Tar Heels Travel To Play Unbeaten Notre Dame Sunday
March 7, 2009
UNC MEN'S LACROSSE AT A GLANCE
Tar Heels Meet Notre Dame Sunday: The third-ranked University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team hits the road for the second weekend in a row as Head Coach Joe Breschi's Tar Heels meet the seventh-ranked Fighting Irish of Notre Dame Sunday at 1 p.m. in South Bend, Ind. CBS College Sports will nationally televise the game and it will be the first of five successive weekend games on national television for the Tar Heels. After meeting Notre Dame Sunday, UNC will host Providence Wednesday before playing four successive national TV games on ESPNU against Duke, Maryland, Johns Hopkins and Virginia.
Tar Heels Off To Fastest Start Since 2002: With a win over Detroit Mercy this past Tuesday 19-4, North Carolina has started the 2009 campaign with a record of 6-0. The last time UNC started a season with six straight wins was 2002. The Tar Heels finished that season 8-5 after going 2-5 over its last seven games of the season. The last time a Tar Heel team opened its campaign with seven straight wins was 1993 when Carolina started at 9-0. That Tar Heel team went on to play in the NCAA championship game, the last time a UNC team advanced to the Memorial Day Weekend final 4 in men's lacrosse. Zimmerman Named To Lowe's Senior Class Award List: Senior goalkeeper Grant Zimmerman was named Friday as one of 30 players under consideration for the 2009 Lowe Senior CLASS Award. 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: Classroom, Character, Community, and Competition. A year ago, Tar Heel senior midfielder Fletcher Gregory was one of the 10 finalists for the prestigious national award. The Starting Attack: UNC's starting attack unit of senior Bart Wagner, junior Gavin Petracca and sophomore Billy Bitter is currently averaging 11 points per game as a unit in the season's first six games. Wagner leads the way for the Tar Heels will 23 points while Bitter has 22 and Petracca 21. Wagner leads the team in goals with 16 while Bitter is second with 13 and junior midfielder Sean Delaney is third with 12 goals. Petracca is the team leader in assists with 10 while Bitter is second with nine. The Passing Game In High Gear As Wagner and Delaney Scorch Mountain Hawks: Playing against a zone defense last Saturday against Lehigh, UNC had one of its most successful passing games in years as the Tar Heels scored 14 goals on an amazing 13 assists. Bart Wagner had a career-high seven points in the game on four goals and three assists, exceeding his previous high of six against Marist on March 18, 2008. Junior midfielder Sean Delaney had a career-high four goals in a game against the Mountain Hawks. Delaney has scored 12 goals so far in 2009. He has already equaled his goal total of 12 he scored in 14 games in 2008. Delaney's four-goal game was his best as he exceeded the hat trick he had against Navy on February 20 and the three he had against Providence on April 21, 2007. In the win over Navy, Delaney scored back-to-back goals late in the fourth quarter to rally the Tar Heels from an 8-7 deficit to a 9-8 win over the Midshipmen. Howard, Locke and McCall Against Detroit Mercy: This past Tuesday's 19-4 win over Detroit Mercy allowed Head Coach Joe Breschi to play his reserves the entire second half. This resulted in some new career high efforts for several Tar Heels. Junior attackman Joe Howard had the first hat trick of his career and finished with a personal best four points. Senior attackman Matthias McCall also had a career-high four points with a two-goal, two-assist effort. Sophomore goalkeeper Jamie Locke saw the first-ever action of his career, playing the last 18:52 of the match. Locke proved himself worthy with a six-save effort while allowing only two goals. He also had two ground balls. Walterhoefer On The Career Charts: Shane Walterhoefer has now won a school record 537 face-offs in his career. He set the record in the final game of the 2008 season, passing Kevin Frew's previous career record of 446 face-off victories. The Offensive Output: Through the opening six games of the 2009 season, North Carolina is averaging 14.83 goals per game. That compares to an average