UNC lacrosse coach to face off against former players at Ohio State
Following the 2008 lacrosse season, coach Joe Breschi arrived at his alma mater, North Carolina, after leaving Ohio State — where he spent 11 seasons building a team from scratch.
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Following the 2008 lacrosse season, coach Joe Breschi arrived at his alma mater, North Carolina, after leaving Ohio State — where he spent 11 seasons building a team from scratch.
North Carolina’s matchup against Robert Morris on Saturday was not simply a season opener; it was the collegiate debut of coach Joe Breschi’s No. 1 recruiting class.
The North Carolina women’s lacrosse team kicked off its season in dramatic fashion Saturday, defeating Florida 10-9 on a game-winning goal from senior Corey Donohoe with seven seconds remaining in overtime.
Both the North Carolina men’s and women’s lacrosse teams are coming off successful 2010 campaigns, and both squads will begin the season ranked No. 3 in the country in the preseason polls.
Hoping to build on the momentum of a 17-7 quarterfinal victory against Virginia, the No. 3 seeded Tar Heels knew they would have to play near flawlessly if they hoped to defeat No. 2 Northwestern in Friday night’s NCAA women’s lacrosse semifinal matchup held in Towson, Md.Going into the contest, UNC had the benefit of having defeated the Wildcats once previously this season, but it ultimately wasn’t enough to break Northwestern’s 23-game NCAA Tournament winning streak.A few pivotal turnovers and the offensive productivity of Northwestern’s attackers helped the Wildcats avenge their April 18 loss to North Carolina in a 15-10 victory that advanced them to their sixth straight national title game Sunday.“Unfortunately, it’s really hard to score without possession,” North Carolina coach Jenny Levy said. “And I thought early in the game, unfortunately for us, we didn’t capitalize on a couple of opportunities that we had.”The Wildcats dominated possession in the game, winning 17 draw controls to UNC’s nine and outshooting the Tar Heels 34-21. With diminishing opportunities to score, the Tar Heel offense proved too little too late as Northwestern pulled away in the final 10 minutes of the game.“Hindsight 20/20, I would have told our players to make more of our offensive possessions because they were few and far between,” Levy said.North Carolina midfielder Laura Zimmerman was first to score for the Tar Heels after a behind-the-goal pass from attacker Corey Donohoe.Zimmerman would tally three goals for UNC in the contest, while Donohoe would go on to break the program’s single-season point record with two goals and two assists throughout the game.Northwestern tied the game up a few minutes later, and after nearly 13 minutes of scoreless play, scored again to take the lead 2-1.Both teams would continue trading goals until the last 30 seconds of the half, when UNC scored twice and Northwestern once to tie the game at 4-4 with another half to play.The Wildcats dominated in the second half, taking a quick 6-4 lead over UNC that they would build upon for the remainder of the game.The Tar Heels were able to narrow Northwestern’s lead to one at 10-9 when Donohoe scored her second goal with about 16 minutes left to play, but it would be the last time UNC remained within striking distance of the Wildcats.Northwestern went on to score four consecutive goals in the final 13 minutes of the game, giving them a 14-9 lead that North Carolina would not overcome.Kristen Taylor scored UNC’s last goal at the three-minute mark, and a Northwestern goal in the closing seconds brought the score at the final whistle to 15-10.Northwestern would go on to lose in the title game 13-11 to ACC Tournament champion Maryland.With the loss, North Carolina finished the season with an overall record of 17-3, which ties the school record set in 2002 for most wins in a season.“We’ve had a great season; I’m very proud of my student-athletes,” Levy said. “They fought to the end.”Moving forward, Levy said she hopes next year’s team can build on the successes of this season.“As a program, we accomplished many of our goals,” Levy said. “We dominated on ground control, we put teams away on a consistent basis and we inspired a lot of people who watched us play.”Five Tar Heel seniors have graduated, but a majority of the team will be returning for next season, including leading season scorers Donohoe and Becky Lynch.“Although we’re really sad to see our seniors leave, it seems to me that we’ll have a really united, hard-working team next year that’s ready to grind,” Levy said.
