Feb. 23, 2009

Tar Heels Outlast Red Raiders 11-9
Despite letting an early 6-0 lead slip away, the No. 5-ranked North Carolina men's lacrosse team made the plays it needed to in the third and fourth quarters to down No. 17 Colgate 11-9 before 1,122 fans on a sunny, chilly and windy day at Fetzer Field. The win allowed head coach Joe Breschi's team to start the season 4-0 after beating 2008 Patriot League regular-season champion Navy Friday night and 2008 Patriot League Tournament champion Colgate Sunday afternoon in a span of just 41 hours.

Just as against Navy on Friday night, the face-off X and the ground ball battle were key elements in the win for the Tar Heels. Senior Shane Walterhoefer won 16 of 24 face-offs Sunday against the Red Raiders (1-2) after winning 16 of 20 against the Midshipmen on Friday night. After outgroundballing Navy by 13 Friday night, the Tar Heels won the grounders battle Sunday 51-30.

The rest of the stat battle was fairly even with UNC outshooting the Red Raiders 39-38 while each team committed 17 turnovers. Colgate failed on four clears and the Tar Heels on six clears. Both goalkeepers played the entire way. Tim Harrington had 15 saves and 11 goals allowed. He came up particularly big in the third quarter for Colgate when he made six of his 15 saves. Grant Zimmerman played all 60 minutes for UNC, allowing nine goals and making nine saves.

Blue Devils Fall to Harvard, 9-6
Harvard University used a four-goal run late in the third quarter to upset fifth-ranked Duke University, 9-6, in men’s lacrosse action this afternoon at Koskinen Stadium. The Blue Devils were led by Steve Schoeffel and Brad Ross with two goals apiece.

Duke’s six goals are the fewest by the Blue Devils since an 11-5 loss to Maryland on May 1, 2005. It also marks just the fourth time Duke has lost by more than one goal since the beginning of the 2005 campaign. Duke (2-1) is now 30-2 all-time in the month of February.

Senior Ned Crotty registered a goal and an assist, while Max Quinzani kept his scoring streak alive with one score. The Crimson (1-0) was led by rookie Jeff Cohen with three goals and an assist. Harvard got a goal from six different players and four players tallied at least two points in the win.