventh straight season, a school first. UNC had won 10 or more games in six straight seasons from 1989-94 for the only other time with as many as six successive double-digit win seasons.
• Carolina's 13 wins last season were the most since it went 13-4 in 2013. The last time a UNC team won more than 13 games in a season was 1993 when the Tar Heels finished with a 14-2 record.