The goal of winning an NCAA title for the men’s lacrosse team was extinguished on Saturday afternoon when Duke beat North Carolina 17-9 in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament.The Tar Heels were able to match the Blue Devils in the first quarter with a score of 2-2 at the whistle, but Duke quickly pulled away in the second quarter and continued to outscore UNC in the third and fourth quartersThe loss marked the final game as a Tar Heel for seven North Carolina seniors, including Gavin Petracca, who tallied a goal and three assists against the Blue Devils.The Tar Heels ended their season with an overall record of 13-3, including a 13-7 win against Duke on March 10 that marked the first victory for UNC in 13 matchups against the Blue Devils.
When the No. 3 North Carolina women’s lacrosse team prepared to meet No. 6 Virginia for the second round of the NCAA tournament, the Tar Heels knew it wouldn’t be like any other game.
Delayed due to a thunderstorm, the NCAA matchup between No. 4 North Carolina and No. 12 Delaware kicked off 90 minutes late Sunday night on Fetzer Field.And for the defense on both sides of the field, the start was even later.After a 12-point first quarter shootout that included six tie scores, the Tar Heels were able to hold off Delaware, winning the post-season opener 14-13.Delaware struck first less than a minute after the opening draw, but UNC midfielders Sean DeLaney and Jimmy Dunster were responsible for the next two scores. For almost 28 minutes in the first half, the teams took turns scoring, one after the other.“It was pretty much what I expected,” Delaware coach Bob Shillinglaw said. “It was up and down, a lot of transition, a lot of crazy plays. I wish we had two more crazy plays.”Despite high scoring from Delaware’s attackers, the Blue Hens only led once after their 1-0 start. In a 42-second span during the second half, Delaware scored three straight goals, leading the Tar Heels 10-9.But less than two minutes later the Tar Heels recovered when DeLaney scored on a pass from Marcus Holman. The two led the Tar Heels in scoring with three goals each against the Blue Hens.Delaware outshot North Carolina 45-43 and won 18 of 30 faceoffs. But fouling would be the Tar Heels’ Achilles heel against the Blue Hens. UNC racked up 10 to Delaware’s three.“They are great shooters,” North Carolina coach Joe Breschi said. “When you give them nine man ups with their hands free, we’re going to end up paying.”Delaware’s attack took advantage of UNC penalties, scoring on six of nine. But on the offensive side of the ball, something was missing for the Blue Hens.For the first time in 25 games, Delaware attacker Curtis Dickson didn’t put a point on the board.Tar Heel Michael Jarvis guarded Dickson, who leads the Blue Hens in scoring with 62, and held him to just two assists on Sunday. With their second highest scorer Martin Cahill at 34 season goals, there was no question where the team derived much of its success.After the victory against Delaware the Tar Heels advance to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament, and will take on No. 5 Duke in Princeton, N.J., on Saturday.Although UNC beat the Blue Devils 13-7 in this year’s regular season match, they’ve fallen to Duke twice in two quarterfinal matchups (2007, 2009). But Jarvis is hoping the rivalry will keep this year’s team from suffering the same fate.“There won’t be any need for extra motivation in that game,” he said. “I think everyone knows what we have ahead of us.”Contact the Sports editor at sports@unc.edu.
