Tar Heels Are California Bound To Meet Defending Champion Terrapins

Saturday, March 24

Costa Mesa, Calif. (Lebard Stadium)

7:00 p.m. PDT/10 p.m. EDT

North Carolina

Maryland

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

Tar Heels Are California Bound To Meet Defending Champion Terrapins

March 22, 2018 | Men's Lacrosse

Buy Tickets To Pacific Coast Lax Shootout Watch Live On You Tube Live Stats

UNC looks to get back into win column

By: Dave Lohse

Carolina Heads To West Coast To Meet Second-Ranked Maryland

2018 UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA MEN'S LACROSSE GAME NOTES
Game 10: North Carolina Tar Heels (6-3, ranked #19 in USILA Division I Men's Lacrosse Coaches Poll, ranked #20 in Inside Lacrosse Maverik Media Poll) vs. Maryland Terrapins (6-1, ranked #2 in USILA Division I Men's Lacrosse Coaches Poll, ranked #2 in Inside Lacrosse Maverik Media Poll )
Saturday, March 24, 2018
7 p.m. PDT, 10 p.m. EDT
LeBard Stadium, Orange Coast College
Costa Mesa, Calif.
KEY LINKS FOR SATURDAY'S GAME
UNC Media Guide: 2018 Media Guide
Player Roster & Coaches' Bios: GoHeels.com Roster Page
2018 Statistics: Individual Stats
UNC Lacrosse Social Media Links: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

TAR HEELS HEAD TO CALIFORNIA TO MEET DEFENDING NATIONAL CHAMPION TERRAPINS SATURDAY: Head coach Joe Breschi and his 2018 University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team continue a four-game road swing Saturday when the Tar Heels meet the defending NCAA champion University of Maryland Terrapins at 7 p.m. PDT/10 p.m. EDT in the 2018 Pacific Coast Lax Shootout. This will be the fifth year of the Pacific Coast Lax Shootout in Orange County, California. The 2018 game will be played at LeBard Stadium on the campus of Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, Calif. Live Twitter updates during the game will be available via @uncmenslacrosse.

CAROLINA'S SECOND TRIP TO PACIFIC COAST LAX SHOOTOUT: Saturday's game in California will mark the second time the Tar Heels have played in the Pacific Coast Lax Shootout. The Tar Heels also played in the event on March 21, 2015 when the Maryland Terrapins beat Carolina 10-8 in a match played in Santa Ana, Calif. Following are the year-by-year results of the Pacific Coast Lax Shootout.
2014-Denver 10, Notre Dame 7
2015-Maryland 10, North Carolina 8
2016-Notre Dame 9, Maryland 4
2017-Virginia 19, Cornell 18 (OT)

GAME DETAILS: After starting the season with six straight wins, the Tar Heels head to California looking to end a three-game losing streak. The 6-3 Tar Heels opened the campaign with successive wins over Lafayette, Furman, Lehigh, Johns Hopkins, Mercer and St. John's before dropping a 10-6 home game against Denver on March 5. In their past two games, the Tar Heels fell at Hofstra 12-6 on March 10 and at Richmond 11-10 on March 14. Since the loss at Richmond, UNC has had a 10-day break from competition before ending the season with games against #2 Maryland, #3 Duke, #10 Virginia, #13 Syracuse and #4 Notre Dame. The Tar Heels are ranked 19^th this week in the U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association coaches' poll and 20^th in the Maverik media poll. The Maryland Terrapins head to California with a 6-1 record. The Terps, the 2017 NCAA champions, opened their season with five successive wins before falling at home on March 10 to top-ranked Albany 11-10. In their most recent outing, the Terps defeated fifth-ranked Villanova in Philadelphia on March 17 by a 13-11 score. Maryland is ranked second in both the USILA coaches' poll and the Maverik media poll this week.

