University of North Carolina Athletics
Memorial Day Monday: Tar Heels-Terps Play For Title
May 29, 2016 | Men's Lacrosse
2016 UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA MEN'S LACROSSE GAME NOTES
Game 18: North Carolina Tar Heels (11-6 overall, 3-1 ACC, NCAA Tournament Unseeded, Ranked #12 USILA Division I Men's Lacrosse Coaches Poll, Ranked #14 Cascade/Maverik Media Poll) vs. Maryland Terrapins (17-2 overall, NCAA Tournament #1 Seed, Ranked #1 USILA Division I Men's Lacrosse Coaches Poll, Ranked #1 Cascade/Maverik Media Poll)
Monday, May 30, 2016
1 p.m. EDT
Lincoln Financial Field
Philadelphia, Pa.
KEY LINKS FOR MONDAY'S GAME
Live Stats: GoHeels.com
Television Information: ESPN2/WatchESPN; Eamon McAnaney, Play by Play; Quint Kessenich, Analyst; Paul Carcaterra, Sideline Reporter
Webcast Information: WatchESPN
DOWNLOAD COMPLETE GAME NOTES (PDF)
DOWNLOAD MEDIA GUIDE (PDF)
TAR HEELS FACE TERRAPINS MONDAY IN NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: The University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team, under the direction of eighth-year head coach Joe Breschi, returns to action this Monday when it plays the Big Ten Conference champion Maryland Terrapins at 1 p.m. EDT in the 2016 NCAA Tournament championship game.
The match will be played at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pa.
The Tar Heels come into the game with an 11-6 record and a 3-1 mark in the ACC. The last time out Carolina defeated seventh-seeded Loyola 18-13 in the NCAA Tournament semifinals in Philadelphia, Pa. on May 28.
With the win over the Greyhounds, the Tar Heels return to the NCAA championship game for the first time since 1993 when it finished as national runner-up, losing to Syracuse 13-12. This will mark Carolina's sixth all-time appearance in the NCAA championship game - 1981, 1982, 1986, 1991, 1993, 2016.
The Tar Heels were ranked 12th in the final USILA coaches poll of the 2016 season and 14th the final regular season Cascade/Maverik media poll of the 2016 campaign.
The Terrapins are 17-2 so far this campaign and they won the Big 10 regular season and tournament championships. The Terrapins were ranked first in the final USILA coaches poll of the 2016 season and first in the final regular season Cascade/Maverik media poll of the 2016 campaign. Maryland advanced to the NCAA championship game after beating fifth-seeded Brown Saturday in a wild semifinal match, prevailing 15-14 in overtime. The Terps are in the championship match for the second straight year and fourth time since 2011.
Carolina is unseeded in this year's tournament field while the Terrapins came in as the tourney's #1 seed.
Monday's game will televised nationally live on ESPN2 and will also be available on Watch ESPN. Eamon McAnaney will be the play-by-play announcer for ESPN2 while Quint Kessenich is the analyst and Paul Carcaterra is the sideline reporter.
A live stats link will be available on GoHeels.com as well as a link to the WatchESPN telecast.
CAROLINA VERSUS MARYLAND THE SERIES: North Carolina and Maryland will be meeting for the 67th time in history on Monday. The Terrapins lead the all-time series 43-24.
Maryland has won three games in a row in the series against the Tar Heels, including an 11-8 regular-season victory in College Park, Md. on March 26 of this year.
Over the past 12 games in the series, each team has won six times.
Monday's game will mark the fourth time the two teams have played each other in the NCAA Tournament. Carolina beat the Terps in the 1986 NCAA quarterfinals. Maryland beat Carolina in the 2011 NCAA 1st round and the 2015 NCAA quarterfinals.
UNC WOMEN'S TEAM TO ATTEND CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: The 2016 NCAA champion North Carolina women's lacrosse team will be in attendance at Monday's men's title game. The team, which defeated Maryland 13-7 for the title on Sunday, will stay overnight and support the Tar Heel men's team in Monday's match at Lincoln Financial Field. Head coach Jenny Levy's husband, Dan Levy, was an attackman on the 1991 UNC men's lacrosse team that is being honored at halftime of Monday's game. The NCAA annually honors the each NCAA championship team on the 25th anniversary of their title. Levy played on a 1991 team which went 16-0 and beat Towson 18-13 in the NCAA championship game.
CAROLINA'S ALL-AMERICAS: Six Tar Heels were named Saturday morning to the 2016 U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Coaches Association All-America Team. The selections were as follows:
Second Team - Jake Matthai, Senior, Short Stick Defensive Midfielder
Third Team - Austin Pifani, Junior, Close Defenseman
Honorable Mention - Steve Pontrello, Senior, Attackman; Patrick Kelly, Senior, Midfielder; Michael Tagliaferri, Senior, Midfielder; Stephen Kelly, Junior, Face-Off.
HONORING THE 1991 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS: Carolina's return to the NCAA champonship game in 2016 is especially sweet as it comes on a weekend when the Tar Heels' 1991 NCAA championship team will be honored at the Final 4. Members of the 1991 NCAA championship team will be recognized on the field at halftime of Monday's NCAA championship game (1 p.m., Philadelphia, Pa., ESPN2).
The 1991 team had reunion activities scheduled in Philadelphia all weekend beginning with their attendance at the NCAA women's semifinal game Friday night at PPL Park where Carolina beat Penn State 12-11. The 1991 team members were also in the stands for the Saturday men's semifinals versus Loyola, an 18-13 Tar Heel victory.
The 1991 team finished 16-0 and won Carolina's fourth NCAA championship in the sport. The team was coached by Dave Klarmann and won the championship by beating Loyola 11-9 in the quarterfinals, Syracuse 19-13 in the semifinals and Towson 18-13 in the championship game.
LAST TIME OUT FOR CAROLINA: Chris Cloutier scored an NCAA championship weekend record nine goals to lead North Carolina's unseeded men's lacrosse team to an 18-13 win over seventh-seeded Loyola in the national semifinals at Lincoln Financial Field on a hot Saturday afternoon on May 28. UNC will face either Maryland in the championship game on Monday afternoon at 1 p.m. The top-seeded Terrapins beat fifth-seeded Bears 15-14 in the second semifinal game Saturday.
Cloutier's nine goals set a career high for the Kitchener, Ontario native and established a UNC school record for goals in a match. The nine goals are the most in any NCAA championship weekend game in history and tied the overall NCAA Tournament record for goals in a game in any round of the tournament. UNC is the first unseeded team to make the national final since 2012.
Making its first appearance in the semifinals since 1993, Carolina led, 14-5, at halftime and survived a second-half Greyhound rally to advance to the NCAA title game for the first time since 1993.
In addition to Cloutier's output, Steve Pontrello had two goals and three assists, Timmy Kelly had two goals, Stephen Kelly had two assists and won 19 face-offs and Luke Goldstock had two goals and one assist. Patrick Kelly had a goal and an assist, Brian Cannon and William McBride scored single goals and Shane Simpson and Michael Tagliaferri had assists. Goldstock's two goals and an assist marked his 34th successive game with a point. That's the 10th longest point scoring streak in Carolina history.
Tyler Albrecht led Loyola with three goals and an assist and Zach Herreweyers scored three goals. Pat Spencer had a goal and five assists for the Greyhounds, who were playing in the semifinals for the first time since they won the national championship in 2012.
Both teams took 39 shots in the game while the Tar Heels won the ground ball battle 29-24. Stephen Kelly led the Tar Heels with nine ground balls to go with his 19 of 35 effort at the face-off X. Defenseman Ryan Macri had a career high four ground balls in the match. Kelly has now won 241 face-offs this season, the second most in a season in UNC history. Saturday's game marked the fifth time in his career that Kelly has won 19 or more face-offs. His 122 ground balls this season are the fifth most in a single campaign in UNC lore.
Carolina finished with the 19-16 edge in the face-off circle and the Tar Heels committed only eight turnovers, compared to 11 for the Greyhounds. Two Loyola goalkeepers combined to make nine saves while Brian Balkam had seven saves for the Tar Heels. UNC went 10 for 11 in the clearing game, while the Hounds were 13 of 16. There was only one extra-man opportunity in the game between the two teams and it resulted in the opening goal of the match by the Tar Heels' Brian Cannon with 11:51 left in the first quarter.
The Tar Heels dominated the first half, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the opening five minutes on goals by Brian Cannon, Steve Pontrello and Timmy Kelly. Loyola responded with a goal, only to see UNC tally nine of the next 10 scores (including three in a span of 15 seconds) to take a commanding, 12-2 lead early in the second quarter. Beginning with a goal by William McBride with 8:07 left in the first quarter, UNC ran off four goals over a span of 3:20 to take a 7-1 lead. After McBride's goal, Cloutier wrapped goals around Timmy Kelly's second goal of the quarter. Brian Sherlock scored for Loyola at 3:08 to make it 7-2 but Luke Goldstock and Cloutier finished the first quarter with two more goals for Carolina, putting the Tar Heels up 9-2. That was the most goals in a quarter this season for UNC, exceeding the eight it had in a 17-15 win over Notre Dame on April 23 in the fourth quarter of that game. The previous season best for goals in the first quarter of a contest was seven versus Michigan in the season opener.
At the beginning of the second quarter, Cloutier, Goldstock and Cloutier again scored in a span of 15 seconds to make it 12-2 with 11:45 left before halftime. Stephen Kelly assisted on the second and third goals in that 15-second explosion. It was the first two-assist game of Stephen Kelly's career. The Greyhounds scored three of the last five goals of the half, but the nine-goal lead at the break was Carolina's second-largest halftime advantage of the season (it led Manhattan, 14-1, at the half on March 14).
