University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Open ACC Season Sunday Versus Duke
March 31, 2017 | Men's Lacrosse
Tar Heels Open ACC Play Sunday Versus Duke At Fetzer Field
2017 UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA MEN'S LACROSSE GAME NOTES
Game 10: North Carolina Tar Heels (5-4, ACC 0-0, ranked tied #16 in USILA/NIKE Division I Men's Lacrosse Coaches Poll for Week 7, ranked #18 in Maverik Media Poll for Week 7) vs. Duke Blue Devils (7-3, ACC 0-1, rranked #11 in USILA/NIKE Division I Men's Lacrosse Coaches Poll for Week 7, ranked #12 in Maverik Media Poll for Week 7)
Sunday, April 2, 2017
7:00 p.m. EDT
Fetzer Field
Chapel Hill, N.C.
KEY LINKS FOR SUNDAY'S GAME
Live Stats: GoHeels.com
Telecast: ESPNU, ESPN, WatchESPN
UNC Media Guide: 2017 Media Guide Link
UNC Game Notes: PDF Version
Player Roster & Coaches' Bios: GoHeels.com Roster Page
2017 Statistics: Link on GoHeels
UNC Lacrosse Social Media Links: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
TAR HEELS OPEN ACC REGULAR-SEASON CAMPAIGN SUNDAY VERSUS BLUE DEVILS: The University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team, under the direction of ninth-year head coach Joe Breschi, returns to action on Sunday at 7:00 p.m. EDT against the Duke Blue Devils in the Tar Heels' seventh home game of the season at Fetzer Field.
Coach Breschi's team has put in a strong week of practice this week seeking to bounce back from a 15-7 home loss to the Maryland Terrapins last Saturday at Fetzer Field.
Breschi is looking for the Tar Heels to gain some edge from their home field this Sunday where UNC has out-of-character dropped four games this year. Conversely, the Tar Heels are unbeaten away from Chapel Hill this season.
The Tar Heels are just 2-4 at home this season with a 15-8 win over Lehigh on February 18, a 13-5 loss against Johns Hopkins on February 25, an 11-9 loss to Hofstra on March 11, a 6-5 setback versus Richmond on March 13, a 17-6 victory over Dartmouth on March 18 and a 15-7 loss against Maryland on March 25. UNC is 5-4 overall this season with a 2-0 road record and a 1-0 mark at neutral sites this year.
Sunday's game against Duke will be nationally televised on ESPNU. Jason Benetti will be the play-by-play announcer while Quint Kessenich will be the color commentator. This marks the second of five straight games for the Tar Heels to be telecast on ESPNU.
There will be a simulcast on ESPN3 and the Watch ESPN. Live stats can be found on GoHeels.com.
TICKETS FOR SUNDAY'S GAME: All tickets for Saturday's game will be $5 general admission. Tickets can be purchased in advance on the web at the GoHeels.com Ticket Center. All seats are general admission. UNC students, faculty and staff are all admitted free of charge by showing their UNC One Cards at the Fetzer Field gates.
UNC HEAD COACH JOE BRESCHI SHOOTS FOR 100TH TAR HEEL WIN AGAINST BLUE DEVILS: University of North Carolina 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.
He has built an excellent program at Carolina which has gone to eight straight NCAA Tournaments from 2009-2016. In the 12 seasons prior to his arrival (1997-2008), Carolina had only gone to the NCAA Tournament four times (1998, 2004, 2007, 2008).
Saturday's game against the Blue Devils marks Coach Breschi's second chance to gain his 100th victory as head coach of the Tar Heels.
In his nine seasons at Carolina, Breschi is 99-44, a winning percentage of .692.
Sunday's game against Duke will be the 299th game coached on the collegiate level by Coach Breschi. He coached 155 games at Ohio State in 11 seasons from 1998-2008. Sunday's match against the Blue Devils will be his 144th game as the head coach of the Tar Heels.
QUICK SCOUTING THE GAME: The Tar Heels are 5-4 after completing their 2017 non-conference schedule against Maryland last Saturday. The Tar Heels open their ACC season on Sunday night against Duke in Chapel Hill.
Duke is 7-3 overall and 0-1 in the ACC. After opening its season 2-2, the Blue Devils won five games in a row before falling last Saturday at Syracuse 12-11 in overtime.
