University of North Carolina Athletics
#3 Tar Heels Host #4 Blue Jays Saturday
February 24, 2017 | Men's Lacrosse
Tar Heels & Blue Jays Renew Long-Standing Rivalry Saturday At Fetzer Field
2017 UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA MEN'S LACROSSE GAME NOTES
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Game 4: North Carolina Tar Heels (3-0, Ranked #3 USILA/Nike Division I Men's Lacrosse Coaches Poll in week 2, Ranked #3 Maverik Division I Media Poll in week 2) vs. Johns Hopkins Blue Jays (3-0, Ranked #5 USILA/Nike Division I Men's Lacrosse Coaches Poll in week 2, Ranked #4 Maverik Division I Media Poll in week 2)
Saturday, February 25, 2017
1 p.m. EST
Fetzer Field
Chapel Hill, N.C.
KEY LINKS FOR SATURDAY'S GAME
Live Stats: GoHeels.com
Video: ACCNetworkExtra/ESPN3/WatchESPN
Media Guide: 2017 Media Guide Link
Player Roster & Coaches' Bios: GoHeels.com Roster Page
UNC Lacrosse Social Media Links: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
TAR HEELS HOST TOP 5 OPPONENT JOHNS HOPKINS SATURDAY AT FETZER FIEL: The University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team, under the direction of ninth-year head coach Joe Breschi, returns to action on Saturday at 1 p.m. EST against the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays in the Tar Heels' second home game of the season at Fetzer Field. The Tar Heels won their 2017 home opener last Saturday by defeating Lehigh 15-8 at Fetzer Field.
Video for the game will be available on the ACC Network Extra/ESPN3/WatchESPN and live stats can be found on GoHeels.com.
After scrimmages against High Point and Navy, the Tar Heels opened their season with an impressive 17-6 victory over UMBC on Saturday, February 4 at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Raleigh, N.C. The game was originally scheduled to be played at Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill, but an emergency water situation in Orange County, N.C. forced the game to be moved to Raleigh on 24 hours notice.
The win over the Retrievers was the Tar Heels' first game that counted in the record since May 30, 2016, when UNC beat Maryland 14-13 in overtime in the 2016 NCAA Tournament championship game. The win over the Terps allowed the Tar Heels to finish the 2016 season with a 12-6 record.
A week later, on February 11, UNC played its 2017 road opener and toughed out a 7-3 over the Furman Paladins, who are coached by 1976 UNC alumnus Richie Meade. The Tar Heels returned to the field last Saturday and defeated the Lehigh Mountain Hawks 15-8 at Fetzer Field in North Carolina's 2017 home opener.
UNC head coach Joe Breschi is now in his ninth year as the head coach of the Tar Heels after coaching at Ohio State for 11 seasons. Breschi is a 1990 graduate of the University of North Carolina and was the sole captain of the 1990 team as a senior.
Johns Hopkins comes to Chapel Hill with an impressive 3-0 mark. The Blue Jays opened the 2017 campaign with lopsided 15-8 and 15-5 victories over Navy and UMBC, respectively. Last Saturday at Homewood Field in Baltimore, Md., the Blue Jays won an epic overtime battle against 2016 NCAA semifinalist Loyola 14-13.
The Tar Heels were ranked first in the preseason USILA coaches poll of the 2017 season and first in the initial Maverik media poll of the 2017 campaign. The first regular season polls of the 2017 season were issued on Monday, February 13, 2017 and the week #2 polls were issued on Monday, February 20. North Carolina is currently ranked #3 in the USILA/NIKE Division I Men's Lacrosse coaches poll and #3 in the Maverik Division I Media Poll. The Blue Jays head into Saturday's game ranked #4 by the media poll and #5 by the coaches' poll.
TICKETS FOR SATURDAY'S GAME: Tickets for Saturday's game are $5 general admission. They can be purchased in advance online at the GoHeels.com Ticket Center. Tickets can also be purchased on game day at the Carmichael Arena ticket office. UNC students, faculty and staff are all admitted free of charge by presenting their UNC One Cards at the Fetzer Field gates.
The first 250 fans will receive a replica 2016 National Championship banner at the game tomorrow.