Loyola rallied early in the second half, going on a 3-0 run to cut the lead to 14-8. Cloutier responded with back-to-back goals at 8:59 and 4:51 that made it 16-8 at the end of the third period. The Greyhounds started the fourth quarter with a 4-0 run to make it 16-12 with 6:25 to play, but Cloutier's ninth goal with 5:32 left broke the momentum. Each team scored a goal in the closing minutes. Steve Pontrello's goal with 1:55 wrapped up the victory for the Heels, making it 18-13. Pontrello's two goals on Saturday give him 47 goals for the season, a total which matches the second most in a season in UNC history. Dennis Goldstein also had 47 in 1991. Current UNC junior Luke Goldstock set the Tar Heel school record with 50 goals last season.
GENERAL TEAM NOTES
TAR HEELS IN THE CLASSROOM THIS SPRING: The North Carolina men's lacrosse team had its best academic semester in recent history this spring in addition to sharing the ACC regular-season championship while also advancing to the NCAA Tournament semifinals for the first time since 1993.
As a team, UNC posted a 3.11 grade point average for the semester. Thirty-two of the 45 players on the roster ended up with semester GPAs of 3.0 or above.
CAROLINA IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: North Carolina has qualified for the NCAA Division I Tournament for the 31st time in school history in 2016. The Tar Heels earned their first bid in 1977 after moving up to the NCAA Division I level in 1974 and have been named to the tournament field 30 more times since then.
The only schools with more NCAA Tournament appearances than Carolina are Johns Hopkins with 44, Maryland with 39, Virginia with 37 and Syracuse with 35.
Carolina is 32-26 all-time in NCAA Tournament play after Saturday's NCAA semifinal win over Loyola. UNC earned its 30th all-time tournament win with a 10-9 victory over Marquette May 14 in the NCAA first round. The Tar Heels won NCAA Tournament championships in 1981, 1982, 1986 and 1991.
Monday's game will mark Carolina's sixth appearance in the NCAA Tournament championship game. Carolina's record in NCAA championship games is 4-1 heading into the match against Maryland.
Carolina's bid in 2016 is its 10th invitation in a row, a streak which began in 2007 under head coach John Haus. The Tar Heels have advanced to the NCAA Tournament in each of Head Coach Joe Breschi's eight seasons as head coach.
UNC UNSEEDED: North Carolina earned an at-large bid to the 2016 NCAA Championship. This marks just the fourth time in Tar Heel history that they have gone into the tournament as an unseeded team. The top eight teams in the bracket are seeded. UNC has been unseeded in 1995, 1998, 2014 and 2016. The win over Marquette in the NCAA first round marked the first time in school history the Tar Heels won a game in the tournament as an unseeded squad.
BEATING A HIGHER SEEDED TEAM: North Carolina's 10-9 victory over Marquette on May 14 marked the first time the Tar Heels had beaten a higher seeded team in the NCAA Tournament since the quarterfinal round in 1989. Sixth-seeded Carolina beat third-seeded Loyola 12-5 in the tournament quarterfinals in Baltimore, Md., during UNC Head Coach Joe Breschi's junior year as a Tar Heel defenseman.
The 13-9 NCAA quarterfinal win over Notre Dame last Sunday gave Carolina back-to-back wins over higher-seeded teams in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1986 when #5 seed Carolina beat #4 Maryland, #1 Johns Hopkins and #3 Virginia in succession to win the NCAA championship. With the win over #7 seed Loyola in the NCAA semifinals, Carolina's has now defeated three higher seeded teams for the first time since the 1986 team accomplished the feat.
When Joe Breschi was the head coach at Ohio State in 2008, the unseeded Buckeyes routed #8 Cornell in the first round in Ithaca, N.Y. en route to a spot in the NCAA quarterfinals.
THREE ACC WINS: North Carolina has gone 3-1 in ACC regular season play in each of the past two seasons. The last time UNC won three league regular season games in back-to-back seasons was 1991 and 1992.
In fact, Carolina has won three or more games in the ACC regular season only eight times in history – 1976, 1981, 1982, 1988, 1991, 1992, 2015 and 2016.
AN ACC REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP: Carolina shared the 2016 ACC championship with Notre Dame. This marked the third time in Coach Joe Breschi's coaching tenure that the Heels had shared a conference regular season title, also doing so in 2010 and 2013.
Carolina also shared an ACC regular season title in 1985, 1994, 1996 and 2003.
Carolina won outright ACC regular-season championships in 1981, 1982, 1988, 1991 and 1992.
FIVE PLAYERS WITH 25-PLUS GOALS - FIRST TIME IN SCHOOL HISTORY: This year's Tar Heel team has five players on the roster with 25 or more goals scored. This marks the first time in school history UNC has had five players score 25 or more goals in a season.
The group is led by Steve Pontrello with 47 followed by Chris Cloutier with 38, Michael Tagliaferri with 27, Luke Goldstock with 27 and Patrick Kelly with 26.
Carolina has had several teams with five players scoring 20 or more goals.
Prior to 2016, the last time UNC had five 20-plus goal scorers in a season was 2013. Marcus Holman led that Tar Heel team with 37 goals while Joey Sankey had 36, Jimmy Bitter had 32, Chad Tutton had 28 and Davey Emala had 21.
FIVE TAR HEELS NAMED ALL-ACC: For the second straight year, North Carolina put five players on the All-Atlantic Coast Conference men's lacrosse team. That's the most selections since the 1993 team placed seven players on the All-ACC squad.
The five Tar Heels named to the All-ACC Team were senior short-stick defensive midfielder Jake Matthai, senior attackman Steve Pontrello, junior close defenseman Austin Pifani, junior face-off man Stephen Kelly and junior midfielder Michael Tagliaferri.
Matthai, a team captain, has played in 15 games this year. He is the leader of the Tar Heels' short stick defensive midfield unit and has 24 ground balls this year to go with three goals and three assists.
Pontrello, converted to attack this year after running three years in UNC's first midfield unit and he has had a monster senior season. He leads Carolina in goals scored with 47 (just three shy of the school record), is second on the squad in assists with 20 and is also tops on the Tar Heel points chart with 67. He leads the attack unit with 30 ground balls and he has scored on 39.2 percent of his shots while placing 72.5 percent of his shots on goal.
Despite missing three games at midseason due to injury, Pifani, team captain and the Tar Heels' leader on close defense, was named to the All-ACC Team. He has played in all 46 games in his career in which he has been dressed. This season he has 21 ground balls and 13 caused turnovers.
Stephen Kelly has been a warrior at the face-off circle for Carolina all season. He has won 241 of 411 draws for a winning percentage of .586. With his 241 face-off wins this year he has now moved into third place all-time in face-off wins at Carolina with 529 despite missing the second half of his freshman year in 2014. Kelly leads Carolina with 122 ground balls and his career total is now 271, matching the ninth most in UNC history.
Michael Tagliaferri has had a breakthrough season for the Tar Heels while starting every game in the first midfield unit. He has scored 27 goals, the third most of the team, to go with eight assists for 35 points, the fourth highest total on the team. He scored 10 of his 27 goals this season in ACC regular season games.
TAR HEELS AT KENAN STADIUM: North Carolina improved to 6-0 in games played at Kenan Stadium over the past four seasons after beating Notre Dame 17-15 there on April 23.
UNC's last loss in the Tar Heel football stadium came on April 26, 2009 when Duke defeated Carolina 15-13 in the ACC Tournament championship game.
The Tar Heels have defeated Virginia twice (2013 & 2016) and Duke (2013), Johns Hopkins (2013), Maryland (2014) and Notre Dame (2016) once each in its past six games at Kenan Stadium.
BIGGEST SECOND HALF COMEBACK IN SCHOOL HISTORY: North Carolina's 17-15 victory over Notre Dame on April 23 included a fourth quarter comeback that was historic in nature. The Tar Heels trailed the Fighting Irish 15-10 with less than 10 minutes to play before scoring seven goals in the final 9:18 of the game to prevail 17-15.
UNC has rallied to win from five-goal deficits only two other times in school history. On March 4, 2000, UNC trailed Navy 7-2 with 3:31 remaining in the second quarter before coming back to win 11-10. On April 25, 1992, Carolina trailed Maryland 7-2 with 12:39 to play in the second quarter before rallying to win 11-10.
The Tar Heels had twice before rallied in the second half of games from four-goal deficits and come back to win. UNC trailed Bryant 6-2 with 13:41 to play in the third quarter on March 10, 2015 before coming back to win 10-9. Against Navy on March 25, 2012, the Tar Heels trailed the Midshipmen 7-3 with 11:46 to play in the third quarter before rallying to win 9-8.
In Coach Joe Breschi's eight years as head coach, Carolina's has come back to win from deficits of three or more goals 14 times.
HONORING THE TAR HEEL SENIORS: The UNC Class of 2016 was honored prior to the April 23 game at Kenan Stadium against Notre Dame. This group included five seniors as well as two redshirt juniors all of whom came into the Tar Heel program in the fall of 2012.
The Tar Heel seniors are as follows:
Evan Connell, Senior Defenseman, Lutherville, Md.
Jake Matthai, Senior Midfielder, Baltimore, Md. (2016 Captain)
Patrick Kelly, Senior Midfielder, Timonium, Md. (2016 Captain)
Steve Pontrello, Senior Attackman, Marlton, N.J.
Zach Powers, Senior Defenseman, Columbus, Ohio
Mark Rizzo, Redshirt Junior Defenseman, Hewlett, N.Y. (2016 Captain)
Michael Tagliaferri, Redshirt Junior Midfielder, Danville, Calif.
The Tar Heels celebrated Senior Day with a 17-15 victory over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Carolina has now won on Senior Day in Chapel Hill in 17 successive seasons. The last loss on Senior Day came on May 8, 1999 when a #1-ranked Loyola team beat the Tar Heels 10-7 at Fetzer Field.
