Holman, Sankey shine in rain

A career day from two North Carolina men’s lacrosse attackmen catapulted the No. 14 Tar Heels to a dominant 13-5 victory against Dartmouth Monday.

Four goals by senior captain Marcus Holman made him the ninth Tar Heel to score 100 goals in his career.

“It’s something I didn’t really set my sights on,” Holman said. “I’ll be the first to tell you, it’s a product of playing with great players.”

Against Dartmouth, the most notable of those great players surrounding Holman was fellow attackman sophomore Joey Sankey. With four goals and three assists, Sankey set his career high in goals and led the game in points.

“Sankey was definitely feeling it today,” Holman said. “He was locked in from the start.”

For Holman and Sankey, it wasn’t just focus that led to success, though. Mental preparation for the slick conditions they faced on Fetzer Field was key as well.

In a game plagued with players slipping and sliding all over the field, Sankey and Holman found ways to succeed.

“This being my second year, I know that if it’s moist at all you’re going to be slipping out there,” Sankey said. “I knew before the game it was going to be slick, so I was mentally prepared for it.”

Holman said the slick conditions affected both teams equally, adding that they impacted UNC’s preparation for the game.

“Coming into the game we talked about it being kind of a ‘one move and go’ game,” Holman said. “Because rolling back and changing directions, you’re likely to slip.”

Though Sankey and Holman were both impressive individually on a slippery field, it was the way the two played as a pair that excited coach Joe Breschi.

“They work well together,” Breschi said. “Both of them have terrific vision, and they’re both very capable finishers.”

Breschi said it was nice to see Sankey continue to play at a high level, as he has for the past couple weeks.

And even though Holman and Sankey each had one of their best games as Tar Heels, Breschi said his team was striving for perfection despite less-than-perfect field conditions.

“They were talking about the one’s they missed,” Breschi said. “It was just fun to see them work together, play hard together, and come out with 13 points.”

Contact the desk editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.