CAROLINA VERSUS JOHNS HOPKINS THE SERIES: North Carolina and Johns Hopkins have played each other 44 times in history with the Blue Jays holding the series lead 24-20.
Coach Joe Breschi has faced the Blue Jays eight times in his coaching tenure at UNC. He is 7-1 in those games.
March 28, 2009 – UNC 10, Johns Hopkins 9 in overtime (at Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill)
April 3, 2010 — UNC 11, Johns Hopkins 7 (at Homewood Field in Baltimore)
April 3, 2011 — Johns Hopkins 10, UNC 9 (at East Rutherford, N.J.)
April 1, 2012 — UNC 13, Johns Hopkins 9 (at East Rutherford, N.J.)
March 30, 2013 — UNC 11, Johns Hopkins 10 in overtime (at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill)
March 29, 2014 — UNC 13, Johns Hopkins 9 (at Homewood Field in Baltimore)
February 21, 2015 — UNC 13, Johns Hopkins 11 (at Navy Field in Chapel Hill)
February 28, 2016 — UNC 15, Johns Hopkins 11 (at Homewood Field in Baltimore)
Altogether UNC has won nine of the past 10 meetings between the two teams since the 2007 season. Carolina's current success followed a 13-game winning streak in the series by the Blue Jays between 1995 and 2006.
Following are summary of last year's game between the two teams in Baltimore Md.
2016 Game Summary: 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 Sunday, February 28, 2016. Both teams were looking to bounce back from tough losses the previous weekend and it was the Tar Heels who accomplished the task, improving to 3-1 on the season heading into a home game next Saturday against defending NCAA champion Denver. Hopkins fell to 1-2 on the season with the loss.
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 Tar 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. Johns Hopkins featured a balanced scoring attack with Ryan Brown scoring three times and adding an assist and Shane Stanwick scoring twice and passing for five assists. Cody Radziewicz had two goals for the Blue Jays.
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 only negative on the stat sheet for both teams was the turnover total where UNC committed to 18 and Johns Hopkins had 17 miscues. Otherwise, the offenses played at a high level and shot the ball extremely well. The game also featured a contrast of offensive styles as UNC notched 15 goals, 10 of which were unassisted. Hopkins scored 11 goals, 10 of which were assisted.
Carolina came out ready from the opening whistle, jumping to a 4-0 lead. Chris Cloutier scored the first of his four goals 17 seconds into the match, off an assist by Stephen Kelly. Just 51 seconds later, Patrick Kelly scored for the Heels to make it 2-0 and unassisted goals by Tagliaferri and Kelly stretched the lead to 4-0 with 2:26 left in the first quarter. After Hopkins scored twice, UNC bounced back with goals by Cloutier and Goldstock making it 6-2 with 8:27 left in the first half. But the Blue Jays went on a three-goal run to pull within 6-5. Simpson finished off the scoring for UNC with 1:25 left in the period, giving the Heels a 7-5 lead 30 minutes into the game.
Hopkins came out strong in the third quarter to twice tie the game. Stanwick and Brown scored goals to even things at 7-7 six minutes into the second half. Pontrello then tallied unassisted goals at 4:20 and 3:58 to give the Heels a two-goal lead again. Late in the third quarter and early in the fourth quarter, the momentum swung to the Blue Jays who scored four of the next five goals in the game. Back-to-back man-up goals by Johns Hopkins by Holden Cattoni and Shack Stanwick made it 11-10 with 11:22 to play, the first lead of the game for Johns Hopkins. 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 off an assist by Patrick Kelly with 22 seconds to play to give the Tar Heels a 15-11 victory.
PRE-JOHNS HOPKINS DEPTH CHART: After two scrimmages against High Point and Navy and regular-season wins over UMBC, Furman and Lehigh, UNC head coach Joe Breschi has projected the following depth chart going into the fourth game of the season against the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays.
Attack – Luke Goldstock (Sr.), Chris Cloutier (Jr.), Andy Matthews (So.)
Attack Reserves – Matt Gavin (Fr.), Jesse Cuccia (So.)
1st Midfield — Michael Tagliaferri, (Grad Student), Justin Anderson (Fr.), William Perry (Fr.)
2nd Midfield — William McBride (Jr.), Timmy Kelly (So.), Brian Cannon (Jr.)
