North Carolina
Virginia
Men's Lacrosse Shocks #4 Virginia
April 7, 2001 | Men's Lacrosse
April 7, 2001
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. - North Carolina's defense turned in its finest performance in an Atlantic Coast Conference game in nine years Saturday as the #19 Tar Heel men's lacrosse team upset #4 Virginia 7-5 at Klockner Stadium. The win was only the second for Carolina against an ACC team in the last 20 meetings.
Junior goalkeeper Kris Blindenbacher made 22 saves, just one short of his career high, and the entire UNC defense led by seniors Bobby Gormsen and Hunter Sims turned in a magnificent performance as the Tar Heels broke a seven-game losing streak against ACC teams. Carolina's last win over a league opponent came on April 14, 1999 when the Tar Heels upset an undefeated #2-ranked Duke team 10-9 in Durham, N.C.
Offensively the Tar Heels got two goals apiece from attackmen Steven Will and Jeff Sonke and single goals by Gormsen, senior midfielder Mac Hammer and freshman midfielder Lance Zimmerman to pull off the upset. Virginia was led by sophomore midfielder Chris Rotelli, who scored twice.
With the win the Tar Heels broke a three-game losing streak and won for the first time since March 17 against Butler. UNC is now 5-4 overall and 1-2 in the ACC. Virginia saw its four-match winning streak end as the Cavaliers lost at home for only the second time this year. The Cavs are now 5-4 overall and 1-1 in the ACC.
Carolina's defensive effort was its finest in an ACC game in nine years. The last time UNC held an ACC opponent to as few as five goals was April 24, 1992 when the Heels defeated UVa 14-5 in the ACC Tournament semifinals at College Park, Md. The win also broke a six-match losing streak against Virginia as the Tar Heels last beat the Wahoos on April 21, 1996 by a 13-11 score in the ACC Tournament championship game at Klockner Stadium.
The teams traded goals in the low scoring first half. Zimmerman opened the scoring for Carolina with 2:29 left in the first quarter on an unassisted goal. That goal was matched by the Wahoos' Justin Mullen with 22 seconds left in the first quarter to tie the score. Mullen's goal was assisted by Conor Gill.
Sonke put the Tar Heels ahead again with an unassisted goal with 11:42 left in the first half but the lead was short-lived as just 54 seconds later Tyler Gilbert tied the score for Virginia. Neither team scored in the last 10:48 of the first half and the game was tied 2-2 at intermission.
Will scored his first goal of the game with 13:32 left in the third quarter to regain the lead for the Tar Heels at 3-2. Fellow sophomore Austin Garrison assisted on the goal. The Wahoos then scored a pair of goals in a span of only 39 seconds to take their only lead of the game. Gill scored an unassisted goal with six minutes left in the third quarter to tie the score and then Rotelli scored his first goal with 5:21 left in the third quarter to put Virginia up 4-3. But the Tar Heels got the equalizer with 38 seconds left in the third quarter on an unassisted goal by Hammer.
The game remained tied at 4-4 until Will gave the Tar Heels the lead for good with 7:20 to play in the fourth quarter, receiving a feed from senior attackman Andy Jonas on the goal. The Tar Heels nursed the lead until 2:18 to play when Sonke scored his second goal to make it 6-4 Carolina.
Rotelli's goal with 1:05 to play pulled the Cavaliers with a single goal but the Tar Heels' defense refused to cave in and Gormsen finished off the scoring with a goal with 10 seconds left.
Gormsen and Blindenbacher both played splendidly as each claimed eight ground balls to share the team lead. Blindenbacher tied his career high for ground balls originally set on April 15, 2000 against UMBC. His 22 saves were one short of his career high of 23 set against Johns Hopkins on April 1, 2000.
The Tar Heels will be back in action again next Saturday on the road as UNC travels to play #15 UMBC in a 7:30 p.m. game at UMBC Stadium.
2001 NORTH CAROLINA MEN'S LACROSSE
#19 North Carolina Tar Heels (5-4, ACC 1-2) vs. #4 Virginia Cavaliers (5-4, ACC 1-1)
Klockner Stadium, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.
Saturday, April 7, 2001, 3:00 p.m. E.S.T.
SCORING SUMMARY
Qtr. Team Scoring Time Score of Game Goal By Assist By
1 UNC 2:29 UNC 1-0 Lance Zimmerman
1 UVA 0:22 Tied 1-1 Justin Mullen Conor Gill
2 UNC 11:42 UNC 2-1 Jeff Sonke
2 UVA 10:48 Tied 2-2 Tyler Gilbert
3 UNC 13:32 UNC 3-2 Steven Will Austin Garrison
3 UVA 6:00 Tied 3-3 Conor Gill
3 UVA 5:21 UVA 4-3 Chris Rotelli
3 UNC 0:38 Tied 4-4 Mac Hammer
4 UNC 7:20 UNC 5-4 Steven Will Andy Jonas
4 UNC 2:18 UNC 6-4 Jeff Sonke
4 UVA 1:05 UNC 6-5 Chris Rotelli
4 UNC 0:10 UNC 7-5 Bobby Gormsen
BOX SCORE
SCORING BY QUARTERS 1 2 3 4 TOTAL
North Carolina 1 1 2 3 7
Virginia 1 1 2 1 5
INDIVIDUAL SCORING SUMMARY
Goals Scored
North Carolina-- Steven Will 2, Jeff Sonke 2, Lance Zimmerman, Mac Hammer, Bobby Gormsen
Virginia-- Chris Rotelli 2, Justin Mullen, Tyler Gilbert, Conor Gill
Assists
North Carolina-- Austin Garrison, Andy Jonas
Virginia-- Conor Gill
SHOTS 1 2 3 4 TOTAL
North Carolina 11 6 12 12 41
Virginia 5 8 11 8 32
SAVES 1 2 3 4 TOTAL
North Carolina 3 7 6 6 22
Virginia 3 2 2 4 11
GOALKEEPER SUMMARY
North Carolina Minutes Saves Goals Allowed
Kris Blindenbacher 60:00 22 5
Virginia Minutes Saves Goals Allowed
Tillman Johnson 60:00 11 7
GROUND BALLS 1 2 3 4 TOTAL
North Carolina 12 11 10 11 44
Virginia 9 9 15 7 40
FACEOFFS 1 2 3 4 TOTAL
North Carolina 2 0 2 1 5
Virginia 1 3 3 4 11
TURNOVERS: North Carolina 11, Virginia 11
CLEARS: UNC 23 of 28, UVA 19 of 23
EXTRA MAN OPPORTUNITIES: UNC 0 for 2, UVA 0 for 1
PENALTIES: UNC 1 for 1 minute, UVA 2 for 1.5 minutes
OFFICIALS: Cullen, Goldsmith, Wittlesburg
ATTENDANCE: 3,017