New rankings from the USILA coaches poll and the Maverik media poll were released on Monday, March 27 with Carolina currently ranked in a tie for #16 in the USILA coaches poll and #18 in the Maverik media poll. The Blue Devils were ranked #11 in both the coaches poll and #12 in the Maverik media poll on Monday, March 27.
CAROLINA VERSUS DUKE THE SERIES: North Carolina and Duke have played each other 72 times in history with the Tar Heels holding the series lead 41-31.
The series began in 1952 with the Blue Devils winning four of the first six meetings.
Between 1968 and 1995, the Tar Heels won an amazing 21 of 22 games in the series.
The Blue Devils responded with some series dominance of their own as they won nine of 11 meetings from 1995-2001. Carolina won three games in a row in the series from 2002-04 before Duke won 16 of 17 games in the series between 1995 and 2013.
UNC has bounced back to win three of the past four games in the series. Each of the last four games between Carolina and Duke have been decided by one goal.
2013 ACC Tournament Semifinals - UNC 18, Duke 17 - Kenan Stadium, Chapel Hill
2014 Regular Season - Duke 9, UNC 8 in overtime - Koskinen Stadium, Durham
2015 Regular Season - UNC 15, Duke 14 - Fetzer Field, Chapel Hill
2016 Regular Season - UNC 17, Duke 16 in overtime - Koskinen Stadium, Durham
SERIES HISTORY (UNC 41 wins, Duke 31 wins)
Most Recent UNC-Duke Meeting (April 1, 2016):
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. Myles Jones led Duke with five goals and six assists while Justin Guterding had four goals for Duke and Jack Bruckner had three goals.
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 in 2015. 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 after 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. In the net, Fowler played the whole way for Duke and made 12 saves while allowing 17 goals.
The Tar Heels jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first quarter on goals by Pontrello, Cannon and Goldstock. Duke answered with two goals before the Tar Heels scored two of the next three goals to take a 5-3 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Carolina took its biggest lead of the game 22 seconds into the second period when Brian Cannon scored the only man-up goal of the game, his second tally of the contest, off an assist by Chris Cloutier. The Blue Devils responded with goals by Deemer Class, Chad Cohan and Myles Jones to tie the game at 6-6 with 9:06 left in the first half.
Goals by Pontrello and Stephen Kelly just nine seconds apart allowed the Tar Heels to retake the lead at 8-6 with 7:53 left in the half.
Neither team would score again in the first half but Duke dominated the opening 10 minutes of the second half, scoring five goals in a row to take an 11-8 lead with 5:33 left in the period. In that five-goal run by Duke, Jones had two goals and two assists.
Just as quickly, the Tar Heels took back the momentum. After going 18:55 without scoring, UNC scored five of the last six goals of the third period to retake the lead 13-12 heading into the final period.
Michael Tagliaferri scored back-to-back goals for UNC at 3:58 and 3:26 to pull the Tar Heels within a goal. Pontrello then tied the game on an unassisted goal with 2:24 left in the quarter. Justin Guterding's transition goal off an assist by Jack Bruckner put the Blue Devils back up 12-11 with 39 seconds left in the period.
But Carolina responded with a goal by Peyton Klawinski, assisted by Timmy Kelly, and a goal by Shane Simpson with 13 and seven seconds left in the period, to put the Heels back up 13-12.
Short stick defensive midfielder Brett Bedard scored his first goal of the season on a fast break off a clearing opportunity with 10:51 left in the game to give the Heels a two-goal lead at 14-12. Guterding answered for Duke 47 seconds later. Neither team scored again until 5:33 to play when again Pontrello scored an unassisted goal. At the 4:02 mark, Bruckner scored for Duke off an assist by Jones. Again, Pontrello was the answer for UNC as he tallied 32 seconds later to put UNC up 16-14 with 3:30 left.
Carolina won the ensuing face-off but after a shot by Kelly was saved by Fowler with 2:37 to play the two teams traded turnovers and after a Duke timeout, Jones scored with 1:14 to play to cut UNC's deficit to a single goal.
Duke won the ensuing face-off but Luke Goldstock caused a turnover by Ethan Powley and the Tar Heels called timeout with 42 seconds to play. Duke forced a turnover by Carolina and pushed transition and Bruckner tied the game off an assist by John Prendergast with eight seconds left.
The game went to overtime, the third straight overtime contest for the Blue Devils. UNC was seeking its first overtime win against Duke since 2004 when the Tar Heels won 10-9 at Koskinen Stadium.