3rd Midfield — Luke Walsh (Sr.), Peyton Klawinski (Sr.), Tanner Cook (Fr.), Zach Kissick (Fr.)
Close Defense Starters — Austin Pifani (Sr.), Ryan Macri (Jr.), Jake Peden (So.)
Close Defense Reserve – Joe Kenna (So.)
Face-offs — Stephen Kelly (Sr.), Charles Kelly (So.)
Long Stick Defensive Midfielders — Jack Rowlett (So.), Kyle Mathie (Jr.), Jack Lambert (Jr.), Jack Halpert (So.)
Short Stick Defensive Midfielders — Tate Jozokos (Sr.), Brett Bedard (Sr.), Cole Haverty (So.), Timmy Gehlbach (Jr.), Cam Macri (Fr.)
Goalkeepers —Brian Balkam (Jr.), Jack Pezzulla (Fr.)
TAR HEELS OPEN WITH DOUBLE DIGIT WIN OVER RETRIEVERS: The top-ranked University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team ran off the first eight goals of the game, in a span of just 10:28, and cruised to a 17-6 win over UMBC in its season opener Saturday afternoon, February 4 at Cardinal Gibbons High School Stadium. In their first game since they beat Maryland in overtime to win the national championship last May, the Tar Heels first had to overcome a severe water shortage in Chapel Hill, leading to the game being moved to Raleigh, and then outscore a determined UMBC team playing its first game under new head coach Ryan Moran. UNC had a balanced scoring sheet throughout the day with 10 Tar Heels tallying goals and five recording assists. Freshman Justin Anderson, who came to Carolina this season after serving a two-year Mormon Church mission coming out of high school, made his long-awaited Tar Heel debut a memorable one as he scored three goals and added an assist. His fellow first midfield unit line mate Timmy Kelly scored a career high three goals, all in the first quarter. Luke Goldstock had two goals and two assists and Chris Cloutier had two goals and an assist while freshman Matt Gavin had a pair of goals in the fourth quarter.
Senior midfielder Luke Walsh had a goal and an assist for the Heels, who played UMBC for the first time since March 2011. Sophomore Andy Matthews made his first career start and had a pair of assists. Stephen Kelly, Brian Cannon, Peyton Klawinski and William Perry all had single goals for the Heels. Max Maxwell led the Retrievers offensively with three goals and an assist while Ryan Frawley, Austin Mitchell and Ben Revak each scored once and Jack Andrews had two assists.
The game was originally scheduled to be played at UNC's Fetzer Field on Saturday afternoon but a water shortage crisis in Orange County, N.C., led the university to be closed at 1 p.m. Friday. On short notice, Cardinal Gibbons High School was able to host the Tar Heel women's and men's lacrosse games in Raleigh, and the Tar Heels put on a nice show for the crowd of 725 fans that turned out.
Senior Stephen Kelly set the tone for the Tar Heels as he won the opening face-off and tallied 15 seconds into the game, giving UNC a lead it would never relinquish. Stephen's first cousin, Timmy Kelly, scored an unassisted goal 46 seconds later and the Tar Heels were off to a great start. In a span of just 4:54 later in the quarter, UNC would go on a 6-0 run, to increase its lead to 8-0 with 4:32 left in the opening period. Brian Cannon made it 3-0 at 9:26 of the quarter. Cannon's goal was followed by a Chris Cloutier goal off an assist by Andy Matthews at 8:16. Anderson, Timmy Kelly (from Anderson), Goldstock (from Cloutier) and Cloutier followed with four more quick goals and the Tar Heels were up 8-0 barely 10 minutes into the game. UMBC's Austin Mitchell scored the Retrievers' first goal of the season at 2:50 before the Tar Heels scored the last four goals of the first half to take a 12-1 lead into intermission. Peyton Klawinski and Timmy Kelly scored late in the first quarter before freshmen William Perry and Justin Anderson notched goals in the second quarter.