When the women’s lacrosse team faced Navy in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, they knew that they wanted to get a quick start right out of the gate and attack relentlessly on offense. Not only did the Tar Heels get a quick start, they outshot the Midshipmen 39-13 en route to an 18-5 victory.“To be able to come out strong early is great, and to be able to keep playing at a high level throughout the game is something we really try to do,” said Tar Heel midfielder Megan Bosica. “It definitely helps the momentum of the game.”UNC dominated on the field with goals by eight different Tar Heels. Becky Lynch led the team with three goals and three assists, followed by Bosica with three goals and two assists. Corey Donohoe and Laura Zimmerman also added to the final tally with three goals and one assist each.Within the first six minutes of the game, the Tar Heels swept the field by scoring five goals from five different players. This caused Navy to pull their starting goalie.The change didn’t affect UNC, however, when Zimmerman scored her second goal only five minutes later.Both teams traded goals with about 10 minutes left to play in the first half, but the Midshipmen were unable to slow down the Tar Heel offense and two more goals gave UNC the 9-1 edge at halftime.Thirty seconds into the second half, Carolina quickly made the score 10-1 with Zimmerman’s third goal. Carolina scored two more goals before Navy stole the momentum.Navy midfielder Erin Rawlick scored three goals in five minutes, cutting Carolina’s lead to 12-4 and forcing a Tar Heel timeout.“I thought we were getting out-hustled on the draw. A couple things didn’t go our way, and Navy came up with some loose balls,” UNC coach Jenny Levy said. “Our first three goals of the second half were at a very high level, things that you don’t see all the time from a team and I thought we relaxed a little bit.“So, we called a timeout to get us refocused. We lost some discipline; we were swinging away. We weren’t worried or afraid — we just needed a little break to get ourselves together and refocused.”A refocused Tar Heel team shutout Rawlick and allowed only one more Navy goal. Taking back the momentum, UNC scored six more goals in the last 15 minutes of the game, making the final score 18-5.After Saturday’s first round victory, the Tar Heels will advance to the quarterfinals to play No. 6 seed Virginia at Fetzer Field on Saturday at 1 p.m.The Tar Heels lost to the Cavaliers once this season 13-12 in a March 13 contest that went into overtime in Charlottesville, Va.“We’re on a constant search to find the best we can be and next week is another opportunity, and we’re excited to have it,” Levy said.“It doesn’t matter who we play, because it is really about us.”Contact the Sports editor at sports@unc.edu.
Delayed due to a thunderstorm, the NCAA matchup between No. 4 North Carolina and No. 12 Delaware kicked off 90 minutes late Sunday on Fetzer Field.
Coming out of the gate, the North Carolina women’s lacrosse team wanted to get a quick start on Navy and attack relentlessly on offense.
On Sunday, the men’s lacrosse team was awarded the No. 4 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.The announcement came after a 19-13 win against Ohio State that marked the end of the regular season. UNC coach Joe Breschi coached at Ohio State for 11 seasons before returning to his alma mater last year.Despite a goal from junior All-American Billy Bitter in the first eight seconds of the game and UNC’s quick 3-1 lead, the Buckeyes’ offense capitalized on a six-goal scoring streak and led the game for the majority of the first half.The Tar Heels tied the game at 10 heading into halftime and crept out in front of the Buckeyes in the third quarter with a three-goal streak of their own. UNC then managed to increase its lead steadily until the final buzzer sounded, giving the Tar Heels the win.UNC will host Delaware on May 16 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPNU.The Tar Heels are one of four ACC teams in the 16-team tournament, with Virginia (No. 1), Maryland (No. 3) and Duke (No. 5) all in the mix. UNC is 4-2 this season against teams in the tournament, with wins against Duke, Princeton, Maryland and Johns Hopkins. They fell to UVa. and Maryland in the first round of the ACC Tournament.The winner will go on to face Duke or Johns Hopkins in the quarterfinals, which will take place May 22 in Princeton, N.J.
The women’s lacrosse team will look to make another run in this year’s NCAA Tournament, having already beaten defending national champions Northwestern 18-16 this year in what was a rematch of last year’s title game.On Sunday, the Tar Heels received a No. 3 seed in the tournament, marking their sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and the second time in as many seasons that they’ve been among the top three seeds.The Tar Heels are scheduled to play unseeded Navy on Saturday at noon at Fetzer Field.