Duke won the opening face-off of the extra session as Kyle Rowe earned the draw and Jamie Ikeda claimed the ground ball. Duke cleared and got a great look by Jones only to see Reder come up big. After the successful clear, UNC called timeout. Kelly picked up a loose ball off a pass and beat two different Duke defenders to score from eight yards out and give the Tar Heels the victory.
STEPHEN KELLY ON CAREER CHARTS: Senior midfielder Stephen Kelly of Lutherville, Md., heads into the Duke game on Sunday with the third most face-off wins in UNC men's lacrosse history. Kelly has won 629 face-offs in his career and he trails career leader Shane Walterheofer (2006-09) who had 723 face-off wins in his career. R.G. Keenan (2011-14) ranks second in Tar Heel history with 646 face-off wins.
Stephen Kelly heads into the match against the Blue Devils with 326 career ground balls. That is the fourth highest ground ball total in UNC history. He trails Jude Collins (1993-96) who had 412 ground balls, Shane Walterhoefer (2006-09) who had 386 ground balls and R.G. Keenan (2011-14) who had 349 ground balls in their respective careers.
Stephen Kelly has a career face-off winning percentage of .554, the 11th best in UNC history.
LUKE GOLDSTOCK ON CAREER CHARTS: Senior attackman Luke Goldstock of Niskayuna, N.Y. heads into the Duke game on Sunday with 151 career points. That is the 18th highest point total in Tar Heel history.
Two players - Gavin Petracca (2007-10) and Jeff Sonke (1998-2001) - are tied for 16th in Carolina history with 157 points apiece just ahead of Goldstock.
Goldstock has scored 105 career goals through last Saturday's Maryland match and he is currently in ninth place in career goals at Carolina. Ahead of Goldstock on the career chart is Dennis Goldstein (1987-91) in eighth place with 108 career goals.
CHRIS CLOUTIER ON CAREER CHARTS: Junior attackman Chris Cloutier (Kitchener, Ontario) has scored 62 career goals. He is currently ranked in a tie for 40th place in Tar Heel history in that category. Monty Hill (1978-81) and Tim Welsh (1984-88) are tied with Cloutier for 40th place in Tar Heel history with 62 goals.
Cloutier has 83 career points. That ranks him in a tie for 53rd place in UNC history with Gregg Langhoff (1991-94) and Monty Hill (1978-81) who also finished their Tar Heel careers with 83 points.
AUSTIN PIFANI ON CAREER CHARTS: Senior defenseman Austin Pifani (Roslyn, Pa.) has 56 caused turnovers in his Tar Heel career. That is the fourth highest caused turnovers total in UNC history. He trails only Ryan Flanagan who had 108 caused turnovers from 2008-11, Michael Jarvis who had 64 caused turnovers from 2007-10 and Tim Kaiser who totaled 60 caused turnovers from 2005-08.
PIFANI NAMED SENIOR CLASS AWARD CANDIDATE: Twenty of the top NCAA® men's lacrosse student-athletes who excel both on and off the field were selected as candidates Thursday, March 9 for the 2017 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate lacrosse. Amongst the candidates for this year's award is University of North Carolina senior defenseman Austin Pifani of Roslyn, Pa. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School ®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. The 20 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists later in the season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition. The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced in conjunction with the 2017 NCAA Men's Lacrosse National Championship in May.
GOLDSTOCK & BALKAM NAMED ACC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK MARCH 7: Following a win over top-ranked Denver on March 4, North Carolina senior attackman Luke Goldstock was named the week's Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Week, while teammate junior goalie Brian Balkam shared ACC Defensive Player of the Week honors. The awards were named on Tuesday, March 7.
Goldstock scored four goals and added an assist, all in the first half, to stake the Tar Heels to a 7-3 halftime lead en route to a commanding 13-9 win at No. 1 Denver on March 4 just a week after UNC was held to five goals, equaling the lowest goal total in the Joe Breschi coaching era against Johns Hopkins the previous Saturday. Goldstock assisted on UNC's opening goal of the game and then scored four of the next six goals, including three in a row to end the first half as UNC went from a 4-3 lead early in the second quarter to a 7-3 advantage at halftime. He scored his four goals on just six shots on goal and also had three ground balls. Goldstock helped the Tar Heels build a solid lead that went as high as five goals in the second half when UNC pulled away for the win.