CAROLINA VERSUS NUMBER ONE: With the 17-15 win against #1 Notre Dame on April 23, the 2016 season marked the fifth straight year UNC has emerged victorious against a team ranked #1 in the nation in the U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association coaches' poll. In fact, the game against Notre Dame was the second time this season the Tar Heels played host to the #1 team in the USILA poll. Carolina played then #1 Denver on March 5 at Fetzer Field with the Tar Heels falling to the Pioneers 13-12 in overtime.
Monday's NCAA championship game versus Maryland will mark the third time this season UNC has faced a team ranked #1 in the USILA national coaches poll.
UNC is 11-20 all-time against teams ranked #1 in the USILA coaches poll.
Carolina has had wins against #1 teams in each of the five years from 2012-16. 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, against Denver 12-10 on February 27, 2015 and against Notre Dame 17-15 on April 23, 2016.
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 VERSUS #1 TEAMS ALL-TIME IN USILA POLL (11-20)
March 13, 1974 - Maryland 16, UNC 8 (at Chapel Hill, N.C.)
May 24, 1980 – Virginia 11, UNC 10, two overtimes (at Charlottesville, Va.)
May 30, 1981 – UNC 14, Johns Hopkins 13 (at Princeton, N.J.)
May 21, 1983 – Johns Hopkins 12, UNC 9 (at Baltimore, Md.)
April 6, 1985 – UNC 11, Johns Hopkins 10 (at Chapel Hill, N.C.)
May 28, 1985 – Syracuse 14, UNC 13, overtime (at Syracuse, N.Y.)
May 24, 1986 – UNC 10, Johns Hopkins 9, overtime (at Newark, Del.)
April 8, 1989 – Johns Hopkins 16, UNC 10 (at Chapel Hill, N.C.)
May 26, 1990 – Syracuse 21, UNC 10 (at Piscataway, N.J.)
March 9, 1991 – UNC 10, Syracuse 3 (at Chapel Hill, N.C.)
March 6, 1993 – UNC 14, Syracuse 10 (at Chapel Hill, N.C.)
March 3, 1994 – Syracuse 17, UNC 10 (at Syracuse, N.Y.)
April 6, 1996 – UNC 19, Virginia 18 (at Chapel Hill, N.C.)
March 12, 1997 – Princeton 10, UNC 9 (at Chapel Hill, N.C.)
May 8, 1999 – Loyola 10, UNC 7 (at Chapel Hill, N.C.)
April 19, 2002 – Virginia 10, UNC 3 (at Durham, N.C.)
March 29, 2003 – Johns Hopkins 11, UNC 10 (at Chapel Hill, N.C.)
May 22, 2004 – Johns Hopkins 15, UNC 9 (at Charlottesville, Va.)
April 2, 2005 – Johns Hopkins 7, UNC 5 (at Chapel Hill, N.C.)
April 8, 2006 – Virginia 21, UNC 13 (at Chapel Hill, N.C.)
March 15, 2008 – Duke 19, UNC 9 (at Durham, N.C.)
April 6 2009 – Virginia 11, UNC 10 (at East Rutherford, N.J.)
April 10, 2010 – Virginia 7, UNC 5 (at East Rutherford, N.J.)
April 1, 2012 – UNC 13, Johns Hopkins 9 (at East Rutherford, N.J.)
April 7, 2012 – Virginia 15, UNC 10 (at Chapel Hill, N.C.)
March 23, 2013 – UNC 10, Maryland 8 (at College Park, Md.)
March 22, 2014 – UNC 11, Maryland 8 (at Chapel Hill, N.C.)
February 27, 2015 – UNC 12, Denver 10 (at Chapel Hill, N.C.)
April 18, 2015 – Notre Dame 15, UNC 14 (at Notre Dame, Ind.)
March 5, 2016 – Denver 13, UNC 12, Overtime (at Chapel Hill, N.C.)
April 23, 2016 – UNC 17, Notre Dame 15 (at Chapel Hill, N.C.)
May 30, 2016 - UNC vs. #1 Maryland, Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pa., 1 p.m.
CRUCIAL OVERTIME WIN: Patrick Kelly's goal two minutes into overtime on April 1 gave the Tar Heels their first overtime win since March 30, 2013 when it beat Johns Hopkins 11-10 at Kenan Stadium. Carolina had lost its last three overtime games since that win over Hopkins before beating the Blue Devils on April Fool's Day.
In that win over the Blue Jays in 2013, R.G. Keenan won the opening face-off of overtime and then scored six seconds later to lift the Tar Heels to the win.
Prior to Kelly's game-winner against Duke, the last time UNC won an overtime game during the run of play came on May 6, 2011 when the Tar Heels defeated Notre Dame 9-8 at Fetzer Field. Freshman Pat Foster scored the game-winning goal in that game 1:03 into the overtime period.
CONGRATULATIONS PATRICK KELLY & MICHAEL TAGLIAFERRI: 2016 team co-captain Patrick Kelly recently received the news that he will be attending medical school this coming fall. Kelly has worked at the University of Maryland Hospital during the summers in his undergraduate years and worked specifically in their liver transplant area. He wrote a paper based on his research that was published and presented at a national transplant symposium and observed about 40 kidney and liver transplants. Kelly applied to medical schools this past fall and was admitted to and will be attending the University of Maryland starting in August.
UNC redshirt junior Michael Tagliaferri was recently accepted to UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business Administration Graduate School and will begin his pursuit of an MBA at Carolina this fall. Tagliaferri has one year of eligibility remaining at Carolina in 2017.
UNC DEPTH CHART: Heading into the game versus Maryland, the Tar Heel depth chart shapes up as follows.
Starting Attack-Luke Goldstock, Jr.; Steve Pontrello, Sr,; Chris Cloutier, So.
First Midfield-Patrick Kelly, Sr.; Michael Tagliaferri, RS Jr.; Shane Simpson, Jr.;
Second Midfield-Timmy Kelly, Fr.; William McBride, So.; Brian Cannon, So.; Peyton Klawinski, Jr.
Close Defense–Jack Rowlett, Fr.; Ryan Macri, RS So.; Ryan Pifani, Jr.
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–Jack Lambert, RS So.; Evan Connell, Sr.; Kyle Mathie, So.
Face-Offs–Stephen Kelly, Jr.
RETURNING ALL-AMERICAS: The Tar Heels have three All-America players returning from the 2015 team, having lost five to graduation.
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 and sponsored by Face-Off Yearbook and Inside Lacrosse.
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.
UNC HEAD COACH JOE BRESCHI: Joe Breschi, UNC Class of 1990, leads the Tar Heels in his eighth season at Carolina. Breschi is 93-40 in his eight years at Carolina, a winning percentage of 69.9 percent. He also coached 11 years at Ohio State and is 185-103 overall in 19 seasons as a collegiate head coach. His overall winning percentage at Ohio State and UNC combined is 64.2 percent. On April 23, 2016, UNC head coach Joe Breschi won his 90th game at Carolina. His 90th win came in Carolina's 17-15 against Notre Dame at Kenan Stadium. His 180th overall victory came in a 17-16 overtime victory against Duke on April 1, 2016 at Koskinen Stadium in Durham, N.C.
Breschi Coaching Facts:
• 93-40 in 8 seasons at UNC (69.9)
• 185-103 in 19 seasons overall (64.2)
• 19-16 in one-goal games at UNC
• 51-35 versus ranked teams at UNC; 42-5 versus unranked teams at UNC
• 72-16 versus non-conference teams at UNC
• 58-10 in home games at UNC
ANOTHER DOUBLE DIGIT WIN SEASON UNDER COACH BRESCHI: Despite playing against one of the nation's toughest schedules in 2016, the Tar Heels reached a double digit win total for the eighth successive year under the tutelage of head coach Joe Breschi, who was hired in June 2008. The win over Notre Dame last Sunday gave UNC eight successive seasons with 10 or more wins.
Breschi is the first head coach in UNC history to post double digit win totals in each of his first eight 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, 13-4 in 2015 and 11-6 in 2016.
The 2009-16 streak marks the first time UNC has won 10 or more games in a season in eight straight years in Tar Heel history. UNC won 10 or more games in six straight seasons from 1989-94.
GOLDSTOCK SCORING STREAKS: UNC junior attackman Luke Goldstock has recorded at least one point in 34 straight games, which equals the 13th longest current streak in the nation. Over those 34 games, the Niskayuna, N.Y., native has scored 77 goals and added 39 assists for 116 points. His 34-game point scoring streak is the 10th longest in Tar Heel history.
Goldstock had scored a goal in 25 straight games before being held off the scoreboard in UNC's 11-8 loss at Maryland on March 26. That was the third longest active streak in the nation before it ended. Goldstock had scored 64 goals in that span which began on February 7, 2015. Goldstock's 25-game goal scoring streak equaled the third-longest streak in UNC lacrosse 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 in MLL history 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. There are currently 10 former Tar Heel players on Major League Lacrosse rosters in 2016.
UNC VERSUS RANKED OPPONENTS UNDER COACH BRESCHI: North Carolina has played nationally ranked opponents 86 times in Joe Breschi's eight-year coaching tenure. UNC will face #1 Maryland on Monday in its next game against a ranked opponent. UNC is 51-35 in those games, a winning percentage of 59.3 percent.
Conversely, and as would be expected, the Tar Heels are 42-5 against unranked opponents in Breschi's eight seasons for an outstanding winning percentage of 89.4 percent. Breschi is 92-40 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, at home to Hofstra in 2016 and at Massachusetts 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 10 seasons. The Tar Heels have won 94 of their last 114 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 73-16 against non-conference teams, a winning percentage of 82.0. The only non-conference 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, Denver, Massachusetts and Maryland in 2016.
NEAR DOMINANCE AT HOME UNDER BRESCHI: UNC is 58-10 in home games in Coach Joe Breschi's eight years at the helm of the Tar Heels. That's a winning percentage of 85.3 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 regular-season losses to Hofstra and Denver in 2016.