The two teams each scored five goals in the second half with UMBC holding a 3-2 advantage in the third quarter and UNC a 3-2 edge in the fourth. Ruston Souder played the entire way in goal for the Retrievers, making 11 saves and allowing 17 goals. UNC split time amongst three goalkeepers. Brian Balkam played the first half for Carolina while freshman Jack Pezzulla made four saves in 25:11 of the second half and Alex Bassil played the last 4:49 for the Tar Heels, making a save on the only shot he faced. UNC outshot the Retrievers 41-24 in the game and had a 19-8 edge in face-offs and a 37-27 advantage in the ground ball war. Senior Stephen Kelly won 11 of 16 face-offs on the day and had a game-high nine ground balls. Sophomore Charles Kelly went seven for 10 in the face-off circle and had four ground balls. Billy O'Hara had a team-high seven ground balls for the Retrievers.
TAR HEELS SWEEP ACC WEEKLY AWARDS: Following its season-opening 17-6 victory over UMBC, North Carolina's Justin Anderson was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Week, while teammate Stephen Kelly was this week's Defensive Player of the Week. The awards were announced on Monday, February 6, 2017.
Anderson made his long-anticipated Tar Heel debut last Saturday against the Retrievers. After serving a two-year Mormon Church mission in South America after his 2014 high school graduation, Anderson started the first game of his career and scored three goals and added an assist in UNC's 17-6 win. He scored two of his three goals and had an assist during a 12-goal first half for the Tar Heels. Kelly won 11 of 16 face-offs and had a game high nine ground balls. Kelly won eight of 10 face-off attempts in the first quarter alone, had seven of his nine ground balls in the first quarter and scored 15 seconds into the game to give the Tar Heels a 1-0 lead they never relinquished. Kelly's eight face-off wins and seven ground balls in the first quarter allowed UNC to outshoot the Retrievers 17-1 in the first quarter while the Tar Heels took a 10-1 lead after the first quarter, putting the game away early.
CAROLINA PASSES FIRST ROAD TEST OF THE SEASON WITH WIN OVER FURMAN: Brian Balkam made 12 saves and allowed just one goal in the final three quarters to lead the No. 1-ranked University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team to a 7-3 victory over the Furman Paladins before 507 fans at Paladin Stadium on Saturday, February 11. The Tar Heels improved to 2-0 with the victory while Furman is now 0-3. Balkam, who came into the game with a career high of 14 saves, allowed a pair of goals in the first quarter, which ended in a 2-2 tie. Over the last three quarters, however, he made eight saves and allowed only one goal as the Tar Heels eventually pulled away for the win, outscoring the Paladins 5-1 over the final three quarters. Balkam's career high for saves is 14 set in games against Virginia and Notre Dame in his sophomore year. Chris Cloutier and Justin Anderson each scored two goals for the Tar Heels while Brian Cannon had a goal and an assist. Sophomore attackman Andy Matthews had a pair of assists while Timmy Kelly and William Perry each recorded single goals for UNC. Peyton Klawinski and Michael Tagliaferri each had single assists in the match. For Furman, William Holcomb scored two goals while Lou Yovino had a single tally. Graham Dabbs and Gus Pinsoneault had assists for the Paladins. Tar Heel senior Stephen Kelly won 11 of 14 face-offs in the game and had a game-high 10 ground balls. Senior Austin Pifani led the Tar Heels defensively with three ground balls and three caused turnovers. Carolina outshot Furman 38-26 and had a 32-24 edge in ground balls. Both goalies played spectacularly with Balkam recording 12 saves for UNC and Alec Van de Bovenkam making 16 saves for the Paladins. UNC was 17 for 20 in the clearing game and Furman was 17 of 19 in that area. The Tar Heels committed 16 turnovers and Furman had 14. Carolina had the edge in extra-man play as the Tar Heels scored twice on three opportunities while Carolina's man-down defense was outstanding, holding the Paladins to an 0-for-5 stat in the category. In fact, the man-down unit play may have been the difference in the game, along with Balkam's goalkeeping.
GOLDSTOCK & PERRY SPARK TAR HEELS PAST LEHIGH: The second-ranked University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team spotted Lehigh an early lead, running off five goals midway through the first quarter, en route to a 15-8 victory over the Mountain Hawks in Carolina's home opener on Saturday afternoon, February 21. A crowd of 1,636 fans saw the defending NCAA champion Tar Heels improve to 3-0 on the season while the Mountain Hawks fell to 2-1.