Despite being outshot 43-34 at No. 1 Denver, UNC pulled off the upset win behind the brilliant play of Tar Heel goalkeeper Brian Balkam. The junior netminder made a career high 17 saves, eclipsing the total of 14 he had last season against Virginia in the 2016 regular season and against Notre Dame in the 2016 NCAA Quarterfinals. After a first quarter in which Balkam had two saves and allowed two goals, he caught fire and made 15 saves and allowed just seven goals over the final 45 minutes of the contest. He made five saves in each of those final three quarters and after UNC went up by four goals at halftime, he never let Denver get closer than three goals and that was with less than four minutes remaining in the contest.
PRE-DUKE DEPTH CHART: After two scrimmages against High Point and Navy and regular-season games against UMBC, Furman, Lehigh, Johns Hopkins, Denver, Hofstra, Richmond, Dartmouth and Maryland, UNC head coach Joe Breschi has projected the following depth chart going into the 10th game of the season against the Duke Blue Deilvs. This will be Carolina's first conference game of the 2017 campaign.
Attack – Luke Goldstock (Sr.), Chris Cloutier (Jr.), Andy Matthews (So.)
Attack Reserves – Matt Gavin (Fr.), Jesse Cuccia (So.), Mike Guerin (Fr.)
1st Midfield — Michael Tagliaferri, (Grad Student), William McBride (Jr.), Timmy Kelly (So.)
2nd Midfield — Justin Anderson (Fr.), William Perry (Fr.), Brian Cannon (Jr.)
3rd Midfield —Peyton Klawinski (Sr.), Tanner Cook (Fr.), Luke Walsh (Sr.), Zach Kissick (Fr.)
Close Defense Starters — Austin Pifani (Sr.), Ryan Macri (Jr.), Jack Rowlett (So.)
Close Defense Reserve – Jake Peden (So.), Joe Kenna (So.)
Face-offs — Stephen Kelly (Sr.), Riley Graham (Jr.), Charles Kelly (So.)
Long Stick Defensive Midfielders —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.)
KELLY & PIFANI NAMED TO TEWAARATON TROPHY WATCH LIST: The Tewaaraton Foundation has announced the 2017 Tewaaraton Award men's watch list. Amongst the men's players on the Watch List are North Carolina Tar Heels Austin Pifani and Stephen Kelly. Pifani is a senior close defenseman from Roslyn, Pa.
Kelly is a senior midfielder from Lutherville, Md. Both players were All-ACC selections in 2016 on Carolina's NCAA championship team. Pifani was a third-team All-America last year and Kelly was an honorable mention All-America. Both Pifani and Kelly are co-captains for the 2017 Tar Heels who are currently 5-4 heading into a match against No. 11 Duke on Sunday. The lists include the top players across all three divisions of NCAA lacrosse and highlight the early contenders for the 2017 Tewaaraton Award, presented by Under Armour.
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 that week's Defensive Player of the Week. The awards were announced on Monday, February 6, 2017.
Anderson made his long-anticipated Tar Heel debut on February 4 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'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 are being featured on either ESPNU or ACC Network Extra (with live streaming on ESPN3 and WatchESPN in both cases). 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/Watch ESPN
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
UNC's games against UMBC (scheduled for ACC Network Extra but not televised due to location change), Furman (YouTube) and Denver (Altitude TV) were the only three Tar Heel games this year not televised on an ESPN or ACC Network platform.
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 were 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. The Tar Heels open their ACC season on April 2 when they host Duke.
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 unveiled online in December 2016. 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 was 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 last fall.
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. - Austin was also a captain in 2016
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 for the third time in Coach Joe Breschi's Tar Heel tenure 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 on May 14, 2016 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 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 from 2009 through 2016.
UNC UNSEEDED: North Carolina earned an at-large bid to the 2016 NCAA Championship and it 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.
Carolina has earned Top 8 seeds in 27 of the 31 NCAA Tournaments for which it has been selected. 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. It was also Carolina's first true road win in an NCAA Tournament since it beat Loyola in the 1989 NCAA quarterfinal round in Baltimore, Md.
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 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 in 2015 and 2016. Carolina opens its 2017 ACC campaign at home Sunday night against Duke.
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.
Carolina opens its 2017 ACC regular season when it hosts Duke on April 2.