The Tar Heels had won 17 successive home games under Breschi's tutelage from 2014-16 before being upset at home by Hofstra on February 20.
CAROLINA IN HOME GAMES: North Carolina has an all-time record of 283-122-2 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 69.8 percent winning percentage all-time in history in home games.
THE ALL-TIME RECORD: North Carolina has an all-time record of 481-288-2 in the sport of men's lacrosse. That is a winning percentage of .624.
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 19-16 in games decided by one goal over the past eight years.
FOUR TAR HEELS CHOSEN IN 2016 MLL DRAFT: Four seniors on the 2016 University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team were selected in the Major League Lacrosse Draft on January 22.
Senior attackman Steve Pontrello was the first Tar Heel chosen in the draft. He was chosen in the third round by the Florida Launch with the draft's overall No. 25 pick.
Senior midfielder Jake Matthai was taken in the fifth round of the draft with the overall No. 41 pick by the Boston Cannons.
Senior defenseman Zach Powers was taken in the sixth round of the draft with the overall No. 50 pick by the Ohio Machine, based in Powers' hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In the seventh round with the 54th pick the Charlotte Hounds chose UNC senior defenseman Evan Connell.
CAROLINA'S DOUBLE DIGIT SCORING GAMES: In Coach Joe Breschi's eight years as head lacrosse coach at UNC, Carolina's success has in large part been tied to hitting the 10-goal plateau in a game. In fact UNC's 13-12 overtime loss to Denver on March 5, marked only the 14th 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 100 of 133 games under Coach Breschi's direction dating back to the opening game of the 2009 season. Carolina is 86-14 in those 100 games. As would be expected, in the 33 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 33 games is 7-26. In 2016, UNC is 11-1 when scoring in double digits and 0-5 when being held in single digits.
UNC CLAIMS ANOTHER SEASON OPENING WIN: The Tar Heels beat Michigan 20-10 in their 2016 season opener on February 6. UNC has won every season opener since the 1999 season, running its streak to 18 seasons in a row with the win over the Wolverines. Carolina's last loss in a season opener came on February 22, 1998 when the Tar Heels fell to Butler 13-12 at Fetzer Field.
2016 TAR HEEL PLAYER NOTES
Brian Balkam, Redshirt Sophomore Goalkeeper, St. James, N.Y.
• Has started 16 games in goal for the Tar Heels. Has played 895 minutes and has a goals against average of 9.79.
• Came off the bench with 19 minutes left in the regular-season win over Notre Dame, making five saves and helping the Tar Heels rally past the Fighting Irish with an 8-1 scoring run in the final period. Did not start that game due to illness.
• Had a 14-save performance against Notre Dame in the NCAA quarterfinals. That total matched his career high for saves in a game. He made six saves and allowed only three goals in the first three quarters of the match. Then made eight saves in the fourth quarter as the Tar Heels fought off a furious late rally by the Fighting Irish.
• Has a 10-6 goalkeeper record this year.
• Had what was then a career high 12 saves in games against Denver and Richmond. Also had 12 saves in ACC Tournament semifinals versus Syracuse.
• In UNC's 16-8 win over Virginia on April 10, he set a new career high for saves in a game with 14. He had seven first-half saves in the game as the Tar Heels bolted to a 10-2 lead at intermission.
• Named ACC Co-Defensive Player of the Week on April 11 after his career best performance in the win over the Cavaliers.
• Recorded career high for ground balls in a game with five each against Hofstra and Denver.
• Started the first seven games of the 2015 season in goal. Played in 8 games overall last season. Did a solid job for the Tar Heels. Played 221 minutes and had a save percentage of .556 and goals against average of 7.61. Posted a 5-0 goalkeeper record.
• His career goalkeeper record going into the Maryland game is 15-6.
• His 2015 season high for saves in a game was seven versus High Point. He had six saves each versus Furman and Massachusetts and five against Johns Hopkins.
• Had a season high four ground balls in win over High Point.
Brett Bedard, Junior Short Stick Defensive Midfielder, Annapolis, Md.
• Key player in the short stick defensive midfield for UNC. One of four players who run in a regular rotation in that unit.
• Has played in all 17 games. Had two ground balls and a caused turnover in win at Johns Hopkins.
• Scored first goal of the season in 17-16 overtime win at Duke on April 1.
• Has six ground balls and five caused turnovers in 2016.
• Played in 16 games for the Tar Heels last season.
• Scored goals against Manhattan and in the ACC Tournament semifinal versus Syracuse in 2015.
• Had five ground balls and two caused turnovers. Had season high two ground balls versus Bryant.
Chris Cloutier, Sophomore Attackman, Kitchener, Ontario
• After playing in only two games as a freshman he has moved into starting lineup this year at attack.
• Ranks second on the team in goals with 38, is third in assists with 14 and second in points with 52.
• Leads the team in shooting percentage at .514. Of his 74 total shots he has put 55 on frame, a .743 percentage.
• Also has scooped up 23 ground balls this year.
• Tied the NCAA record for goals in a tournament game with nine in the NCAA semifinals versus Loyola. That set a new record for goals in a game by any player on championship weekend.
• His nine goals versus the Greyhounds broke the Tar Heel school record for goals in a game. The previous record was eight set by Mac Ford versus Adelphi in 1984, by Jason Wade versus Maryland in 1996 and by Billy Bitter versus UMBC in 2009.
• Had a stupendous performance against Notre Dame in the NCAA quarterfinals. Scored three goals and added three assists. All three goals were in the first half and he then added three assists in the second half. The six points were one shy of his then career high. The three assists matched his career high.
• Scored five goals in season opener versus Michigan, a total which equals the third most in a game by a Tar Heel player this season.
• Scored four goals in win at Johns Hopkins, including two goals in the fourth quarter when the Tar Heels scored the last five goals of the contest to pull away for a 15-11 win. Scored the game-tying goal with 8:16 to play against the Blue Jays to spark the game-ending 5-0 scoring run.
• Has scored at least twice in nine games in 2016. He has at least one point in 15 of 17 games this season.
• Had a career high three assists, then career high seven points and career high four ground balls versus Richmond. His four goals against the Spiders were one short of his previous career high set in the season opener versus Michigan.
Brian Cannon, Sophomore Midfielder, Northport, N.Y.
• Tallied a career-high three goals in Carolina's ACC Tournament semifinal game versus Syracuse.
• Scored the goal at Marquette in NCAA first round game which put the Tar Heels ahead for good, breaking a 7-7 tie in an eventual 10-9 victory.
• Tallied the opening goal in UNC's NCAA semifinal win over Loyola.
• Seven of his 10 goals this season have come against ACC opponents.
• Scored a pair of goals in Tar Heels' win at Duke.
• Also scored twice in win over Virginia on April 10.
• Moved into the second midfield unit in the midseason.
• Scored two goals against Manhattan in his freshman year.
• Was the trigger for one of the key goals in the first half against Notre Dame (regular season meeting), causing a turnover on the ride, scooping up the ground ball and feeding Steve Pontrello for an open net goal that energized the Kenan Stadium crowd.
• Tied for the team lead in man up goals with six.
Evan Connell, Senior Long-Stick Defensive Midfielder, Lutherville, Md.
• UNC's top long stick defensive midfielder. Has played in all 17 games and has 27 ground balls and 14 caused turnovers.
• Had a superb effort against Marquette in NCAA first round when he had three ground balls and two caused turnovers.
• Scored first goal since his sophomore year in season opener versus Michigan. Also had three ground balls and one caused turnover versus the Wolverines.
• Had two caused turnovers versus both Hofstra and Johns Hopkins.
• Matched his career high with five ground balls versus Massachusetts. Also had three ground balls in win over Duke.
• Played in 17 games last year including seven starting assignments at close defense.
• In 2015, his 32 ground balls were the most he had in a single season (25 as a freshman in 2013). He had 13 caused turnovers last year, two short of his freshman year total. Matched his career high for ground balls in a game with five versus Massachusetts.
Timmy Gehlbach, Sophomore Short Stick Defensive Midfielder, Altamonte Springs, Fla.
• Played in just three games as a freshman but has moved into a key role this year in the short stick defensive midfield. One of four players who play in the rotation at that position.
• Has played in 17 games with seven ground balls and two caused turnovers.
• Had a career high three ground balls versus Massachusetts.
Luke Goldstock, Junior Attackman, Niskayuna, N.Y.
• Was named to Tewaaraton Trophy Watch List.
• Preseason All-ACC selection.
• Face-Off Yearbook preseason honorable mention All-America honoree.
• Has started all 17 games this season at attack.
• Is tied for third on the team in goals scored with 27 and is third in points with 49. Leads Carolina in assists with 22.
• Ranks in a tie for third on the team lead in man-up goals with four. His eight caused turnover lead all UNC attackmen and his 27 ground balls are second among Tar Heel attackmen.
• Opened the season with a two-goal, three-assist performance versus Michigan. Also had four ground balls versus the Wolverines.
• Had three goals and an assist versus Furman.
• Goldstock had scored a goal in 25 straight games before that streak was broken in the Maryland game. That equaled the third-longest goal scoring streak in UNC history. It was the third longest current active streak in the nation when it came to an end.
• Has recorded a point in 34 straight games, equaling the 13th longest active streak in the nation. It is also the 10th longest point streak in UNC history.
• Passed the 100-point mark in career scoring with three points verus Richmond. Heads into Maryland game with 126 career points. That equals the 26th highest point total in Carolina history.
• Has 84 career goals. That equals the 24th highest total in UNC history.
• Matched his career high for assists in a game with four against Duke on April 1. That equaled the four he had against Manhattan as a sophomore.
• Named the ACC Offensive Player of the Week on April 25 after scoring four goals and adding two assists in 17-15 win over Notre Dame. He had five of his six points in the fourth quarter as the Tar Heels outscored the Fighting Irish 8-1 in the final quarter to rally the Tar Heels from a five-goal deficit.