of just 9.96 goals per game scored by the Tar Heels in 14 games in 2008. In The National Stats: Prior to the Detroit Mercy game on Tuesday, a 19-4 win, UNC was ranked in a tie for fifth in the NCAA in scoring offense with an average of 14.00 goals per game. The Tar Heels were tied with their Sunday opponent, Notre Dame. Carolina was also sixth in scoring defense, allowing just 6.80 goals per game through last Saturday's match versus Lehigh. Other national rankings for the Tar Heels included: Face-Off Percentage: Sixth, .650; Man-Up Offense, 21st, .400; Man-Down Defense, 19th, .714; Scoring Margin, 2nd, 7.20; Assists Per Game, 2nd, 9.80; Points Per Game, 3rd, 23.80. Tar Heels Leads Nation In Ground Balls: Coach Joe Breschi has instituted a new style of play for the Tar Heels, employing a pressure riding game, fast-break offense and an emphasis on producing more possessions per game. One of the results of the switch has been the increase in average ground balls per game where the Tar Heels are leading the nation through March 1 at 49.80 per game. UNC's .650 face-off percentage is a big part of the success in the ground ball game. Senior face-off man Shane Walterhoefer is currently fourth in the nation in ground balls per game with 8.00. Walterhoefer was also seventh in face-off winning percentage at .652. The Tar Heels are also averaging 49.5 shots per game, compared to 35.7 shots per game in 2008. Riding And Clearing: Riding and clearing are an essential part of the game and the Tar Heels are doing a better job of both in 2009. This year's group is clearing successfully at a .826 clip compared to .728 in 2008. UNC has also limited opponents to success on only .631 percent of clear attempts. A year ago, opponents cleared at a .850 clip. Zimmerman In The Net: Senior goalkeeper Grant Zimmerman began the week with the nation's eighth best goals against average at 6.91. A year ago, Zimmerman averaged a 9.42 goals against average per contest. Tar Heels Explode For 20 Goals: The 20 goals UNC scored against Denver on February 14 were the most scored by UNC since a 27-7 win over Pfeiffer on April 26, 2001 at Henry Stadium. It was the most goals scored by UNC against an NCAA Division I opponent since April 16, 1997 when UNC won at VMI by a 22-2 score. Tar Heels Seek To Reward Breschi With 99th Career Win: New UNC head coach Joe Breschi has started his Tar Heel career 6-0. Now in his 12th year as a head coach, the first 11 at Ohio State, Breschi is 98-63 overall as UNC prepares to meet the Fighting Irish. UNC Versus Notre Dame: Sunday's game versus Notre Dame will be the ninth between the two teams. UNC leads the series 5-3 but the series is tied at three apiece in this decade. Carolina has a 2-1 record in South Bend. The UNC Head Coach Dave Klarmann and Notre Dame Head Coach Kevin Corrigan initialized the series in 1995 and 1996. UNC won both of those games, 11-8 in Chapel Hill and then 11-10 in South Bend. The series resumed in 2003 and the Fighting Irish won three of the first four games, winning 10-8 in 2003 and by identical 9-7 scores in 2005 and 2006. Carolina has won the past two games in the series, both of which were played in Chapel Hill. UNC won 11-8 in 2007 and then 8-6 in 2008. Carolina On Cover Of Inside Lacrosse Magazine: Senior midfielder Ben Hunt is featured on the front cover of the March 2009 issue of Inside Lacrosse Magazine. The magazine includes an eight-page feature on the Tar Heels with photography by Triangle area native Peyton Williams. Bart Wagner Has Scored In All But Two Career Games: North Carolina senior attackman Bart Wagner had the third-longest scoring streak in NCAA Division I lacrosse before it was snapped against Ohio State on April 12, 2009. Wagner had scored at least one point in 38 successive games, a streak which started on February 26, 2006 against the University of Denver in an 11-8 loss to the Pioneers at Denver. At the time his streak ended, Wagner was tied for third on the list with Ohio State's Kevin Buchanan. Only Matt Danowski of Duke and Mike Leveille of Syracuse had longer scoring streaks in their careers at that time. During the 38-game scoring streak, Wagner had scored 49 goals and added 47 assists for 96 points. In fact, Wagner