AN ACC REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP: Carolina shared the 2016 ACC regular-season 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. The Tar Heels also won the 2013 ACC Tournament championship during Coach Breschi's tenure.
Carolina also shared ACC regular season titles 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 had five players score 25 or more goals in a season.
The group was 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 IN 2016: 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: Because of field improvements that are ongoing, 2017 will mark the first year since 2012 that the Tar Heels have not played a game at Kenan Stadium.
North Carolina had 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 ACC Tournament & 2016 regular season) and Duke (2013 ACC Tournament), Johns Hopkins (2013 regular season), Maryland (2014 regular season) and Notre Dame (2016 regular season) once each in its past six games at Kenan Stadium. Since his arrival as UNC head coach for the 2009 season, Coach Joe Breschi's teams are 7-2 in games played in Kenan Stadium. UNC hosted the ACC Tournament in Kenan Stadium in both 2009 and 2013 during Breschi's tenure.
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 nine 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 a 13-9 victory over top-ranked Denver on March 4, 2017, the University of North Carolina has now recorded victories against team's ranked #1 in the USILA coaches' poll for the sixth straight year Since beating Johns Hopkins 13-9 on April 1, 2012, UNC is now 7-3 against top-ranked teams in its last 10 games against teams ranked at the top of the USILA rankings.
With the 17-15 win against #1 Notre Dame on April 23, the 2016 season had marked the fifth straight year UNC had 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 now 13-20 all-time against teams ranked #1 in the USILA coaches poll.
Carolina has had wins against #1 teams in each of the six years from 2012-17. 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, against Maryland 14-13 in overtime on May 30, 2016 and against Denver 13-9 on March 4, 2017.
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 (13-20)
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.)
March 4, 2017 – UNC 13, Denver 9 (at Denver, Colo.)
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. Foster's goal was the first game-winning overtime goal by a Tar Heel freshman since Corey Gavitt's game-winner downed Duke 9-8 at Fetzer Field in 1986.
Carolina would go on to have a second game-winning overtime goal in the run of play during the 2016 as Chris Cloutier's tally a little more than two minutes into overtime lifted Carolina past Maryland 14-13 in the 2016 NCAA championship contest.
UNC HEAD COACH JOE BRESCHI: Joe Breschi, UNC Class of 1990, leads the Tar Heels in his ninth season at Carolina. Breschi is 99-44 in his nine years at Carolina, a winning percentage of 69.4 percent. He also coached 11 years at Ohio State and is 191-107 overall in 20 seasons as a collegiate head coach. His overall winning percentage at Ohio State and UNC combined is 64.3 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 190th overall victory came in a 13-9 victory over #1-ranked Denver on March 4, 2017 in Denver, Colo.
Breschi Coaching Facts:
• 99-43 in 9 seasons at UNC (69.7)
• 191-107 in 20 seasons overall (64.0)
• 20-17 in one-goal games at UNC
• 53-38 versus ranked teams at UNC; 46-6 versus unranked teams at UNC
• 78-20 versus non-conference teams at UNC
• 60-14 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 that 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 91 times in Joe Breschi's nine-year coaching tenure. UNC is 53-38 in those games, a winning percentage of 58.2 percent.
Conversely, and as would be expected, the Tar Heels are 46-6 against unranked opponents in Breschi's nine seasons for an outstanding winning percentage of 88.5 percent. Breschi is 99-44 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, at Massachusetts in 2016 and at home against Hofstra in 2017.
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 100 of their last 124 games against non-conference teams dating back to April 15, 2006 when the Tar Heels beat Fairfield 18-9 at Kenan Stadium.
In Joe Breschi's nine seasons as head coach, the Tar Heels are a brilliant 79-20 against non-conference teams, a winning percentage of 79.8. 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, to Hofstra, Denver, Massachusetts and Maryland in 2016 and to Johns Hopkins, Hofstra, Richmond and Maryland in 2017.
NEAR DOMINANCE AT HOME UNDER BRESCHI: UNC is 60-14 in home games in Coach Joe Breschi's nine years at the helm of the Tar Heels. That's a winning percentage of 81.2 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 regular-season losses to Hofstra and Denver in 2016 and regular-season losses to Johns Hopkins, Hofstra, Richmond and Maryland in 2017.
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, 2016. That 17-game home winning streak had begun against Bucknell with a 20-4 win on March 11, 2014.
