UNC men's lacrosse defense dominates in win against Dartmouth

If the saying, “Offense wins games, defense wins championships” has any merit, success is in the cards for the North Carolina men’s lacrosse team.

The Tar Heel defense suffocated Dartmouth Saturday, holding the Big Green to just 20 shots in the 18-5 UNC victory.

“I think Dartmouth had some pretty good shooters, but our goal was to keep them outside of 12 yards,” coach Joe Breschi said.

“I’m really proud of the effort overall. I think the guys did a terrific job on a workman-like day.”

UNC topped Dartmouth in every stat category, forcing nine more turnovers and scooping up 17 more ground balls than Dartmouth.

North Carolina relies on four defensemen who switch in and out for three-man lines. A fifth member, sophomore Zach Powers, comes in for man-down situations. Breschi uses four man rotations on both offense and defense to build the team’s depth.

“I think when you’re able to build some depth, you’re able to keep the guys fresh, and not make some of the simple mistakes, mental mistakes, as the game progresses,” Breschi said.

The defensive rotation is diverse in experience, with one player from each class. Its two youngest players, sophomore Evan Connell and freshman Austin Pifani, impressed the most in Saturday’s game.

Pifani picked up four ground balls and caused three Dartmouth turnovers in his third career start. Connell picked up one ground ball of his own, bringing his season total to eight.

In the third minute of the second quarter, Connell made his way past the midfield line and scored his second career goal off an assist from senior Pat Foster to put the Tar Heels up 5-0.

Six minutes later, redshirt senior Greg McBride put a fast-break play into motion that gave Pifani his first career goal.

“It was an incredible feeling,” Pifani said. “I’ve never felt anything like it. I just came down, Greg McBride threw it back and I just took the shot. “

In the third quarter, Pifani went for another shot and was denied by Dartmouth’s goalie.

“Goalie read me,” Pifani said. “Same shot as last time.”

Scoring isn’t a priority for defenseman. In fact, defensive goals are a rarity. Connell and Pifani are the only long-poles to score this season, but Breschi said he looks to defensemen to make transition plays and score when the opportunity presents itself.

“We’ve really stressed transition,” Breschi said. “We tell our (defensemen) to go over the midfield line. Everybody’s a part of that. I think sometimes it works well, most of the time, and sometimes it hurts you.

“We’ve got to continue to learn when to take those chances and when not to, but I think it’s great for them. We are a transition team and guys love playing that way.”