Senior Luke Goldstock scored five goals, just one shy of his career high in a match, while freshman William Perry had his first career hat trick and sophomore Andy Matthews recorded a career-high four assists, all in the first 17 minutes of the game.
After a high-scoring first half in which the Tar Heels outscored the Mountain Hawks 11-7, Carolina limited Lehigh to just one goal in the second half. UNC goalkeeper Brian Balkam made 10 saves and allowed just eight goals in 54:45 before giving way to Jack Pezzulla, while senior defenseman Austin Pifani had a career high four caused turnovers to lead the UNC defensive effort. Lehigh employed two goalkeepers with Chris Kiernan seeing the bulk of the action. He made seven saves and allowed 15 goals in 54:17 minutes of action.
UNC outshot the Mountain Hawks 40-29 in the game while Lehigh had a 30-29 edge in ground balls. UNC's Stephen Kelly won 14 of 23 face-offs for Carolina and had a game-high six ground balls for Coach Joe Breschi's team. Both squads were turnover prone with Lehigh committing 16 miscues and Carolina coughing up the ball 15 times. Both teams were excellent in clearing the ball as Lehigh went 18-for-20 and North Carolina was 15-for-16. Both teams struggled on their extra-man scoring chances as Lehigh went 1-for-4 and Carolina went 0-for-4.
In addition to the scoring efforts from Goldstock, Perry and Matthews, Chris Cloutier had two goals for UNC while Tate Jozokos, Brian Cannon and Luke Walsh each had a goal and an assist. Michael Tagliaferri and Timmy Kelly also scored for Carolina and Brett Bedard recorded his first career assist. Andrew Pettit led Lehigh with three goals and an assist while Andrew Eichelberger notched two tallies and Tristan Rai has a goal and three assists.
CAROLINA'S 2017 TV SCHEDULE FINALIZED: Ten of 13 games on the regular season schedule for the 2017 University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team will be featured on either ESPNU or ACC Network Extra (with live streaming on ESPN3 and WatchESPN). The 2017 TV schedule was finalized on Thursday, February 2. Carolina's first appearance on ACC Network Extra was Saturday, February 18 when the Tar Heels defeated Lehigh 15-8 at Fetzer Field.
All games on ACC Network Extra will also be shown on ESPN3 and WatchESPN app. Here is the complete list of games on ACC Network Extra.
ACC Network Extra/ESPN3
Saturday, February 18, 1 p.m., Lehigh at UNC
Saturday, February 25, 1 p.m., Johns Hopkins at UNC
Saturday, March 11, 2:30 p.m., Hofstra at UNC
Monday, March 13, 7 p.m., Richmond at UNC
Saturday, March 18, 7:30 p.m., Dartmouth at UNC
Complete 2017 ESPNU Schedule
Saturday, March 25, 11:30 a.m., Maryland at UNC
Sunday, April 2, 7 p.m., Duke at UNC
Sunday, April 9, 7 p.m., UNC at Virginia
Saturday, April 15, 4 p.m., Syracuse at UNC
Saturday, April 22, 12 p.m., UNC at Notre Dame
CAROLINA GARNERS PRESEASON ACC FAVORITE STATUS: North Carolina, the reigning NCAA Champion, was selected as the pre-season favorite in the 2017 ACC Men's Lacrosse Preseason Poll. The Tar Heels shared the ACC regular-season title with Notre Dame last year before going on to capture Carolina's first NCAA title since 1991. UNC finished last year with a 12-6 overall mark, 3-1 in the ACC. Four Tar Heels are on the preseason All-ACC Team - all seniors - attackman Luke Goldstock, midfielder Michael Tagliaferri, short-stick defensive midfielder Tate Jozokos and close defenseman Austin Pifani. Head coach Joe Breschi's Tar Heels received 23 points, including four first place votes, in balloting among the ACC's five head coaches. Notre Dame followed with 21 points and was selected second. Syracuse (16) was selected third, Duke (9) fourth and Virginia (6) fifth.