CAROLINA IN HOME GAMES: North Carolina has an all-time record of 285-126-2 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 69.4 percent winning percentage all-time in history in home games.
THE ALL-TIME RECORD: North Carolina has an all-time record of 487-292-2 in the sport of men's lacrosse. That is a winning percentage of .626.
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 20-17 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 105 of 143 games under Coach Breschi's direction dating back to the opening game of the 2009 season. Carolina is 91-14 in those 105 games, a winning clip of .867. As would be expected, in the 38 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 38 games is 8-30, a winning percentage of .210.
Carolina's last win in which it was held to single digits came against Furman in a 7-3 decision 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. In 2017, UNC is 4-0 when scoring in double digits and 1-3 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.
2017 GAME SUMMARIES FOR TAR HEEL VICTORIES
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.
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.
TAR HEELS CLAIM KEY ROAD WIN AT DENVER: The sixth-ranked North Carolina men's lacrosse team was led by a career performance from goalkeeper Brian Balkam as it defeated top-ranked Denver 13-9 at sold out Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium Saturday afternoon, March 4. Balkam made 17 saves and Luke Goldstock had four goals and an assist to pace the Tar Heel offense in capturing a signature win for the UNC program.
UNC led from start-to-finish and it posted a win over a #1-ranked team for the sixth straight season, a streak which began against Johns Hopkins in 2012. UNC has now defeated seven top-ranked teams since April 1, 2012 and is 7-3 against top-ranked teams over the past six years. Prior to the win over Johns Hopkins in 2012, UNC had gone 16 years without recording a victory over a #1 team.
Balkam's 17 saves exceeded his previous career high totals of 14 he had against both Denver and Notre Dame in his sophomore season in 2016. The Tar Heels needed all of Balkam's saves as on paper the Pioneers had a statistical advantage, outshooting Carolina 43-34, winning the ground ball battle 25-19 and having a slight edge at the face-off circle 14-10. The Pioneers were 9-for-9 on clears while UNC was 13-14. Carolina finished with a season-low eight turnovers while the Pioneers had just six.
Balkam allowed two goals and made two saves in the opening period as UNC moved out to a 4-2 lead. Over the final three quarters, he made five saves in each frame, totaling 15 over the final three quarters and allowing only seven goals in that time. For Denver, Alex Ready allowed 13 goals while making just six saves as UNC's offense shot with tactical precision against the Pioneeers.
UNC now leads the all-time series against Denver 10-5 and has won two of the past three games against the Pioneers after Denver had won the previous three contests in NCAA play.
Goldstock's four goals and one assist led the Tar Heel offense while Chris Cloutier and Justin Anderson each scored twice for Coach Joe Breschi's team. Andy Matthews had three assists, running his season total to 11. Both Michael Tagliaferri and Timmy Kelly had a goal and an assist for the Heels. William Perry, Brian Cannon and William McBride also scored for UNC. Denver's Ethan Walker had three goals and an assist while Connor Cannizzaro had a pair of goals for the Pioneers.
The Tar Heels started well with a pair of goals in the opening five minutes of the match. Michael Tagliaferri scored 43 seconds into the game, assisted by Luke Goldstock, and then Goldstock scored a goal of his own off an assist by Andy Matthews with 11:01 left in the first quarter. Neither team scored for almost eight minutes before there was a flurry of four goals, two for each team, in the final 3:39 of the period. After Denver pulled within 2-1, Brian Cannon scored for Carolina with an assist from Timmy Kelly at 2:37. Danny Logan scored just 12 seconds later for Denver but Chris Cloutier's unassisted goal made it 4-2 in favor of the Tar Heels with three seconds left in the opening period.
Denver's Connor Cannizzaro pulled the Pioneers within a goal at 7:42 of the second period before the Tar Heels ran off the final three goals of the half, all by Luke Goldstock. The senior attackman scored off an assist by Andy Matthews at 6:31, off an assist by Michael Tagliaferri at 5:38 and off the third assist of the game recorded by Matthews at 2:47. The last of those three goals put UNC up 7-3 at halftime.
The Tar Heels outscored the Pioneers 3-2 in the third quarter to carry a 10-5 lead into the final frame of action. Chris Cloutier scored a man-up goal 31 seconds into the period and William McBride and Timmy Kelly then each answered Denver goals before the end of the game's third 15 minutes. Kelly's unassisted tally with 11 seconds left in the third quarter put UNC up 10-5.
