Delaney Notches 100th Point; UNC Cruises
from press release
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Third-ranked North
Carolina went on a 9-0 scoring run to break open a close game,
going on to defeat Dartmouth 15-6 in men's lacrosse action Friday
night before a crowd of 1,123 at Fetzer Field. Ten different Tar
Heel players scored goals in the game and nine UNC players had
assists as Carolina scored in double figures for the 15th time in
the last 16 games. It was also the seventh time this season UNC's
defense has limited its opponent to seven goals or less.
Senior midfielder Sean DeLaney matched his career high with five
points to lead the Tar Heels as he exceeded the 100-point standard
for his career. The Tar Heel co-captain now has 102 points on 76
goals and 26 assists.
With the win UNC improves to 8-0 on the campaign, the best start
for the team since the 1993 NCAA runner-up team began its campaign
with nine straight wins. Dartmouth, playing its first ranked team
of the year, fell to 2-2 overall before a game at Duke next
Tuesday.
Besides DeLaney's three goals and two assists, Carolina got three
goals and an assist from senior attackman Gavin Petracca and two
goals and two assists from sophomore midfielder Jimmy Dunster, who
now has nine points in the last two games. Dunster has nine of his
15 points this season in the past two matches.
Cryder DiPietro matched his career highs with three points and two
assists to go with a goal while Billy Bitter and Marcus Holman both
had a goal and an assist. Carolina also benefitted from the first
career goal by Jeff Muscatello and single goals from long-stick
defensive midfielder Mark Staines and midfielder Chris Hunt. Logan
Corey, Joe Howard and Sean Jackson all etched their names in the
scorebook with assists.
Josh Etzion led the Big Green with two goals and an assist while
Chris Costabile scored twice for Dartmouth and Ari Sussman had a
goal and two assists.
UNC dominated the game statistically as the Tar Heels outshot the
Big Green 43-22, including a 29-10 margin in the second and third
quarters combined. UNC also won the ground ball battle 35-21 with
Tyler Morton and Chris Hunt both claiming a team-high five. UNC
dominated at the face-off X, winning 16 of 25 as Michael Burns won
10 of 14, Mark Staines 4 of 8 and William Scroggs 2 of 3. Burns' 71
percent success rate at the X was the highest of his career in a
single game.
The riding and clearing game was a definite asset for the Heels as
UNC converted 18 of 19 clears while Dartmouth was successful on
only 13 of 25. The Big Green had 23 turnovers in the game and UNC
had 13. Ten different Carolina players were responsible for 13
caused turnovers led by two each by Michael Jarvis, Charlie McComas
and Mark Staines.
In the goal, Chris Madalon played the first 45 minutes for UNC,
making six saves and allowing three goals. Steven Rastivo played
the final 15 minutes and had a pair of saves. Michael Novosel
played 55:53 of the game for the Big Green, making 12 saves and
allowing 15 goals. Novosel kept the Tar Heels at bay in the first
quarter but UNC started to find gaps in the Dartmouth zone
beginning in the second quarter. The Tar Heels scored on 11 of
their 17 shots on goal in the middle two quarters combined.
The game was a defensive struggle in the first quarter as the
period ended with the game tied at 1-1. Novosel made three saves in
the opening stanza to stymie the Tar Heels while Carolina forced
Dartmouth in seven turnovers in the frame and allowed only four
shots by the Big Green. The opening goal of the game came off a
failed clear by Dartmouth as Sean DeLaney force a turnover and
Jimmy Dunster came down to score an unassisted goal with 4:01 left
in the first quarter. Dartmouth tied the game with 2:09 to play in
the first quarter. After Chris Madalon made a save on a shot by
Chris Costabile, Michael Jarvis claimed the ground ball for the Tar
Heels but he was immediately stripped of possession by Josh Etzion.
Etzion picked up the ground ball and scored one-on-one against
Madalon.
The Tar Heels had a chance to regroup during the break at the end
of the quarter and they came out firing on all cylinders in the
second frame. Carolina took the lead for good on a goal from the
left side by Thomas Wood off an assist by Cryder DiPietro with
13:26 left in the second quarter. Michael Burns won the ensuing
face-off and the Tar Heels struck for another goal just 34 seconds
later with Dunster tallying his second of the game off an assist by
DeLaney. Carolina then extended its lead to 4-1 at the 11:04 mark
with DeLaney scoring the first of his three goals off DiPietro's
second assist of the quarter.
Neither team scored for almost 11 minutes as Novosel made big saves
on shots by Ed Prevost, Thomas Wood and Dunster to keep the Big
Green in the game. Carolina then stuck two goals in the back of the
net in the last 1:20 of the period to take a 6-1 lead at
intermission, matching its biggest halftime lead of the year for
UNC. Gavin Petracca scored his first goal of the game at the 1:20
mark off an assist by Dunster and then Billy Bitter found an
opening on the right side of the crease, shook off his defender and
found a wide open DeLaney 10 yards out top. DeLaney buried the shot
for a 6-1 advantage with seven seconds left in the first half.
Carolina did not take its foot off the pedal in the second half as
it scored the first four goals of the quarter to take a 10-1 lead.
DeLaney scored his third goal of the game just 44 seconds into the
period as Dunster recorded his third assist of the match. Michael
Jarvis then forced a turnover by Dartmouth leading to a goal by
Petracca, off an assist by senior defenseman Sean Jackson, with
13:47 left in the third quarter. Carolina extended its lead to 9-1
as Chris Hunt picked up a ground ball after a scramble and rifled a
shot past Novosel with 11:24 left in the quarter. Carolina finished
off its 9-0 run on a goal by DiPietro from the top of the box,
assisted by DeLaney, with 10:10 to go in the period.
The teams traded goals for the remainder of the third quarter with
Rhett Miller scoring a man-up goal for Dartmouth at 7:15 and
Petracca scoring with 2:12 to go off an assist by Marcus Holman.
After Etzion scored an unassisted goal for Dartmouth with 50
seconds left in the quarter, two UNC defensive middies hooked up
for the next goal with Logan Corey feeding long stick Mark Staines
for a tally at the 33-second mark.
Both teams added three goals in the fourth quarter. Ari Sussman
scored an unassisted goal at 14:01 but that was answered by UNC a
little over a minute later as Billy Bitter took an assist from
Petracca and scored an EMO goal at 12:56.
After Costabile scored for Dartmouth, UNC answered with a Marcus
Holman goal at 6:02 of the quarter. Joe Howard got free from his
defenders on the end line and fed a wide open Holman who went in
and scored against Novosel one-on-one. UNC got its final goal of
the game with 5:12 remaining as sophomore Jeff Muscatello scored
his first career goal, dodging two defenders before sticking a hard
shot by the goalie with 5:12 remaining in the match.
Carolina had a chance to play its entire roster for the first time
since the Lehigh game. The Tar Heels now have an eight-day break
before returning to ACC action when Carolina plays host to
undefeated Maryland on Saturday, March 27 at Fetzer Field. Game
time is 2 p.m. and the contest will be televised live nationally by