• 2015 USILA honorable mention All-America.
• Goldstock had 67 points last season after having just 10 as a freshman in 2014 when he was the first player off the bench at attack.
• Goldstock's 50 goals in 2015 were the most in a single season in UNC history. He broke Dennis Goldstein's previous school record of 47 goals from the 1991 season in the NCAA win over Colgate. Goldstein's record had stood for 24 years.
• Goldstock's 67 points were the eighth most in a single season in UNC history.
• Goldstock has 23 career multi-goal games, 10 career multi-assist games and 31 career multi-point games.
Tate Jozokos, Junior Short Stick Defensive Midfielder, Wolfeboro, N.H.
• Preseason first-team All-America selection by Face-off Yearbook at the short stick defensive midfield position.
• Preseason All-ACC selection as short stick defensive midfield.
• Has played in 16 games this year and has 27 ground balls and eight caused turnovers. Had three ground balls each versus Michigan, Furman, Johns Hopkins and Marquette. His 27 ground balls lead all players in the short stick defensive midfield corps.
• Scored his second goal of the season in the Tar Heels' win over Virginia.
• Was a third-team All-America as chosen by USILA in 2015.
• Jozokos had five goals and five assists last year after having just one assist as a freshman. His 10 points equaled the most by any UNC short stick defensive midfielder last year. Michael Tagliaferri also had 10 points.
• Jozokos had a goal, an assist and a career high five ground balls in the win over #1 Denver on February 27, 2015. He was named ACC and NCAA Defensive Player of the Week the following week.
• Jozokos had nine games with three or more ground balls in 2015. He had 43 ground balls on the season, a total which ranked fifth on the team.
Patrick Kelly, Senior Midfielder, Timonium, Md.
• Team captain.
• Winner of team's Athletic Director's Scholar Athlete Award for 2015-16.
• 2016 USILA honorable mention All-America.
• Has started all 17 games in first midfield unit.
• Scored game-winning goal in overtime against Duke on April 1.
• Is fifth on the team in goals scored with 26 and he's tied for fourth in points with 35.
• His 26 goals are nine more than the 17 goals he scored in his first three years combined as a Tar Heel.
• Had two goals and an assist in both Furman and Johns Hopkins games.
• Notched hat tricks against Denver, Richmond and Notre Dame. Had two assists in NCAA win at Marquette.
• Kelly had 13 points last season, three more points than he had as a sophomore.
• Played in all 17 games last season. Started the first 11 games in the first midfield unit and then ran in the second midfield contingent the rest of the year.
• Kelly has 11 career multi-goal games, three career multi-assist games and 21 career multi-point games.
• Ran in Carolina's second midfield unit as a sophomore, notching five goals and five assists.
• Will be attending University of Maryland Medical School in the fall.
Stephen Kelly, Junior Midfielder, Lutherville, Md.
• UNC's leading face-off man. Has won 58.6 percent of his draws this year, going 241 of 411 at the face-off X. His 241 face-off wins are the second most in a season in UNC history.
• Named to 2016 All-ACC Team.
• 2016 USILA honorable mention All-America.
• Passed Kevin Frew in the first Syracuse game with eight wins to move into third place in all-time in career face-offs won at Carolina.
• Leads Carolina in ground balls with 122. That is the fifth most ground balls in a single season in UNC history. Season high for ground balls is 12 versus both Duke and Notre Dame (first game). He also had 11 ground balls versus Notre Dame in the NCAA quarterfinals, 10 versus Virginia and nine versus Furman, Johns Hopkins, Massachusetts, Manhattan and Loyola.
• His 20 face-off wins versus Duke marked the third time in his career he has won at least 20 draws in a game. His 12 ground balls versus the Blue Devils marked the third time in his career he has scooped up at least a dozen ground balls.
• Set school record for face-off percentage in a game, winning all 16 draws in win over Manhattan on March 14.
• Has won 184 of his last 308 face-offs dating back to March 12 game against UMass.
• Was named ACC Defensive Player of the Week February 28 after winning 17 of 25 face-offs, scooping up nine ground balls and assisting on a goal in 15-11 win at Johns Hopkins.
• Tapped as USILA National Defensive Player of the Week on March 1 for his performance in the win over Hopkins and as NCAA.com National Defensive Player of the Week as well.
• Won ACC co-defensive player of the week honors after combined performances against Manhattan and Richmond.
• Won ACC Defensive Player of the Week and Baltimore Sun National Player of the Week accolades after Carolina beat Notre Dame 17-15 on April 23. In that game, Kelly won 19 of 35 face-offs and scooped up 12 ground balls. He went 7-for-10 at the face-off X in the fourth quarter as the Tar Heels outscored the Fighting Irish 8-1 to rally from a five-goal deficit.
• Kelly won 214 face-offs last year, the fourth most in a season in UNC history.
• Led the 2015 team with 102 ground balls, the 10th most in a season in UNC history.
• Ranks third in career face-offs won at Carolina with 529.
• Has 16 games in his career with 15 or more face-off wins.
• Has four of the top 11 individual ground ball totals in a game in Tar Heels' history.
• Amongst active NCAA Division I players he is eighth in career ground balls, seventh in career face-off wins and sixth in career face-off attempts.
Timmy Kelly, Freshman Midfielder, Lutherville, Md.
• Has started four games of the season in the first midfield unit.
• Has run out of the second midfield unit over the past 12 games.
• Scored two goals in season opener versus Michigan. Matched that total with two in NCAA semifinal win over Loyola.
• Recorded goals in back-to-back games against Manhattan and Richmond.
• Had a career-high four points in win over Virginia. Also had a career-high three assists in the victory over the Cavaliers.
• Had a goal and an assist in NCAA quarterfinal win over Notre Dame.
Peyton Klawinski, Junior Midfielder, Memphis, Tenn.
• Key reserve in the offensive midfield for Carolina. Can also play attack.
• Has six goals and three assists for nine points.
• Scored a goal in each of the first three games of the season.
• Had a breakout year for the Tar Heels in 2015, being named the squad's most improved player.
• As a scout team player in 2014, he played in four games, scoring three goals. The sophomore midfielder from Memphis, Tenn., was elevated to the first midfield unit at the start of the 2015 season and responded with 19 goals and three assists for 22 points. Started 13 games last season in the first midfield unit.
• Has seven career multi-goal games and eight career multi-point games.
Jack Lambert, Redshirt Sophomore Long-Stick Defensive Midfielder, Cross River, N.Y.
• Has had a spectacular 2016 season. One of Carolina's leading long stick defensive midfielders.
• Has 27 ground balls this season, including a career high six versus Notre Dame.
• Also had five ground balls versus Richmond, four against Furman and three in the win at Johns Hopkins.
• Missed his freshman year with a knee injury and played in only four games last year.
• Coach Breschi called him one of the most improved players on the team in the fall.
Ryan Macri, Red-shirt Sophomore Defensive, Hamilton, Mass.
• Moved into starting lineup in midseason for three games after injury to Austin Pifani.
• Returned to starting lineup on close defense after Zach Powers suffered a broken arm in game versus Duke. Started ACC games against Virginia, Syracuse and Notre Dame and in the ACC Tournament versus Syracuse. His start versus Loyola in the NCAA semifinals was his 10th of the season.
• Had two ground balls and two caused turnovers in NCAA first round win over Marquette.
• Had three ground balls and a caused turnovers versus Richmond.
• Had first career point with an assist versus Manhattan.
• Had a career high four ground balls in NCAA semifinals versus Loyola.
Kyle Mathie, Sophomore Defenseman, Smithtown, N.Y.
• Key player off the bench for the Tar Heels.
• Plays long-stick defensive midfield for the Heels and has seen action in 14 games this year.
• After an injury he returned to the lineup against Notre Dame in the NCAA quarterfinals.
• Had two caused turnovers and a ground ball in win at Duke.
Jake Matthai, Senior Short-Stick Defensive Midfielder, Baltimore, Md.
• Senior captain.
• 2016 second-team USILA All-America.
• 2016 All-ACC selection as short stick defensive midfielder. One of four players in Carolina's short stick defensive midfield rotation.
• Has played in 15 games. Missed the Johns Hopkins and Richmond games with an ankle injury.
• Has 24 ground balls this season, five in the game versus Michigan and three each in games versus Furman and Hofstra.
• Named ACC Defensive Player of the Week after win over Michigan. Scored a goal versus the Wolverines and had five ground balls.
• Had a goal and two ground balls in win over Notre Dame.
• Recorded two assists in win over Furman.
• Had a goal and an assist in the game at Syracuse.
• Had played in 52 successive games in his Tar Heel career before missing the Johns Hopkins game. Altogether has played in all but two games in his Tar Heel career.
William McBride, Sophomore Midfielder, Baltimore, Md.
• One of the key players on the Tar Heel roster. Extremely versatile performer who sees action on wings on face-offs and in short stick defensive midfield if needed.
• Currently running in UNC's second midfield unit.
• Has seen action in 16 games this year.
• Had two goals and an assist in win over Michigan.
• Had a career high four ground balls at Maryland.
• Matched his career high for goals in a game by scoring twice in victory over Virginia.
Austin Pifani, Junior Defenseman, Roslyn, Pa.
• Named to Tewaaraton Trophy Watch List.
• 2016 All-ACC selection on close defense.
• Junior captain.
• 2016 USILA postseason third team All-America.
• Named to preseason All-ACC Team.
• Preseason first-team All-America on close defense by Face-off Yearbook.
• Started all 37 matches on close defense in his career before missing three games due to injury at midseason. Did not see action against UMass, Manhattan and Richmond before returning to starting lineup versus Maryland.
• Has started every game in his career in which he dressed.
• Has 21 ground balls and 13 caused turnovers. Matched his career high for caused turnovers in a game with three versus Syracuse.