Denver scored three of the first four goals of the fourth quarter. Ethan Walker's third goal of the game pulled Denver within three goals with 3:32 to play but Tar Heel freshman Justin Anderson scored 41 seconds later and the Las Vegas midfielder scored again with 2:04 left into an empty net to salt away the win.
Stephen Kelly had a solid day at the X for the Heels, winning 10 face-offs against Denver's first-team All-America Trevor Baptiste and earn the Heels crucial possessions throughout the game.
HEELS BOUNCE BACK IN WIN COLUMN VERSUS BIG GREEN: Chris Cloutier led the Tar Heels with seven points, matching the second highest total of his career, and junior Riley Graham stepped in at the face-off circle with 18 wins and 12 ground balls, as seventh-ranked North Carolina defeated Dartmouth 17-6 in men's lacrosse action Saturday night, March 18 at Navy Field.
With the win the Tar Heels snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 5-3 on the season heading into next Saturday's national TV matchup (ESPNU) at Fetzer Field between 2016 NCAA champion North Carolina and 2016 NCAA runner-up Maryland. Face-off next Saturday is at 11:30 a.m. The Tar Heels will be looking to reward head coach Joe Breschi with his 100th win at Carolina against the Terrapins. The win against the Big Green was his 99th at UNC in his nine seasons as head coach.
Three Tar Heels had hat tricks in the game as Chris Cloutier, Andy Matthews and Luke Goldstock each scored three times for Breschi's squad. Cloutier added a career-high four assists in the game, exceeding the three he had against Richmond on March 19, 2016 and against Notre Dame on May 22, 2016. Cloutier's seven points matched the second most he had in a game, equaling the total he had against Richmond on March 19, 2016. His career best is nine points against Loyola on May 28, 2016.
Matthews had the first hat trick of his career, matching the three goals he had in the first seven games of the season, and he added two assists to give him a career high five points in the game. Mike Guerin had the first two goals of his career and Tanner Cook also tallied his first career goal. UNC also got single goals from Michael Tagliaferri, William Perry, Justin Anderson and Timmy Kelly.
Four Tar Heels had their first career assists in the game – Tanner Cook, Matt Gavin, Timmy Gehlbach and Jack Halpert.
With both Stephen Kelly and Charles Kelly on the mend from injuries, junior Riley Graham stepped in at the face-off circle and was brilliant. He won 18 of 26 face-offs in the game and had 12 ground balls. Graham's 18 face-off victories equaled the 16th most in Tar Heel history. His 12 ground balls matched the 10th most in a game in Carolina history.
Carolina outshot the Big Green 54-27 and had a slight edge in ground balls at 36-33. UNC finished with the 18-9 edge in the face-off circle. Carolina finished with 14 turnovers while the Big Green had 18. Nine different Tar Heels had caused turnovers in the match. UNC was 14-of-15 in the clearing game while Dartmouth was 13-of-16.
Brian Balkam started in goal for the Tar Heels and played 45 minutes, making eight saves and allowing just four goals. Jack Pezzulla played 13:34 in goal and had five saves and two goals allowed. Alex Bassil played the last 1:26 in the goal for the Tar Heels. George Christopher played 55:58 in goal for the Big Green and he made 11 saves while allowing 15 goals. Griffin Miller played the last 4:02 in goal for Dartmouth.
After Andy Matthews scored a pair of goals in the opening 57 seconds of the game, Dartmouth scored the last two goals of the opening period. The game remained tied at 2-2 inside the 10-minute mark of the second quarter before UNC took the lead for good with a run of three goals by Tanner Cook, Andy Matthews and Chris Cloutier in a span of 2:14 early in the second quarter. After Dartmouth answered with a goal by Harlan Smart, Carolina ran off five straight goals to go up 10-3 with 11:14 left in the third quarter.
Timmy Kelly scored in the first minute of the second half before back-to-back goals on outside shots by Luke Goldstock put Carolina up 10-3 with less than four minutes elapsed in the second half. The two teams traded the next six goals before Cloutier scored his third goal of the game off Matthews' second assist with 5:03 to play.
In the final four minutes of the game, the Tar Heels' freshmen “G” attackmen combined for three goals. Mike Guerin scored off Jack Halpert's assist at 4:02, Matt Gavin tallied unassisted at 1:26 and Geurin recorded his second goal off an assist by Timmy Gehlbach with 1:06 to play.