Early in the season, the No. 1 North Carolina women’s lacrosse team had made a habit of stumbling out of the gates. As the season wore on, the Tar Heels replaced these early turnovers and fouls with strong first halves that netted them upset victories against Maryland and Northwestern.But after defeating Duke in Friday’s ACC tournament semifinal, the Tar Heels picked the worst possible time to relapse in their rematch with Maryland in Sunday’s ACC Championship game. The Terrapins built themselves a 5-1 lead 16 minutes into the first half and never looked back en route to a 10-5 victory and the conference title.“I don’t think our mentality was in the right place for that game,” senior midfielder Megan Bosica said. “We definitely weren’t the team (Sunday) that we normally are.”To be more successful in the NCAA tournament, the Tar Heels will have to do a better job maintaining their composure in the event that things don’t go their way from the opening whistle.“We want to make sure that when we’re challenged during games, we keep our resilience and our poise and discipline and play the game we want to play,” coach Jenny Levy said.More specifically, UNC will need to reassert a normally potent transition attack that went missing in Sunday’s contest. Key to this effort will be the Tar Heels’ ability to win ground balls early in the game. In the first half of Sunday’s contest, UNC won just two of these to Maryland’s seven.“They were faster to the ball than we were,” Levy said. “They were also working harder to get back (on defense) so we couldn’t get out fast enough.”To shake off some rust between the ACC Championship and the opening of NCAA tournament play May 15, UNC will play one last regular-season game against Cornell in Alexandria, Va., on May 8. Bosica said she and her teammates will be excited to play again after taking time off for finals.“It’s like a whole ‘nother preseason going into NCAAs, just because of how long you’re going without competition,” she said.At the NCAA tournament, the Tar Heels could run into the Terrapins again, as well as the Northwestern team whose 41-game win streak UNC snapped. Despite pulling off the upset, Bosica said UNC could still improve on its 18-16 regular-season win.But Levy isn’t worried about which teams her squad will face off against in the postseason. She’s more concerned with which UNC team shows up to play.“We’re going to practice hard in the next couple of weeks. We’re going to worry about ourselves,” she said. “We can’t control our opponents, we can only control what we do, ourselves.” Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
Lacrosse practice ends as players huddle at midfield, with arms raised and a shout on three.“Family.”One man stands in the middle of it all — a historic resurgence, a turning point and a huddle of 44 brothers.In coach Joe Breschi’s second season, North Carolina is ranked No. 3 nationally heading into this weekend’s ACC Tournament.That success may serve as proof of one family rebuilt.
The No. 3 North Carolina men’s lacrosse team (11-1, 2-1 ACC) returned to victory after a loss to Virginia last weekend by defeating Robert Morris, 17-14, on Saturday.The Tar Heels responded to the Colonials’ top-ranked offense with key plays by three attackmen. Senior Gavin Petracca netted six goals and grabbed two assists, while junior Billy Bitter tallied four assists and two goals. Freshman Marcus Holman contributed two goals and three assists of his own to UNC’s offense.Robert Morris (8-4) managed to score a season-high 14 goals on UNC’s No. 1 defense, which allows an average of 6.36 goals per game.
In a rematch of last year’s NCAA Championship game, the No. 2 North Carolina women’s lacrosse team won an 18-16 battle against No. 1 Northwestern and handed the Wildcats (12-1) their first home loss in 59 games.The win also marked the end to Northwestern’s 41-game winning streak. The Wildcats had not lost a game since April 27, 2008.Sophomore midfielder Laura Zimmerman led UNC’s offense with five goals and two assists, while junior Corey Donohoe and sophomore Becky Lynch each had five points.The Tar Heels (13-1, 4-1 ACC) move on to the ACC Tournament next weekend.
