Carolina Blanks Dickson in 14-13 Shootout
by Jonathan Jones | Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online | Live Blog
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - When North Carolina attackman Marcus Holman sat down at the post-game press conference, he asked coach Joe Breschi for a blue Powerade.
"It's Blue Hen blood," Holman said.
Holman feasted on the Delaware Blue Hens, scoring a hat trick and chipping in an assist, as UNC (13-2) defeated the visitors 14-13 on a wet Sunday night that featured an hour and a half rain delay.
The Tar Heels held the nation's No. 1 scorer, Curtis Dickson, scoreless on just four shots during a game that saw 10 ties. It was the first time in 25 games that Dickson, who entered the game with 62 goals, had gone without a goal.
"They were pretty much face-guarding me," Dickson said. "They were blocking me off and it was pretty frustrating to go through that all game. I tried to get open a couple of times but they did a good job on me."
UNC senior defender Michael Jarvis had most of the Dickson-duty and recorded three penalties in the first eight minutes of the game.
The first half went by in a flash. It included six ties and 12 goals scored on both sides. Delaware junior attackman Anthony Ruiz recorded a hat trick when he picked up a loose ball with nine seconds remaining in the quarter.
"It was a blur to be honest," Ruiz said. "Everything just happened real quick and I was just amazed when the whistle blew at the end of the first quarter. I just couldn't believe it."
UNC scored its six goals from six different sticks. No team scored a goal without it being answered in the quarter, with the largest length of time between goals on either side being four minutes and 14 seconds.
Holman scored the lone second-quarter goal for the Tar Heels while D.J. Widlake notched his second goal of the season for the Blue Hens. Widlake's goal was the first in over 12 minutes for Delaware (10-7) and the second assist of the game for Dickson.
With 38 seconds left, Breschi called his most inopportune timeout of the game. Thomas Wood was winding up to deliver what would have been a tie-breaking goal for North Carolina. Instead, it went for naught after the referees signaled a timeout had been called.
"(Former UNC) Coach (Willie) Scroggs always said to me, 'You can't take those timeouts with you, so you might as well use them,'" Breschi said. "I just used it at the wrong time that time."
The Tar Heels entered halftime in a 7-7 tie with the Blue Hens on the scoreboard, as well as most of the stat sheet. North Carolina took only four more shots than Delaware, which won only two more face-offs in the half.
UNC opened its largest margin when DeLaney and Matt Davie scored to give UNC a two-goal lead. But Delaware went on its best run of the night, rattling off three straight goals in 42 seconds. Nick Elsmo assisted on back-to-back goals and Ruiz recorded his fourth goal after Delaware won its third straight face-off.
The Blue Hens' lead lasted under two minutes when Holman struck again. The freshman assisted DeLaney and then scored two of his own to give the Tar Heels a 12-11 advantage entering the final frame. Mark Staines scored off of his own face-off win to give UNC a 14-12 lead with just under five minutes to play, but Delaware only able to notch one more goal, Kevin Kaminski's goal with 2:19 to play.
Delaware was 6-for-6 during extra man opportunities into the third quarter but UNC held its ground on the Blue Hens' final three chances. North Carolina was perfect on clear opportunities, going 18-for-18 and creating seven rides.
"We talk about special teams all the time," Breschi said. "Man-up and man-down, rides and clears. The riding game was terrific.
"Those special teams were critical, especially the riding game,"
UNC advances to the quarterfinals and will play Duke in Princeton, N.J. on Saturday in a rematch of the Tar Heels' 13-7 regular season win.