has scored at least one point in 48 of 50 career games at UNC. His only scoreless games came against Air Force on February 25, 2006 during the second game of his Tar Heel career and against Ohio State on April 12, 2008. Wagner led the Tar Heels in scoring in 2006, 2007 and 2008. He has 72 career goals and 60 career assists for a total of 130 career points heading into the Notre Dame game. Wagner needs three assists to move into a tie for 10th place in career assists at UNC. Walterhoefer Wins 15 Or More Again: When Shane Walterhoefer won 16 face-offs in UNC's 11-9 win over Colgate on February, it marked the 14th time in his career he has won at least 15 face-offs in a game. Walterhoefer has won 15 or more face-offs in a game three times this year. The senior won 15 in the season opener against Robert Morris in 22 attempts then followed that with stunning back-to-back performances against Navy and Colgate on February 20 and 22. Walterhoefer won 16 of 20 against the Midshipmen in a 9-8 win and 16 of 24 against the Red Raiders in an 11-9 win. Bitter and Petracca Start Out Hot Against RMU and UD: Attackmen Billy Bitter, a sophomore, and Gavin Petracca, a junior, started out on fire for the Tar Heels. Bitter scorched Robert Morris for five goals and one assist and Petracca added four goals and one assist. Bitter set career highs for points and goals in a game against Robert Morris. He had scored three goals as a freshman against Cornell on March 2, 2008 and had three points as a freshman in that both Cornell game and against Duke on March 15, 2008. Against Denver, Bitter rang up three goals and four assists and Petracca had four goals and four assists. Bart Wagner and Ben Hunt also had three goals in the game and Sean Delaney and Cryder DiPietro had two each. Against the Pioneers, Petracca set career highs for assists in a game with four -- he previously had three each against Bellarmine on March 7, 2007, Notre Dame on March 10, 2007 and Johns Hopkins on March 31, 2007. His eight points were also a career high, eclipsing the six he had against Vermont on March 13, 2007. Cryder DiPietro equaled his career high for goals in a game with two against the Pioneers. He also had two against Bellarmine on February 16, 2008 and against Duke on April 25, 2008. DiPietro also had two goals against Detroit Mercy on March 3. Bitter's seven points went one better than his previous career high of six against Robert Morris a week before. His four assists were also a career high, bettering the three he had at Duke on March 15, 2008. Petracca Named ACC Player Of The Week: North Carolina's Gavin Petracca was named the first 2009 Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Lacrosse Player of the Week for the period ending on Sunday, February 15. Petracca helped the fifth-ranked Tar Heels reach their highest goal tally in a single game since 2001 in a 20-7 victory over 14th-ranked Denver before a crowd of 1,243 at Fetzer Field. The junior from Manhasset, N.Y., tallied eight shots, six on goal, four goals and a career-high four assists in the Tar Heels' second victory on the young season. Petracca's eight points broke his previous career-high of six points versus Vermont in 2007. The attacker registered three of his goals and three of his assists in a 12-0 scoring run that broke open the game from an 8-6 halftime lead to a 20-6 advantage. Redshirt junior attackman Gavin Petracca was the featured men's lacrosse podcast this on February 16 on NCAA.com.
Wagner Named ACC Player Of The Week: North Carolina's Bart Wagner was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Lacrosse Player of the Week for the period ending on Sunday, February 22. Wagner's six goals last week propelled the fifth-ranked Tar Heels to wins over No. 9 Navy and No. 17 Colgate.
The senior from Glen Arm, Md., registered six goals on only 12 shots in two games on the week. The attacker scored three goals on four shots and tallied five ground balls in a tough 9-8 victory over 2008 NCAA quarterfinalist Navy. On Sunday, Wagner scored three goals on eight shots, added an assist and recorded four ground balls in an 11-9 victory over 2008 NCAA participant Colgate.
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