• Season high for ground balls is four versus Michigan. Had two ground balls and two caused turnovers versus Furman.
• 2015 USILA second-team All-America.
• 2014 USILA honorable mention All-America selection.
Steve Pontrello, Senior Attackman, Marlton, N.J.
• Started in the first midfield unit his first three years before moving to starting attack unit this year.
• 2016 All-ACC selection in the attack.
• 2016 USILA honorable mention All-America.
• Named as Tewaaraton Trophy Candidate List, one of 25 candidates for the award. Was added to the Watch List in midseason.
• Leads Carolina in goals with 47 and points with 67.
• His 45 goals equal the second most in a season in Tar Heel history, tied with Dennis Goldstein's total of 47 in 1991. The school record for goals in a season is 50 by Luke Goldstock in 2015.
• His 67 points match the eighth most in a season in UNC history.
• Leads all Carolina attackmen in ground balls with 30. Had a career high four ground balls in ACC Tournament semifinals versus Syracuse.
• Has scored on 39.2 percent of his shots. Has placed 72.5 percent of his shots on cage.
• Had two goals and a career high three assists in NCAA semifinal win over Loyola.
• Named ACC Offensive Player of the Week and NCAA.com Offensive Player of the Week after scoring a career-high six goals in 17-16 overtime win at Duke on April 1.
• Has recorded hat tricks in 10 games this year.
• Has recorded at least one point in all 17 games this season. Has scored goals in 16 of 17 contests.
• Pontrello's 47 goals are 10 more than the 37 he scored in his first three years combined at Carolina. His 84 career goals equal the 24th highest total in Carolina history.
• Had a then career-high four goals and then career high five points in win over Michigan.
• Named ACC Offensive Player of the Week after the win over the Wolverines.
• Scored three times in win over Furman.
• Scored three goals in win over Johns Hopkins, all in the last 20 minutes of the contest.
• Had three goals and two assists at UMass and followed that with a then career-high five goals against Manhattan.
• Notched another hat trick in win over Richmond.
• Had four goals and two assists in win over Notre Dame. His six points versus the Fighting Irish matched his career high.
• Named to All-ACC Tournament Team after scoring three goals and adding two assists in conference semifinals against Syracuse.
• Matched his career high for points in a game with six in NCAA quarterfinal win over Notre Dame. He scored the last four Tar Heel goals of the game versus the Fighting Irish.
• Shares the team lead in man up goals with six.
• In his career he has 22 multi-goal games, seven multi-assist games and 30 multi-point games.
Zach Powers, Senior Defenseman, Columbus, Ohio
• Played in all 59 games in his Tar Heel career, the only Tar Heel senior to have done so, before suffering a broken arm when being hit by a shot in the Tar Heels' game at Duke.
• Did not play versus UVA, the first game he ever missed in his UNC career. Also missed games versus Syracuse (twice) and Notre Dame. Returned to action on the man-down unit in NCAA first round versus Marquette and also played in NCAA quarterfinal win over Notre Dame.
• Had started all 10 games this season on close defense prior to missing game versus the Cavaliers.
• Has 13 ground balls, including four versus Hofstra.
• Has eight caused turnovers. Had season high two versus Furman and Maryland.
• Played in all 17 games last season, including 11 games as a starting close defenseman.
• Scored the first goal of his career in NCAA Tournament first round win over Colgate.
• Powers had 24 ground balls and 13 caused turnovers last season after having 11 and eight, respectively, in his first two years combined
Jordan Prysko, Redshirt Freshman Attackman, Calgary, Alberta
• Normally the first player off the bench in the attack unit for UNC.
• Has seen action in eight games.
• Scored goals versus Michigan and Furman.
Mark Rizzo, Redshirt Junior Defenseman, Hewlett, N.Y.
• Team captain.
• Key player in long-stick defensive midfield and on man-down unit.
• Has played in nine games this season.
Jack Rowlett, Freshman Defenseman, Burke, Va.
• Moved into starting lineup as a true freshman in the close defense unit.
• Started 16 games, missing only game at Manhattan when he did not dress.
• Had a stellar effort in NCAA first round win over Marquette with three ground balls and two caused turnovers. Followed that up with another great effort against Notre Dame in the NCAA quarterfinals. Had four ground balls and one caused turnover versus the Fighting Irish.
• Had a tremendous game at Johns Hopkins with six ground balls and two caused turnovers.
• Scored first career goal versus Richmond.
• His 40 ground balls leads the team other than face-off man Stephen Kelly.
• Leads Tar Heels in caused turnovers with 17. One of only three Tar Heels in double figures in caused turnovers.
• Had five ground balls and season high four caused turnovers versus Massachusetts.
• Had four ground balls in Tar Heels' win over Duke.
• Matched season high for caused turnovers with four against Syracuse.
Shane Simpson, Junior Midfielder, Hamilton, Ontario
• Has been running with first midfield unit since Denver game.
• Has eight goals and 13 assists for 21 points.
• His 13 assists are the fourth most on the team.
• His 21 points are the most he has had in a season in his career. He had 17 points as a freshman in 2014.
• Has 13 assists this year after having eight assists in his first two years combined.
• Matched career high for assists in a game with two versus Michigan.
• Named ACC Offensive Player of the Week after his performance in UNC's 15-11 win at Johns Hopkins. Had a career high for assists with three and points with five versus the Blue Jays.
• Had a goal and two assists in the fourth quarter when the Tar Heels outscored the Blue Jays 6-2 to emerge with a 15-11 victory.
• Matched career high for assists with three versus Denver.
• Scored a key goal late in third quarter as Tar Heels rallied from three-goal deficit late in the third period in win at Duke.
• Against Notre Dame, all three of his points came in the fourth quarter. He assisted on goals by Luke Goldstock at 4:47 and 3:48 of the fourth quarter to pull the Tar Heels within a goal at 15-14. He then tied the game with a goal of his own at 2:56.
Michael Tagliaferri, Redshirt Junior Midfielder, Danville, Calif.
• Starter in the first midfield unit. Played in the second midfield unit as a freshman in 2014 and then was an outstanding player on short stick defensive midfield as a sophomore in 2015.
• 2016 All-ACC selection.
• 2016 USILA honorable mention All-America.
• Has started all 17 games this season in first midfield. Has 27 goals and eight assists for 35 points.
• With the Tar Heels trailing Duke 11-8 late in third quarter he scored back-to-back goals to help rally UNC in what was an eventual 17-16 overtime win.
• Is tied for fourth on the team in points with 35 and ranks in a tie for third in goals scored with 27.
• Was Carolina's offensive leader in NCAA Tournament win at Marquette with three goals and an assist. Had two goals in NCAA quarterfinal win over Notre Dame. Scored the opening goal of the game and opening goal of the second half in last Sunday's game.
• Recorded two goals in win over Furman.
• Matched his then career high with three goals in the win at Johns Hopkins. That was his third career hat trick.
• Had another hat trick against Denver.
• Matched career high for assists with two versus Richmond.
• Scored a career high four goals in game at Syracuse.
• Had two goals and an assist in win over Notre Dame.
• Has at least one point in 16 of 17 games.
• Has 12 multi-goal games in his career and 15 multi-point contests.
• His 27 goals are 15 more than he had in his first two years combined at Carolina.
• His 35 points are 15 more than the total he had in his first two years combined at UNC.
RECAPS OF KEY VICTORIES DURING THE 2016 SEASON
TAR HEELS CELEBRATE NCAA QUARTERFINAL WIN OVER FIGHTING IRISH: The University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament semifinals for the first time since 1993 after beating third-seeded Notre Dame 13-9 on May 22 at Ohio Stadium in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals before a crowd of 5,411 fans.
The Heels never trailed in the game and held Notre Dame to just three goals in the first three quarters. In fact, UNC held Notre Dame without a goal from the 19-second mark of the first quarter until 1:52 remained in the third quarter, a span of 27 minutes, 27 seconds. During that span, the game went from a 2-2 tie to a 10-2 UNC lead.
Carolina sophomore goalkeeper Brian Balkam matched his career high with 14 saves in the game, including eight in the fourth quarter when Notre Dame outshot the Tar Heels 19-3. But by then, UNC had built a nine-goal advantage and despite a late five-goal run by Notre Dame UNC had enough of an edge to head to the final four by improving to 10-6 on the season. The NCAA quarterfinal win broke an eight-game losing streak in that round for Carolina and was the Tar Heels' first NCAA round of eight win since it beat Army in 1993 at Kenan Stadium.
Balkam's 14 saves matched the career high for the St. James, N.Y., redshirt sophomore. He also had 14 saves in Carolina's 16-8 win over Virginia on April 10, 2016.
Carolina was led offensively by Steve Pontrello with four goals and two assists while Chris Cloutier had three goals and three assists on the afternoon. Pontrello scored UNC's last four goals of the game while Cloutier had a first half hat trick. Luke Goldstock and Michael Tagliaferri each had two goals for UNC and Timmy Kelly had a goal and an assist. Patrick Kelly had a goal for UNC and Stephen Kelly had an assist.
Pontrello recorded his 12th career hat trick while Cloutier had his fourth career hat trick. Pontrello's six points matched his career high, which he had earlier this year against Manhattan, Duke and Notre Dame. Cloutier's six points were on short of his career high of seven set against Richmond earlier this year. His three assists versus the Fighting Irish matched the career high he had earlier this year in the win over the Spiders on March 19.
UNC had also beaten Notre Dame in the regular season 17-15 on April 23 in Chapel Hill. But that game was very different from Sunday's encounter. In that game, Carolina trailed Notre Dame 15-10 with less than 10 minutes left in the game before the Tar Heels ran off the last seven goals of the game to win and secure the ACC regular-season co-championship. In Sunday's NCAA quarterfinal match, Cloutier's goal with 12 seconds left in the first quarter broke a 2-2 tie and started an 8-0 goal scoring run that put UNC up 10-2 with 4:31 left in the third quarter. Carolina's biggest leads of the game came at 12-3 with 14:06 left in the final period and at 13-4 with 12:30 left in the game. Notre Dame scored five goals over the last 8:40 of the contest to pull within four goals at the end.