CAROLINA VERSUS MARYLAND THE SERIES: North Carolina and Maryland will play for the 70th time on the lacrosse field on Saturday when the squads tussle in the Pacific Coast Lax Shootout. Maryland leads the all-time series 44-25. Maryland has won four of the last five meetings between the two teams dating to the meeting at the Pacific Coast Lax Shootout in 2015. Carolina had won five successive regular-season meetings between the two teams beginning in 2010 and extending through 2014. Maryland has won the last three regular-season encounters. UNC head coach Joe Breschi is 7-8 in his 15 games against the Terrapins as the Tar Heels' head coach. The Terrapins won last year's regular-season meeting at Fetzer Field, beating the Tar Heels 15-7 on March 25, 2017.

POTENTIAL STARTING LINEUP: North Carolina's tentative starting lineup against Maryland could look something like the following:
Attack – #55 Matt Cunningham (Sr.), #45 Chris Cloutier (Sr.), #12 Andy Matthews (Jr.)
Attack Reserves — #15 Timmy Kelly (Jr.)
1st Midfield — #77 Tanner Cook (So.), #21 Justin Anderson (So.), #3 William Perry (So.)
2nd Midfield — #11 Brian Cannon (So.), #16 Sean Morris (Fr.), #1 Alex Trippi (Fr.)
3rd Midfield — #18 Ryan O'Connor (So.), #17 Ryan O'Connell (Fr.), #31 Steven Schneider (Fr.)
Short Stick Defensive Midfielders — #11 William McBride (Sr.), #23 Parker Alexander (Fr.), #28 Cam Macri (So.), #40 Cole Haverty (Jr.), #19 Timmy Gehlbach (Sr.), #49 Matt McLaughlin (Fr.)
Long Stick Defensive Midfielders — #4 Jack Halpert (Jr.), #88 Kyle Mathie (Sr.), #0 Jake Peden (Jr.)
Face-Offs — #25 Riley Graham (Sr.), #26 Charles Kelly (Jr.), #17 Ryan O'Connell (Fr.)
Close Defense Starters — #22 Jack Rowlett (Jr.), #20 Ryan Macri (Sr.), #43 Michael Nathan (Jr.)
Close Defense Reserves – #0 Jake Peden (Sr.), #29 Patrick Lyons (So.), #50 Kevin Walker (Jr.)
Goalkeeper — #48 Alex Bassil (Jr.); Backup Goalkeeper — #42 Jack Pezzulla (So.)

UNC HEAD COACH JOE BRESCHI: Joe Breschi, UNC Class of 1990, leads the Tar Heels in his 10th season at Carolina. Breschi is 108-51 in his 10 years at Carolina, a winning percentage of 68.4 percent. He also coached 11 years at Ohio State and is 200-113 overall in 21 seasons as a collegiate head coach. His overall winning percentage at Ohio State and UNC combined is 63.8 percent. On April 9, 2017, UNC head coach Joe Breschi won his 100th game at Carolina. His 100th win as the Tar Heel head mentor came in Carolina's 15-12 victory against Virginia at Klockner Stadium in Charlottesville, Va. His 200th overall coaching victory came in a 9-8 victory over St. John's on March 3, 2017 in Kenan Stadium.
Breschi Coaching Facts:
• 108-51 in 10 seasons at UNC (68.4)
• 200-114 in 21 seasons overall (63.8)
• 24-20 in one-goal games at UNC
• 7-6 in overtime games at UNC
• 57-43 versus ranked teams at UNC; 51-8 versus unranked teams at UNC
• 85-24 versus non-conference teams at UNC
• 65-17 in home games at UNC

UNC VERSUS RANKED OPPONENTS UNDER COACH BRESCHI: North?Carolina has played nationally-ranked (based on USILA coaches poll) opponents 100 times in Joe Breschi's 10-year coaching tenure. UNC?is 57-43 in those games, a winning percentage of 57.0 percent. Conversely, and as would be expected, the Tar Heels are 51-8 against unranked opponents in Breschi's 10 seasons for an outstanding winning percentage of 87.9 percent. Breschi is 108-51 overall at Carolina in his 10 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, at home against Hofstra in 2017 and at Hofstra and at Richmond in 2018.