ACC Men's Lacrosse Preseason Coaches Poll
1. North Carolina - 23
2. Notre Dame - 21
3. Syracuse – 16
4. Duke – 9
5. Virginia – 6
Preseason All-ACC Team
A – Justin Guterding, Jr., Duke
A - Luke Goldstock, Sr., North Carolina
A – Mikey Wynne, Jr., Notre Dame
M – Michael Taliaferri, Sr., North Carolina
M - Sergio Perkovic, Sr., Notre Dame
M – Sergio Salcido, Sr., Syracuse
D - Austin Pifani, Sr., North Carolina
D – Garret Epple, Sr., Notre Dame
D – Nick Mellen, So., Syracuse
Goalkeeper – Shane Doss, Sr., Notre Dame
Face-off – Ben Williams, Sr., Syracuse
Long-stick Midfielder – Michael Howard, Sr., Virginia
Short-Stick Midfielder – Tate Jozokos, Sr., North Carolina
SIX TAR HEELS NAMED PRESEASON FACE-OFF YEARBOOK ALL-AMERICAS: The men's Division I All-Americas from the 2017 Face-Off Yearbook were recently unveiled online. Six Tar Heels were featured on the preseason All-America Teams led by senior defenseman Austin Pifani on the first-team squad.
Pifani is joined by a fellow close defenseman, sophomore Jack Rowlett, who is on the second team squad. A pair of Tar Heels were featured on the third team squad – senior attackman Luke Goldstock and senior face-off man Stephen Kelly.
Two more members of Tar Heel head coach Joe Breschi's team were tapped for honorable mention All-America honors. Junior attackman Chris Cloutier and senior midfielder Michael Tagliaferri are featured on that squad.
North Carolina is coming off a 12-6 season in 2016 in which the Tar Heels won their fifth overall NCAA championship and its first title since 1991.
CAROLINA'S 2016 ALL-AMERICAS: Six Tar Heels were named 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.
The 2016 UNC men's lacrosse team was the first of the five Tar Heel teams to win NCAA championships who did not have a first-team All-America selection.
CAROLINA ELECTS 2016-17 TEAM CAPTAINS: The defending NCAA champion University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team elected its captains for the 2016-17 school year in September 2016.
The group includes one redshirt senior, three true seniors and one redshirt junior. Three of the players are defensemen, one is a midfielder and one is an attackman.
Head coach Joe Breschi announced the election of the captains shortly after the team's annual banquet.
Here is a list of the Tar Heel captains for 2016-17:
Mark Rizzo, Redshirt Senior Defenseman, Hewlett, N.Y. - Mark is in is second year as a Tar Heel captain
Ryan Macri, Redshirt Junior Defenseman, Hamilton, Mass.
Luke Goldstock, Senior Attackman, Niskayuna, N.Y.
Austin Pifani, Senior Defenseman, Roslyn, Pa.
Stephen Kelly, Senior Midfielder & Face-Off Specialist, Lutherville, Md.
TAR HEELS IN THE CLASSROOM DURING LAST SPRING'S NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SEMESTER: The North Carolina men's lacrosse team had its best academic semester in history in spring 2016 in addition to sharing the ACC regular-season championship and winning the NCAA championship for the first time since 1991.
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.
Twenty-four of 45 Tar Heel players were named to the 2015-16 ACC Academic Honor Roll. ACC Honor Roll members must earn a 3.0 grade point average over the course of the 2015-16 school year while taking a minimum of 12 credit hours each semesters.
CAROLINA IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: North Carolina qualified for the NCAA Division I Tournament for the 31st time in school history in 2016. The Tar Heels earned their first NCAA Tournament 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 33-26 all-time in NCAA Tournament play after last Memorial Day's 14-13 overtime victory over the University of Maryland in the 2016 NCAA championship game. 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.
The match against Maryland on May 30, 2016 game marked Carolina's sixth appearance in the NCAA Tournament championship game. Carolina's record in NCAA championship games is now 5-1 after the win over the Terrapins.
Carolina's bid in 2016 was its 10th invitation in a row, a streak which began in 2007 under previous 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. That marked just the fourth time in Tar Heel history that they had 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, 2016 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 on May 22, 2016 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 an 18-13 win over #7 seed Loyola in the NCAA semifinals on May 28, 2016, Carolina's now defeated three higher seeded teams for the first time since the 1986 team accomplished the feat. The win over #1 Maryland in the championship game gave UNC wins over four #7 seeds in the tournament.