Notre Dame outshot the Tar Heels 43-34 but Balkam matched his career high in saves to make the difference in the game. He also had 14 saves against Virginia in the regular season. Shane Doss finished with 10 saves for Notre Dame while allowing 13 goals. During the course of the season, Notre Dame allowed double digits in goals only three times – 17 against Carolina on April 23, 13 against Carolina Sunday and 10 versus Duke in the ACC Tournament semifinals.
Stephen Kelly again was a monster at the face-off X for the Tar Heels as he won 17 of 25 face-offs. He also led the Tar Heels with 11 ground balls. It marked the sixth time this year that Kelly has won 17 or more face-offs in a game and the fourth time he has had double digits in ground balls. UNC finished with a 26-23 edge in ground balls. The Tar Heels struggled in the clearing game as they went only 18 for 25 on the day. Carolina had 16 turnovers while Notre Dame had just 10. Nine of Carolina's 16 turnovers came in the fourth quarter.
KEY VICTORY OVER NOTRE DAME: The #16 University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team rallied from a five-goal deficit with less than 10 minutes to play in regulation to down #1 Notre Dame 17-15 before 3,371 fans at Kenan Stadium on April 23.
On Senior Day and Alumni Weekend for the Tar Heels, UNC scored the last seven goals of the game, all in a span of 7:29 in the fourth period. UNC trailed by 15-10 with 10:01 to play before Chris Cloutier and Michael Tagliaferri scored goals to pull the Tar Heels within 15-12 with 8:16 to play. After neither team scored for more than three minutes Luke Goldstock began a five-goal scoring run for the Tar Heels that started with 4:47 to play in the fourth quarter and ended with a Patrick Kelly goal with 1:49 to play in the game. Kelly's goal put UNC up 17-15 and Carolina won the ensuing face-off and then ran off all but 14 seconds of the clock to secure the victory.
UNC finished the day with a 45-37 edge in shots and a 36-33 advantage in ground balls. UNC's Stephen Kelly again had an outstanding day in the face-off circle for UNC as he won 19 of 35 face-offs and matched his season high with 12 ground balls. Kelly has now won 19 or more face-offs in a game four times in his career and his 12 ground balls were one short of his career high. He has earned a dozen or more ground balls in a game four times in his career.
Luke Goldstock and Steve Pontrello each had four goals and two assists to lead the Tar Heels. Patrick Kelly had a hat trick and Michael Tagliaferri had two goals and an assist.
TAR HEELS POST DOMINATING WIN AGAINST UVA: The 11th-ranked University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team outscored 20th-ranked Virginia 10-1 over the opening 24 minutes of the game en route to a 16-8 victory over the Cavaliers on April 10 at Kenan Stadium.
Six Tar Heels had a pair of goals and Timmy Kelly had a goal and three assists to lead Carolina, which got a stellar day from goalkeeper Brian Balkam who made 14 saves while allowing just seven goals in 56 minutes of action. Stephen Kelly had another outstanding game at the X for UNC as he won 17 of 25 face-offs and scooped up a game-high 10 ground balls.
UNC held a 56-33 edge in shots on the Cavaliers, including 34-12 in the first half while racing to a 10-2 lead. The Tar Heels also won the ground ball battle 31-17 and ending up with a 17-10 edge in the face-off circle.
Timmy Kelly led the Tar Heels offensively with a career-high four points on a goal and three assists. Steve Pontrello had two goals and an assist for the Heels while Chris Cloutier had a goal and an assist. Patrick Kelly, Luke Goldstock, Michael Tagliaferri, Brian Cannon and William McBride each scored two goals for UNC.
Cannon and McBride each matched their career highs for goals in a game in leading UNC on the offensive end. Goldstock recorded a point for the 28th straight game, matching Bruce Ledwith for the 14th longest point producing streak in Tar Heel history.
Balkam had a career best game in the goal for UNC with 14 saves in 56:02 of action. He allowed just seven goals. It was an impressive bounce back effort for Balkam who left Carolina's previous game against Duke after just a quarter and a half.
TAR HEELS START ACC SEASON WITH OVERTIME WIN AT DUKE: In a game filled with ebbs and flows, 15th-ranked North Carolina prevailed over ninth-ranked Duke 17-16 in overtime in men's lacrosse action before 3,957 fans at Koskinen Stadium on Friday night, April 1. Patrick Kelly scored the game-winning goal with two minutes remaining in the first overtime period to give the Tar Heels their first extra-time win since March 30, 2013 when they beat Johns Hopkins at Kenan Stadium.
This was the fourth consecutive game in the series to be decided by one goal and the third time the Tar Heels have triumphed against the Blue Devils dating back to the 2013 ACC Tournament semifinals in Chapel Hill. Steve Pontrello had a career-high six goals to lead the Tar Heels and Luke Goldstock matched his career high for assists in a game with four. Nine different Tar Heels scored in the game with Patrick Kelly, Michael Tagliaferri and Brian Cannon each scoring twice for the Tar Heels.
UNC outshot the Blue Devils 47-40 in the game. The Blue Devils finished with a 33-27 edge in ground balls. Stephen Kelly won 20 of 35 face-offs in the game, the third time he has won 20 or more face-offs in a game in his career. It was his second straight stellar performance against Duke as he won 22 face-offs in Carolina's 16-15 regular-season win over the Blue Devils at Fetzer Field last year. Kelly had a season-high 12 ground balls in the game and it marked the third time in his career he has won 12 or more ground balls in a game.
Freshman Colin Reder came off the bench to be a hero in the goal for the Tar Heels. Reder came on in relief of Brian Balkam after 23:24 of play and made 10 saves while allowing 10 goals the rest of the way. Reder made a huge save on a shot by Myles Jones with 2:46 left in overtime to give the Tar Heels the possession that led to Patrick Kelly's game-winning goal. Freshman defenseman Jack Rowlett picked up the ground ball off the save and the Tar Heels successfully cleared the ball and then called timeout. Kelly scored 16 seconds later after scooping up a loose ball and beating his defender down the left alley to score past Duke goalkeeper Danny Fowler.
TAR HEELS POSTED IMPRESSIVE NON-CONFERENCE WIN OVER RICHMOND: Chris Cloutier had a career high seven points, Brian Balkam matched his career high with 12 saves and Stephen Kelly continued his exceptional play in the face-off circle as the 17th-ranked University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team defeated 19th-ranked Richmond 15-6 on March 19 under the lights at Fetzer Field.
UNC won its second game in a row to improve to 5-3 on the season while Richmond saw its three-game winning streak end and it is now 6-2 on the campaign. It was Richmond's second trip to the Triangle region this season after it had beaten Duke 12-10 in Durham on March 7.
After yielding the game's first goal, the Tar Heels ran off five scores in a row and were never headed. The closest the Spiders were able to draw to UNC in the second half was four goals after Carolina took a 7-2 lead into intermission.
Cloutier was brilliant on the offensive end for UNC as he scored four goals and had a career high three assists leading to a personal best seven points in the game. Steve Pontrello and Patrick Kelly each had a hat trick for Carolina. Pontrello has recorded a hat trick in three straight games and now has six hat tricks in eight games this season. Patrick Kelly also had his second hat trick of the season. He also had one versus Denver. Both Michael Tagliaferri and Luke Goldstock had a goal and two assists for the Tar Heels.
UNC outshot the Spiders 42-31 in the match. Mitch Goldberg scored two goals to lead the Spiders' offense.
After giving up a goal on Richmond's first possession, Brian Balkam turned in the best performance of his career. The redshirt sophomore goalkeeper played 56 minutes, 46 seconds. He made 12 saves and allowed just six goals while also scooping up three ground balls. His 12 saves matched his career high set previously against Denver on March 5.
Carolina had challenges hanging onto the ball, making 17 turnovers and going just 12 of 17 clearing, but Stephen Kelly's performance at the X more than made up for it as he dominated the circle for the third straight game. He won 17 of 23 draws on Saturday night and scooped up a game-high seven ground balls. Over the past three games against Massachusetts, Manhattan and Richmond, Kelly has won 50 of 64 face-offs while also recording 25 ground balls. For the season he has won 64.1 percent of his face-offs, going 107 of 167. He has won 395 career face-offs, the fifth most in school history.
BOUNCE BACK WIN VERSUS JASPERS: Steve Pontrello scored a career-high five goals to lead the #17 North Carolina men's lacrosse team to an 18-2 victory over Manhattan at Gaelic Park on Monday, March 14. Twelve different Tar Heels scored goals in the game as the Tar Heels broke a two-game losing streak and improved to 4-3 on the season. The Jaspers fell to 1-7 with the loss. Pontrello led the Tar Heels with five goals and an assist, notching career highs for both goals and points in a game. His previous high for goals was four against Michigan in the season opener on February 6. Luke Goldstock had two goals and two assists in the game and Patrick Kelly had two goals and one assist. Goldstock has now scored a goal in 24 successive games for the Tar Heels, a figure tied for the fourth longest scoring streak in Carolina history.
In addition to 12 different goal scorers, UNC had 10 different players record assists. Jesse Cuccia, Patrick McCormick, Andy Matthews and Cole Haverty scored their first goals in Tar Heel uniforms. Ryan Macri and Alex McGovern each had their first career assists. Stephen Kelly set a school record for face-off winning percentage in a game as he won all 16 draws he took and had a game-high nine ground balls, the fourth time this season he has scooped up nine ground balls in a game. Freshman Charles Kelly went 4-for-4 at the X as the Tar Heels won 20 of 22 face-offs overall.