TAR HEELS IN OVERTIME UNDER BRESCHI: Carolina's 12-11 win over Lehigh on February 17 marked the 13th time the Tar Heels have played overtime in Coach Joe Breschi's 10 seasons as head coach. UNC is 7-6 in those 13 overtime contests and has won four of the last five games that have gone to extra time dating to a 17-16 win at Duke on April 1, 2016.

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 24-20 in games decided by one goal over the past 10 years with Breschi at the helm, a winning percentage of 55.8 percent. UNC is 3-1 in games decided by one goal in the 2018 season.

NEW VENUE FOR 2018: At the conclusion of the 2017 lacrosse season, historic Fetzer Field was razed. Construction on a new Fetzer Field, which will house the men's and women's soccer and lacrosse programs at Carolina, began in May 2017. The new Fetzer Field will reopen in August 2018 in time for the Tar Heels' men's and women's soccer seasons. UNC men's and women's lacrosse will return to the new Fetzer Field in the spring of 2019. In the interim, North Carolina will play all eight of its home games in 2018 in Kenan Stadium, the Tar Heels' historic football stadium which opened 91 years ago in 1927. All home games will be free of charge in 2018. Fans are encouraged to sit on the North Side of the stadium and enter through gate 4 on the West end of Kenan Stadium as stadium improvements are being made on the South Side of the stadium. Parking for weekend games is free in the Bell Tower Parking Deck. Parking will also be available in the Rams Head Parking Lot for a fee on game days and for weekday games. The Rams Head Deck is on the East side of the stadium. Concessions on game days will only be available on the North Side of the stadium. Seating on the South Side of Kenan Stadium is not available this spring as new seats are being installed. The original Fetzer Field was built in 1935 and had served as the home of the Tar Heel men's lacrosse program since 1949, its first varsity campaign. The original Fetzer Field was built as a Works Progress Administration program during the Great Depression.

TAR HEELS AT KENAN STADIUM: Because of field improvements last spring at Kenan Stadium, 2017 marked the first year since 2015 that the Tar Heels did not play a game at Kenan Stadium, the home of the football Tar Heels. UNC is back in Kenan Stadium on a full-time basis in 2018 for eight home games as the new Fetzer Field in being completed on campus. North Carolina had a 6-0 mark in games played at Kenan Stadium from 2013-16 after beating Notre Dame 17-15 there on April 23, 2016. UNC's last loss in the Tar Heel football stadium came on March 5, 2018 when Denver defeated the Tar Heels 10-6. It marked Carolina's first loss at Kenan Stadium since April 26, 2009 when the Tar Heels lost to Duke 15-13 at Kenan Stadium in the ACC Tournament championship game. The Tar Heels defeated Virginia twice (2013 ACC Tournament championship game & 2016 regular season game) and Duke (2013 ACC Tournament semifinals), Johns Hopkins (2013 regular season), Maryland (2014 regular season), Notre Dame (2016 regular season), Lafayette (2018 regular season), Furman (2018 regular season), Lehigh (2018 regular season), Mercer (2018 reguar season) and St. John's (2018 regular season) once each in 12 games at Kenan Stadium played between March 30, 2013 and March 3, 2018. Since his arrival as UNC head coach for the 2009 season, Coach Joe Breschi's teams are 12-3 in games played in Kenan Stadium. UNC hosted the ACC Tournament in Kenan Stadium in both 2009 and 2013 during Breschi's tenure. UNC has won 12 of its past 14 games played at Kenan Stadium dating to the 2009 ACC Tournament semifinals against Maryland on April 24, 2009.

TWO TAR HEELS NAMED PRESEASON ALL-ACC: A pair of Tar Heel veterans were named to the preseason All-Atlantic Coast Conference Team selected by the league's five head coaches and released by the conference office on Tuesday, January 30. Senior attackman Chris Cloutier and junior close defenseman Jack Rowlett were named to the preseason All-ACC Team. Both are entering their third years as starters for the Tar Heels. Cloutier was the Most Valuable Player of the 2017 ACC Tournament when the Tar Heels won their 13th league title in history.