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: The 2016 Tar Heel team had five players on the roster with 25 or more goals scored. That marked 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 49 followed by Chris Cloutier with 43, Luke Goldstock with 31, Michael Tagliaferri with 27, and Patrick Kelly with 27.
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 in 2016. 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 last year 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.
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, 2016.
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, 2016 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. That was a regular season game.
On April 25, 1992, Carolina trailed Maryland 7-2 with 12:39 to play in the second quarter before rallying to win 11-10. That game came in the ACC Tournament championship game at College Park, Md.
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 at Fetzer Field. 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 Annapolis, Md.
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.
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 in 2016 that 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.
The 2016 NCAA championship game versus Maryland on May 30, 2016 marked the third time last season that UNC had faced a team ranked #1 in the USILA national coaches poll.
UNC is 12-20 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, against Notre Dame 17-15 on April 23, 2016 and against Maryland 14-13 in overtime on May 30, 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 (12-20)
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 14, Maryland 13 - overtime, (at Philadelphia, Pa.)
CRUCIAL OVERTIME WIN: Patrick Kelly's goal two minutes into overtime against Duke on April 1, 2016 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 2016
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 normal run of play (not off a face-off) 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.
UNC HEAD COACH JOE BRESCHI: Joe Breschi, UNC Class of 1990, leads the Tar Heels in his ninth season at Carolina. Breschi is 97-40 in his nine years at Carolina, a winning percentage of 70.8 percent. He also coached 11 years at Ohio State and is 189-103 overall in 20 seasons as a collegiate head coach. His overall winning percentage at Ohio State and UNC combined is 64.7 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:
• 97-40 in 8 seasons at UNC (70.8)
• 189-103 in 19 seasons overall (64.7)
• 20-16 in one-goal games at UNC
• 52-35 versus ranked teams at UNC; 45-5 versus unranked teams at UNC
• 76-16 versus non-conference teams at UNC
• 59-10 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 on May 22, 2016 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 12-6 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.
UNC VERSUS RANKED OPPONENTS UNDER COACH BRESCHI: North Carolina has played nationally ranked opponents 87 times in Joe Breschi's nine-year coaching tenure. UNC is 52-35 in those games, a winning percentage of 59.8 percent.
Conversely, and as would be expected, the Tar Heels are 45-5 against unranked opponents in Breschi's nine seasons for an outstanding winning percentage of 90.0 percent. Breschi is 97-40 overall at Carolina in his nine 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 11 seasons. The Tar Heels have won 98 of their last 118 games against non-conference teams dating back to April 15, 2006.
In Joe Breschi's nine seasons as head coach, the Tar Heels are a brilliant 77-16 against non-conference teams, a winning percentage of 82.8. 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 59-10 in home games in Coach Joe Breschi's nine years at the helm of the Tar Heels. That's a winning percentage of 85.5 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 284-122-2 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 69.9 percent winning percentage all-time in history in home games.
THE ALL-TIME RECORD: North Carolina has an all-time record of 485-288-2 in the sport of men's lacrosse. That is a winning percentage of .627.
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 20-16 in games decided by one goal over the past nine years.
CAROLINA'S DOUBLE DIGIT SCORING GAMES: In Coach Joe Breschi's nine 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, 2016, 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 103 of 136 games under Coach Breschi's direction dating back to the opening game of the 2009 season. Carolina is 89-14 in those 103 games. As would be expected, in the 34 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 34 games is 8-26. Carolina won its most recent game in which it was held to single digits, beating Furman 7-3 on February 11, 2017. That marked the first game the Tar Heels had won in which both teams scored in single digits since a 9-8 win over Princeton on March 10, 2012.
The 10 goals in the UNC-Furman game were the fewest combined goals in a Tar Heel game since Februrary 13, 2010 when UNC beat Bryant 5-4 in Chapel Hill.
In 2016, UNC was 12-1 when scoring in double digits and 0-5 when being held in single digits.
UNC CLAIMS ANOTHER SEASON OPENING WIN: The Tar Heels beat UMBC 17-6 in their 2017 season opener against UMBC on February 4. UNC has won every season opener since the 1999 season, running its streak to 19 seasons in a row with the win over the Retrievers. 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.