UNC outshot the Jaspers 56-14, including 35-7 in the first half en route to taking a 14-1 lead at intermission. The Tar Heels also won the ground ball battle 35-16. Brian Balkam, Colin Reder and Eddie Gilman shared goalkeeping duties for the Tar Heels in the victory. Michael Zingaro made the start for Manhattan and made 17 saves while allowing 14 goals in 46:52 of action.
The Tar Heels got out of the gate quickly, scoring five goals in the opening 8:40 of the game to take the lead. Pontrello scored the first and third goals and assisted on the second, a tally by Chris Cloutier. Goldstock and McCormick also scored for the Tar Heels in the 5-0 scoring run. Pontrello scored his third goal of the quarter, an unassisted tally, with three seconds left in the first period, making it 6-1 Tar Heels.
The Tar Heels outscored the Jaspers 8-0 in the second period of action with Stephen Kelly notching his first goal of the season off the opening face-off of the quarter. At 8:07, Andy Matthews scored his first career goal off an assist by Ryan Macri as the Tar Heels hit double digits.
Carolina went on another scoring run later in the first quarter as Shane Simpson, Timmy Kelly, Luke Goldstock and Steve Pontrello scored in a span of 2:17 to make it 14-1 Tar Heels with 1:42 left in the first half. Pontrello notched his fifth goal just 30 seconds into the second half to finish off his six-point performance. Patrick Kelly got his second goal of the game off Luke Goldstock's second assist at 6:40 of the period. After a goal later in the quarter by Manhattan, UNC finished off the scoring with two goals in the fourth period. Jesse Cuccia scored an unassisted goal 50 seconds into the period and then a pair of Tar Heel freshmen combined to produce a goal at 4:33 with Cole Haverty scoring off an assist by Alex McGovern.
TAR HEELS BOUNCE BACK WITH WIN AT #8 HOPKINS: The 10th-ranked North Carolina men's lacrosse team outscored No. 8 Johns Hopkins 5-0 over the last 8:16 of the game to earn a 15-11 victory over the Blue Jays before a crowd of 3,605 at Homewood Field and a national television audience on ESPNU on February 28.
Chris Cloutier had a four-goal game for the Tar Heels, just one shy of his career high for goals in a game, to lead the Tar Heels. Steve Pontrello had three goals for the Heels as he recorded his third hat trick of the 2016 season. Michael Tagliaferri matched his career high for goals in a game with his hat trick. Shane Simpson had two goals and a career high three assists while Patrick Kelly had two goals and an assist and Luke Goldstock scored a goal in his 21st successive game. That's the fifth longest active goal scoring streak in the nation.
UNC outshot the Blue Jays 40-37 and had a 36-29 edge in ground balls. Stephen Kelly had a tremendous day in the face-off circle for UNC as he won a season-high 17 of 25 draws, scooped up a game-high nine ground balls and also assisted on a goal. The Tar Heels won the game by coming from behind in the last nine minutes of play. Carolina tied the game with 8:16 to play as Cloutier scored off a Blue Jay turnover to tie the game at 11-11. Stephen Kelly would go on to win the next two face-offs and the Tar Heels scored on both possessions. Tagliaferri gave the Tar Heels the lead 12-11 off an assist by Shane Simpson with 6:57 to play. Simpson then notched an unassisted goal 38 seconds later to up the UNC lead to 13-11. Pontrello scored his third goal of the second half to give the Tar Heels separation at 2:04 and Cloutier finished off the scoring run off an assist by Patrick Kelly with 22 seconds to play to give the Tar Heels a 15-11 victory.
The Johns Hopkins-North Carolina series continues to be one of streaks by both teams. Hopkins leads the all-time series 24-20 but UNC has now won five in a row versus the Blue Jays as well as nine of the last 10 meetings. UNC has also won four in a row over the Blue Jays at Homewood Field. The 15 goals scored by Carolina were the most by a UNC team against Hopkins since May 29, 1993 when the Tar Heels won 16-10 in the NCAA semifinals in College Park, Md.
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.
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 AS PLAYERS OF THE WEEK IN 2016
GOLDSTOCK & KELLY SWEEP ACC PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARDS: Following its comeback victory over No. 1 Notre Dame, North Carolina's Luke Goldstock was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Week, while teammate Stephen Kelly was the Defensive Player of the Week on April 25.
Junior attackman Goldstock was the key player in an 8-1 fourth-quarter scoring burst as No. 16 North Carolina came from five goals down with less than 10 minutes to play to upset top-ranked Notre Dame, 17-15. Goldstock opened scoring 17 seconds into the game but was then held without a point by the Notre Dame defense through the end of the third quarter. With UNC trailing 14-9, Goldstock scored at 10:40 left in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to four. Notre Dame answered with a goal 39 seconds later before UNC went on a 7-0 scoring run to end the game. Goldstock assisted on Michael Tagliaferri's goal with 8:16 left to cut Notre Dame's lead to 15-12. He then scored back-to-back goals at 4:47 and 3:48 to pull Carolina within one goal, 15-14. The Niskayuna, N.Y., native got his fifth point of the quarter when he assisted Patrick Kelly's goal with 1:49 to play to make it 17-15 and cap off UNC's furious comeback.
Junior midfielder Kelly played an integral role in the Tar Heels' defeat of the Fighting Irish. Going up against a pair of Fighting Irish face-off men, Kelly won 19 of 35 face-offs and matched a season high with 12 ground balls. The Lutherville, Md., native won seven of 10 face-offs in the fourth quarter as the Tar Heels outscored the Fighting Irish 8-1 in the final frame to rally from a five-goal deficit for the win. He scored the game-winning goal with 2:50 left off his own face-off win, giving the Tar Heels a 16-15 lead in the eventual 17-15 victory.
Kelly was also named April 26 as the Baltimore Sun National Player of the Week.
BALKAM SHARED ACC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARD: Notre Dame's Sergio Perkovic has been named the Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Week, while teammate John Sexton and North Carolina's Brian Balkam are this week's co-Defensive Players of the Week as named April 11 by the ACC.
Tar Heel goalie Brian Balkam made a career-high 14 saves and allowed just seven goals as North Carolina defeated Virginia, 16-8, Sunday, April 10. Seven of Balkam's saves came in the first half on nine UVA shots on goal as the Tar Heels raced to a 10-2 lead at intermission. He made another six stops in the third quarter as Carolina carried a 12-4 lead into the fourth quarter en route to the 16-8 win. Balkam's previous career high for saves in a game was 12 versus Denver and Richmond earlier this year.
PONTRELLO WINS ACC & NATIONAL PLAYER OF WEEK AWARDS: North Carolina's Steve Pontrello was named the Atlantic Coast Conference and NCAA.com Men's Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Week on April 4, 2016.
The Tar Heel attackman scored a career-high six goals as No. 15 North Carolina won at No. 9 Duke 17-16 in overtime on Friday, April 1. It was Carolina's first win at Duke in six years. Pontrello scored his six goals in just seven shots on goal, and five of his goals were unassisted. He helped rally UNC from a three-goal deficit late in the third quarter by tying the game at 11-11 with 2:24 left in the quarter. Pontrello went on to score two more unassisted goals in the fourth quarter. The Marlton, N.J. native earned ACC Player of the Week honors for the second time this year.
KELLY SHARES ACC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARD: North Carolina's Stephen Kelly was named Co-Defensive Player of the Week in the Atlantic Coast Conference on March 21, 2016.
Kelly played an integral role for the Tar Heels in wins over Manhattan and No. 19 Richmond. He won 33 of 39 face-offs in the two games and scooped up 16 ground balls, allowing the Tar Heels to dominate possession in both victories. Against Manhattan, Kelly set the school record for face-off winning percentage in a game by winning all 16 of his face-offs. He came back with a tremendous performance against the Spiders, winning 17 of 23 draws and collecting a game-high seven ground balls as the Tar Heels took charge early and pulled away for a 15-6 win.
KELLY NAMED NATIONAL DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: University of North Carolina junior midfielder Stephen Kelly (Lutherville, Md.) was named March 1 as the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Lids Team Sports Division I Defensive Player of the Week.
Kelly, who was named the previous day as the ACC Defensive Player of the Week, earned the national award after a brilliant performance in 11th-ranked North Carolina's 15-11 win at #8 Johns Hopkins on February 28.
Kelly won 17 of 25 face-offs in the match, including six of eight in the fourth quarter when the Tar Heels outscored the Blue Jays 6-2. After the Tar Heels tied the game on a Chris Cloutier goal with 8:16 to play, Kelly won back-to-back face-offs leading to goals by Michael Tagliaferri and Shane Simpson as the Tar Heels pulled away for the win.
Kelly's 17 face-off wins were a season high and his nine ground balls equaled his season high.
TAR HEELS SWEEP ACC PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARDS: North Carolina received both Atlantic Coast Conference men's lacrosse weekly awards following the Tar Heels' win at No. 8 Johns Hopkins on February 28. Junior midfielder Shane Simpson was named the ACC Offensive Player of the Week, while junior midfielder Stephen Kelly earned Defensive Player of the Week honors.
Simpson registered a career-high five points on two goals and three assists while making several key plays during a fourth-quarter UNC rally. He assisted on Michael Tagliaferri's goal with 13:14 to play to put the Tar Heels ahead, 10-9, and found him again for the game-winning goal with 6:57 remaining. He then gave the Tar Heels a two-goal cushion, 13-11, 38 seconds later en route to the 15-11 victory.
Kelly won 68 percent of his face-offs against Johns Hopkins, including six of eight in the fourth quarter as the Tar Heels outscored the Blue Jays 6-2 in the final frame. With the game tied 9-9 going into the fourth, Kelly helped the Tar Heels dominate possession as they scored five unanswered goals to end the game. His 17 face-off wins were a season high and marked the eighth time in his career he has won as many as 15 in a game. He had a game-high nine ground balls, matching his season high.
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.