CLOUTIER NAMED TO TEWAARATON TROPHY WATCH LIST: University of North Carolina men's lacrosse senior attackman Chris Cloutier was named to the 2018 Tewaaraton Trophy Watch List on Thrusday, March 1. A total of 50 NCAA Division I men's lacrosse players were named to the list. Cloutier is Carolina's leading scorer with 23 goals and six assists for 29 points. He is a senior from Kitchener, Ontario. He was the Most Valuable Player of the 2016 NCAA Tournament and the 2017 ACC Tournament.

CLOUTIER'S GOAL SCORING & POINTS STREAKS: Senior attackman Chris Cloutier heads into the Maryland game with a 29-game goal scoring streak. That equals longest goal scoring streak in Tar Heel history. He is currently tied with Marcus Holman who also had a 29-game goal-scoring streak during the 2012-13 seasons. During Cloutier's 29-game scoring streak (four games in 2016, 16 games in 2017, 9 games in 2018), he has scored 78 goals, an average of 2.68 goals per game. Cloutier currently has the second longest active goal scoring streak in NCAA Division I lacrosse. The only player with a longer streak is Duke's Justin Guterding who has scored goals in 36 straight games dating back to March 26, 2016. Cloutier's current goal-scoring binge began on May 14, 2016 against Marquette in the first round of that year's NCAA Tournament. Cloutier also has at least one point in 29 successive games. That is tied for the 14th longest point production streak in Tar Heel lore with Billy Bitter (2009-10). During those 29 games, Cloutier has been responsible for 101 points on 78 goals and 23 assists. Cloutier's 29-game point streak is the 12th longest streak amongst current streaks in NCAA Division I.

CHRIS CLOUTIER ON CAREER CHARTS: Senior attackman Chris Cloutier (Kitchener, Ontario) has scored 103 career goals at Carolina heading into the Maryland game. Cloutier became the 14th player in UNC history to score 100 goals in his career when he tallied with 1:28 left in the third quarter in the March 5 game against Denver. Cloutier is in 11th place in UNC goal scoring history. He is one goal behind fellow Canadian Chad Tutton (2012-15) who is in 10th place with 104 goals. Cloutier is currently in 25th place in points in Carolina history with 137. He has 103 goals and 34 assists in his career. Next up on the career points chart are Harper Peterson (1967-70) and Mike McCall (2002-05) in a tie for 23rd place with 140 career points.

KELLY NAMED ACC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK ON FEBRUARY 26: University of North Carolina junior attackman Timmy Kelly of Lutherville, Md., was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Week on Monday, February 26. Kelly scored a career-high four goals as North Carolina earned a 13-11 victory at No. 13/14 Johns Hopkins, giving the Tar Heels their fifth straight win over the Blue Jays in Baltimore. With the game tied at 9-9, Kelly put North Carolina ahead for good with a man-up goal with 8:11 left in the game. He scored again 15 seconds later to give the Tar Heels a two-goal lead and then scored with 5:09 left in the match for the eventual game-winning goal in UNC's 13-11 victory. Kelly's previous career high was three goals in a game, achieved on a trio of occasions - once in 2017 and twice in 2018.

ANDY MATTHEWS ASSIST STREAK COMES TO END: Junior attackman Andy Matthews recorded at least one assist in 16 successive games before that streak was ended last Saturday by Hofstra. Matthews had begun his assist streak against Dartmouth on March 18, 2017 and it extended for 16 games through the contest against Denver on March 5, 2018. His 16-game assist streak equaled the fifth longest streak in UNC lacrosse history. Players with assist streaks longer than Matthews included Bruce Ledwith (1972-73) at 22 games, Michael Burnett (1980-82) at 21 games, Dennis Goldstein (1990-91) at 18 games and Joey Sankey (2015) at 17 games while Brendan Carey (1996) also had a 16 game assist streak.