In typical North Carolina fashion, the Tar Heels won the opening draw of their Wednesday night matchup against No. 4 Duke, and leading scorer Corey Donohoe broke away for the goal. In eight of UNC’s 12 previous games, the Tar Heels have scored in the first three minutes of play.But not this time.Donohoe had an open path to the goal on the first possession of the game but suddenly dropped the ball before taking the shot.Despite playing a sloppy first half, the No. 2 Tar Heels cleaned up their act in the second period, beating their ACC rival 9-6.“I think we had some opportunities that we either didn’t capitalize on or we were a little impatient,” UNC coach Jenny Levy said. “We didn’t touch the ball that much. That affected our rhythm.”Duke led 2-0 before the North Carolina got on the board. With 5:31 left in the first half, attacker Becky Lynch scored the first goal for UNC unassisted. The almost 25 minutes of waiting for a score was the longest for the Tar Heels all season.“During the first games of the season we had a little trouble getting into the games,” Lynch said. “We’ve been in the situation before, so we knew that as long as we got into our rhythm, it would stay there.”But the rhythm wouldn’t come until the second half. Before Wednesday’s game, the Tar Heels averaged 17 shots in the first half. Against Duke, they had only five.The Blue Devils were on attack for most of the first half, keeping the Tar Heel defense on their toes. But UNC goalie Logan Ripley wasn’t fazed.“Our defense was holding them to weak shots. They weren’t getting a lot on cage,” she said. “It made my job pretty easy.”The Tar Heels took 11 shots on goal in the second half and scored six times in just more than 14 minutes. Lynch led UNC with three goals and an assist, placing her third-best on the team in goals scored with 28. “This year she’s just exploded,” Levy said. “She’s a great player, and she’s an even better person. She’s never too high and never too low. She’s just happy to be on the team and contributing to our success.”The Tar Heels, now 12-1 (4-1), finished their conference schedule tied with Virginia for first place. UNC will possibly meet Duke again in the upcoming ACC Tournament.And Levy hopes that next time, the game goes a little better.“I don’t think we played particularly well,” she said. “Duke did a great job and affected some of the things we like to do. But I was really happy that we got ourselves focused, we fought back and we showed resilience and poise.”Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
The No. 2 North Carolina women’s lacrosse team beat rival Duke on Wednesday night, but it sure wasn’t pretty.The Tar Heels (12-1, 4-1 ACC) beat No. 4 Duke (11-4, 2-3) 9-6 despite numerous UNC first half turnovers and not scoring until almost 25 minutes into the game.“It was a really ugly game tonight,” UNC coach Jenny Levy said. “We had nine turnovers in the first half. We weren’t real happy with that, and that was certainly due to what Duke was doing to us.”One thing the Blue Devils were doing to UNC was holding the ball for long possessions on offense by passing the ball around for multiple minutes before trying to get a shot on goal.“Our defense is prepared emotionally to sit and work for that long amount of time,” Levy said. “But it does affect your offense.”The Blue Devils’ possessions did not allow UNC’s offense to get settled, and the Tar Heels committed turnovers on many of their first possessions, missing and mishandling passes they usually control.Junior Corey Donohoe said that it was different having so few possessions in the first half.“It’s frustrating for us, because we couldn’t get into a flow,” Donohoe said. “But once we started getting the ball and just settling down and waiting for our opportunities to come it started coming to us.”Senior Megan Bosica said she was not sure as to exactly why the Tar Heels came out so sloppy.“The looks were there to score, and we just couldn’t finish them,” Bosica said. “It just made it extra hard on our defense, and then when we finally got back down it was like we couldn’t finish anything.”After stopping another long Duke possession that started the half, UNC sophomore Laura Zimmerman beat the defense and scored to tie the game on UNC’s first second-half possession. This sparked the UNC offense and the Tar Heels were noticeably sharper as they quickly took control of the game by scoring the first six goals of the second half. Levy said that settling down at halftime was key in the victory.“I think we just had to get in the locker room and look at each other in the eyes and say, ‘OK, we all need to do a little bit better out here,’” Levy saidDonohoe said that she thinks the team won’t have the same issues in the rest of its games.“We just have to focus on what we can control and not worry about what they’re doing against us,” Donohoe said. “If we just come out and play our game, I think we’ll be fine.Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
It’s hard to imagine that a game could be so easily forgotten.Almost a year ago, the second-seeded North Carolina women’s lacrosse team faced third-seeded Duke in the 2009 ACC Championship semifinals.The Blue Devils ousted UNC, defeating the Tar Heels 14-4.