CAROLINA SQUAD CHOOSES FIVE CAPTAINS FOR 2018 TEAM: The University of North Carolina men's lacrosse program, under the leadership of Tar Heel head coach Joe Breschi, elected five players to serve as team captains for the 2018 season. The 2018 Tar Heel team captains include:
• Senior attackman Chris Cloutier of Kitchener, Ontario
• Senior defenseman Joe Kenna of Chantilly, Va.
• Senior defenseman Ryan Macri of Hamilton, Mass.
• Senior defenseman Kyle Mathie of Smithtown, N.Y.
• Senior midfielder William McBride of Baltimore, Md.
McBride is the second member of his family to serve as a Tar Heel captain. His brother Greg McBride served as a team captain in 2014. Macri served as a team captain on the Tar Heels' ACC championship team in 2017. He is one of just eight individuals to serve as a team captain in multiple years for the Tar Heel program, joining the following players who were all two-time team captains in their own right.
• Ryan Macri, 2017-18
• Austin Pifani, 2016-17
• Mark Rizzo, 2016-17
• Marcus Holman, 2012-13
• Mike Munnelly, 2007-08
• Austin Garrison, 2002-03
• Joey Seivold, 1986-87
• Lew Floyd, 1953-54

TAR HEELS ON TV IN 2018: Carolina will have four of its 14 regular season games televised on ESPNU in 2018. In addition to that, seven more games will be televised on ACC Network Extra with live streaming on WatchESPN and the ESPNApp. Games at Hofstra and Richmond will be on other networks. The only non-televised game will be against Maryland in California on March 24.
The 2018 ESPNU schedule is as follows:
• Friday, February 23, 5 p.m., North Carolina at Johns Hopkins
• Friday, March 30, 5 p.m., North Carolina at Duke
• Saturday, April 14, 4 p.m., North Carolina at Syracuse
• Saturday, April 21, 12 p.m., Notre Dame at North Carolina
The 2018 ACC Network Extra schedule is as follows:
• Saturday, February 3, 12 p.m., Lafayette at North Carolina
• Saturday, February 10, 12 p.m., Furman at North Carolina
• Saturday, February 17, 12 p.m., Lehigh at North Carolina
• Wednesday, February 28, 4 p.m., Mercer at North Carolina
• Saturday, March 3, 10:30 a.m., St. John's at North Carolina
• Monday, March 5, 4 p.m., Denver at North Carolina
• Saturday, April 7, 6 p.m., Virginia at North Carolina
The UNC-Hofstra game was televised on LSN and Pride Productions. The UNC-Richmond game was televised on NBCSW+ and NBCSPhiladelphia+.

TAR HEELS IN THE POLLS: North Carolina entered the 2018 season coming off an 8-8 campaign in 2017 in which it won the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship and earned an NCAA Tournament bid for the 11th straight season. Carolina began the 2018 campaign ranked ninth in the Inside Lacrosse Maverik preseason media poll. Coach Joe Breschi's Tar Heels were also ranked ninth in the preseason United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association preseason coaches' poll. The first regular season polls were released on February 12. After starting the season 6-3, Carolina is currently ranked #19 in the USILA coaches poll and #20 in the Inside Lacrosse Maverik media poll this week.

CAROLINA PICKED TO FINISH THIRD IN ACC: The North Carolina men's lacrosse team was picked to finish third in the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2018. The preseason poll voted on by the league's five head coaches was released on Tuesday, January 30. The Tar Heels are the defending Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament champions after having finished fourth in last year's ACC regular season standings. Duke and Notre Dame are tied atop the 2018 preseason poll with 17 points each in the rating. The Tar Heels are picked third with 12 poll points. Syracuse is fourth with nine poll points and Virginia is fifth with six poll points.

CONGRATULATIONS MARCUS: The U.S. men's lacrosse national team named its 23-player travel roster that will represent the United States in the Federation of International Lacrosse Men's World Championship July 12-21 in Netanya, Israel. The U.S. team will again include 2013 University of North Carolina alumnus Marcus Holman, who also played on the National Team when the World Championships were held in Denver, Colo., in 2014. The U.S. Team won a silver medal in that event.

28 TAR HEELS NAMED TO ACC ACADEMIC HONOR ROLL IN 2016-17: A record 385 University of North Carolina student-athletes were named to the 2016-17 Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Honor Roll, announced on July 13, 2017 by the league. It was the second year in a row and the fourth time in the past five years that UNC had established a new high and the fifth year in a row that more than 300 Tar Heel student-athletes have been honored. Coach Joe Breschi's North Carolina men's lacrosse team was responsible for 28 of the 385 Tar Heels on the Honor Roll during the last school year. Fifty-six percent of the team's 50 members were tapped for the Honor Roll. The ACC champion 2017 Tar Heels placed four more members on the team than the outstanding number of 24 tapped from 2016's NCAA championship squad for the 2015-16 Honor Roll. Overall, the 2016-17 school year honorees included freshman Justin Anderson, senior Brian Balkam, sophomore Alex Bassil, junior Bug Carper, freshman Tanner Cook, junior Matt Cunningham, junior Mike D'Alessandro, senior Luke Goldstock, junior Riley Graham, sophomore Jack Halpert, sophomore Cole Haverty, senior Stephen Kelly, sophomore Timmy Kelly, senior Peyton Klawinski, senior Jack Lambert, freshman Patrick Lyons, freshman Cam Macri, junior Ryan Macri, junior Kyle Mathie, sophomore Andy Matthews, junior Patrick McCormick, sophomore Michael Nathan, senior Austin Pifani, sophomore Jordan Prysko, senior Mark Rizzo, freshman Tyler Seminetta, sophomore Kevin Walker and senior Luke Walsh.

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 13 seasons, dating back to the 2006 season. The Tar Heels have won 106 of their last 134 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 10 seasons as head coach, the Tar Heels are a brilliant 85-24 against non-conference teams, a winning percentage of 78.7. 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, Maryland and Albany in 2017 and to Denver, Hofstra and Richmond in 2018.

NEAR DOMINANCE AT HOME UNDER BRESCHI: UNC?is 65-17 in home games in Coach Joe Breschi's 10 years at the helm of the Tar Heels. That's a winning percentage of 79.3 percent. UNC's only home losses during Breschi's 10-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, regular-season losses to Johns Hopkins, Hofstra, Richmond, Maryland, Duke and Syracuse in 2017 and a regular season loss to Denver in 2018. 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 290-129-2 in home games. That included a perfect 11-0 record in 2015. In Joe Breschi's 10-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 69.3 percent winning percentage all-time in history in home games.

THE ALL-TIME RECORD: North Carolina has an all-time record of 492-299-2 in the sport of men's lacrosse. That is a winning percentage of .624.

CAROLINA'S DOUBLE DIGIT SCORING GAMES: In Coach Joe Breschi's 10 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 11-10 loss to Richmond on March 14, 2018, marked only the 18th 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 117 of 159 games under Coach Breschi's direction dating back to the opening game of the 2009 season. Carolina is 99-18 in those 117 games, a winning clip of .853. As would be expected, in the 42 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 42 games?is just 9-33, a winning percentage of .214. Carolina's last win in which it was held to single digits in goals came against St. John's 9-8 at Kenan Stadium on March 3, 2018. That marked the first game the Tar Heels had won in which both teams scored in single digits since downing Furman in a 7-3 decision on February 11, 2017 at Greenville, S.C. The 10 goals in the UNC-Furman game on February 11, 2017 were the fewest combined goals in a Tar Heel game since Februrary 13, 2010 when UNC beat Bryant 5-4 in Chapel Hill at Navy Field. In 2017, UNC was 6-3 when scoring in double digits and 1-5 when being held in single digits. The Tar Heels are 5-0 in games in which they have scored in double digits in 2018 and 1-1 in which they have scored in single digits.

UNC CLAIMS ANOTHER SEASON OPENING WIN: The Tar Heels beat Lafayette 17-10 in their 2018 season opener on February 3. UNC has won every season opener since the 1999 season, running its streak to 20 seasons in a row with the win over the Leopards. 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.

CAROLINA VERSUS NUMBER ONE: During the 2017 season, North Carolina played against the team ranked #1 in the nation in the USILA coaches poll a total of three times. North Carolina played against the #1-ranked team in the USILA coaches poll that third time when it defeated Syracuse 16-15 on Friday, April 28 in the ACC Tournament semifinals. That was also the 12th time UNC had played the nation's #1-ranked team since midway through the 2012 season.With a 13-9 victory over top-ranked Denver on March 4, 2017 , the University of North Carolina recorded a victory against a team ranked #1 in the USILA coaches' poll for the sixth straight year. UNC would go on to play Syracuse twice in the 2017 when the Orange was ranked #1, losing an overtime game in the regular season before win ning against the Orange in the ACC Tournament semifinals.Since beating Johns Hopkins 13-9 on April 1, 2012 at the Meadowlands, UNC is now 8-4 against the nation's top-ranked teams in its last 12 games against teams ranked at the top of the USILA coaches rankings. Altogether, UNC played #1 teams thrice each in both the 2016 and 2017 campaign. According to research by UNC Athletic Communications, UNC is now 14-21 all-time against teams ranked #1 in the USILA coaches poll after the April 28, 2017 victory against Syracuse. Carolina's first meeting against a #1 USILA ranked team came in 1974.
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, against Denver 13-9 on March 4, 2017 and against Syracuse 16-15 on April 28, 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 (14-21)
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 19, 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.)
April 15, 2017 – Syracuse 12, UNC 11 – overtime (at Chapel Hill, N.C.)
April 28, 2017 – UNC 16, Syracuse 15 (at Durham, N.C.-ACC Tournament Semifinal)

THE FINAL GAME AT THE OLD FETZER: Fetzer Field had served as the primary home of the University of North Carolina men's lacrosse program since the varsity program's founding in 1949. Despite exhaustive efforts at research, an exact record for games played at Fetzer is not fully known or researchable due to gaps in athletic communications records from the 1940s to 1970s. The all-time home record for UNC lacrosse since 1949 was 285-128-2 at the end of the 2017 season and now stands at 290-128-2 overall. That includes games played at Fetzer Field, Kenan Stadium, Navy Field, Henry Stadium and Finley Field. Fetzer Field was built as a track and field facility in 1935 as a Works Projects Administration (WPA) project during the President Franklin Delano Roosevelt Administration in the Great Depression. Over the decades, several more sports began to compete at Fetzer Field - men's soccer in 1947, men's lacrosse in 1949, women's soccer in 1979 and women's lacrosse in 1996. Fetzer Field was torn down in May 2017. A new soccer/lacrosse specific stadium is b being built on the same spot with opening planned for August 2018 in time for the 2018 men's and women's soccer campaigns. A new track and field facility is being built on Old Mason Farm Road in Chapel Hill near the Ronald McDonald House and a new field hockey stadium is being built on Ehringhaus Field. An indoor practice facility for football and outdoor football practice fields are also a part of the overall athletics construction project and those are located on the previous site of Navy Field and Henry Stadium.

LOOKING FOR 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 was 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 as the Tar Heel head coach. 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 marked 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, the first two seasons under head coach Willie Scroggs and the last four under head coach Dave Klarmann. After going 8-8 in 2017, the Tar Heels are off to a 6-3 start in 2018. Four more wins this season would give the Tar Heels 10 or more wins in a season for the ninth time in head coach Joe Breschi's 10-year coaching tenure. The Tar Heels have five more regular-season games remaining.