Rapid Reaction: Bitter, Sankey Not Tawaaraton Finalists

Jimmy Bitter has recorded 34 goals on 69 points this season. Joey Sankey 27 goals on 63 points. Both have led the second highest scoring offense in the nation on their way to a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Neither will receive the Tawaaraton Trophy at the end of May. They won't even get consideration.

Instead the selection committee announced that Kevin Rice, Lyle Thompson, Myles Jones, Matt Kavanagh and Wes Burg would be finalists for the award.

It's always tough to argue against nominating key players on top-ranked teams, and discounting a player like Lyle Thompson because he plays on a team that isn't as highly-ranked would be ignorant.

But saying that guys like Bitter and Sankey, who are a deep playoff run from shattering UNC records, aren't at least as deserving as a guy like Wes Burg who has 43 goals and 60 points.

No disrespect to Burg, but he has eerily similar statistics to an attackman, Luke Goldstock (44 g, 60 p), who is the third best attackman at North Carolina.

There's no doubt Matt Kavanagh has done an outstanding job with the Notre Dame offense, but he has few points per game than both Sankey and Bitter. The junior accumulated 50 points through 12 regular season games, and proved he has a clutch gene that's unmatched. Does that mean that he's more deserving of the Tawaaraton Award than two guys who captain an offense that averages a point more per game than the Fighting Irish?

Kevin Rice carried the Syracuse Orange past UNC to an ACC Championship a week ago and boasts a 68 point season. His resume is nearly identical to that of Bitter and Sankey. Each player plays for a top-ranked team, has recorded 60-plus points and has beaten numerous top-ranked opponents. I don't think you can make a case that he's any more deserving either.

We're splitting hairs here, I'll admit, but neither Bitter nor Sankey being names finalists is flabbergasting. When I saw that neither player was named a finalist, I was surprised. I looked into the statistics, and this is what I found. I'll leave it to you to decide if I'm correct.

Do I have a bias because I've watched Bitter and Sankey closely throughout their careers? There's no doubt, but the numbers don't lie.

And the impact these two have on a game doesn't either.

Myles Jones Named Tawaaraton Finalist

Duke offensive midfielder Myles Jones was named a Tawaaraton Finalist after an impressive ACC tournament despite playing through injury.

Jones barely practiced before the tournament and still managed to take advantage of any short-stick match ups he drew against Notre Dame. Recording a goal on three points, he proved that apparently practice is optional when you're 6-foot-5 and can beat up defenders like a schoolyard bully.

Historically this award has gone to players on teams that make deep runs. The exception, of course, was last year when Albany's Lyle Thompson won the award. If Duke three-peats don't be surprised if Jones wins this award. He will likely be the reason they made it that far.

Rapid Reaction: NCAA Tournament Selection Edition

With Duke and North Carolina learning about what their paths to Championship Weekend look like, I've decided to give a quick and sweet rundown of what these gauntlets look like.

As expected, both teams received favorable first-round match ups at home, but assuming both teams make it to the elite eight, theirs a strong chance each will face a foe they've already failed to defeat once this season.

Duke

First Round: Ohio State, May 9 7:30 p.m.

Duke shouldn't have too many problems with an Ohio State team with only one win it can hang its hat on. Aside from being Johns Hopkins earlier in the season, OSU has come up short against all its highly-touted opponents. The Buckeyes were shut out against Notre Dame and only scored once against Maryland the first time the two teams played. While they beat JHU early in April, they got it handed to them 13-6 in the Big Ten championship game by the Blue Jays. While I imagine they'll bring it for their opportunity to take down the reigning champs, I don't think they have much of a chance.

UNC

First Round: Colgate, May 10 5:15 p.m.

This match up is a little bit more interesting. While Colgate's staple wins are against teams on the back end of the top-20, the Raiders managed to play a competitive game against the top-ranked Orange this past weekend. Colgate managed to make the contest a respectable 7-9 lose despite being absolutely dominated at the face-off X (2-for-20) and losing the ground ball battle (20-29). I haven't seen the film so I'm not going to act like I can explain that result, but I don't think it's replicable. The way you consistently make upsets in May is by controlling possession. In order to do that you need to win ground balls and face-offs. Colgate did neither of those things against Syracuse.

Bitter Taste After UNC Loss To Orange

When someone thinks about North Carolina senior attack man and Tawaaraton nominee Jimmy Bitter, They typically think about the undersized, speedy sharpshooter pinging corners and frustrating goalkeepers.

If someone were to tell a lacrosse fan or analyst that Bitter had 12 shots and eight shots on goal against Syracuse Friday night in the ACC Tournament, a guy like Quint Kessenich or Ryan Flanagan would expect that the lefty, averaging 3.9 points per game, had at least a pair of goals. Heck, they'd probably guess he ended up with a hat trick. 

But with a chance to play in the ACC title game on the line, Bitter took 12 shots, hit one pipe, and was saved by keeper Bobby Wardwell seven times. Seven of Wardwell's 14 saves came from Bitter shots. 

Prior to the game at PPL Park, Bitter recorded a point in 55 straight games. That was good for the second longest active streak in Division I lacrosse, and now, that streak is over. 

Bitter managed to record at least a point in every game he's played since the middle of his freshman season, but against the Orange, despite ample opportunity to net a goal, he came up just short every time. 

During the game, Bitter got hounded by ESPNU announcers who claimed he was telegraphing shots that were low-to-low worm burners. They claimed he wasn't shooting efficiently. 

But hindsight is always 20-20. 

For all the times Bitter could have thrown a better fake or changed planes, he made a spectacular cut or submarined a ball to the upper left corner. 

Bitter clearly didn't have his best game, but a lot of that credit should go to Wardwell who seemed to have it out for Bitter from the start.

The last time these two teams played, Wardwell played 31 mins and had four saves. This time around he almost doubled that mark against Bitter alone. 

It's easy to say that, if UNC is going to bounce back from this game and make a deep run, the Tar Heels will need Bitter to perform to his Tawaaraton level potential. 

But the easy thing to say isn't always the right thing to say. 

Bitter didn't lose them the game, nothing about Bitter's approach to the game was wrong, and he'll be just fine come tourney time. 

Bitter likes to live by the mantra "shoot to get hot, shoot to stay hot." That's never changed and it never will. 

So for anyone doubting Bitter or wondering what he needs to do to get ready for the NCAA tournament in two weeks, Bitter wont be looking back thinking "what if."

He's just going to keep shooting. 

UNC And Duke Tawaaraton Nominee Run Down

The 2015 Tawaaraton Nominees were announced in a press released earlier today. The release detailed three North Carolina players and two Duke players that will be considered for the Tawaaraton Award this year.

Myles Jones and Deemer Class were selected from Duke.

Chad Tutton, Jimmy Bitter and Joey Sankey were selected from UNC.

Among these five, Bitter and Sankey are the likeliest to win the award. Bitter leads UNC with 69 points and more assists than he's ever had (35), but Sankey isn't far behind with 60 points of his own.

Tutton's lack of assists will likely be his downfall. While he has 31 goals, he only has 5 assists, and UNC runs its offense through Bitter and Sankey. The odds of Tutton's assist numbers significantly changing are low.

Myles Jones's 65 points makes him the likelier of the Duke candidates to win the award. Class has 47 points. If Jones can have a strong outing in the ACC tourney and push Duke deep into the NCAA tournament, it will go a long way in assisting his candidacy, but Jones's inconsistent play against top ranked opponents could keep him from being strongly considered.

With the way this award if typically chosen, whatever player on the top team does the best will win. Once the finalists are announced, my expectation is that Tutton and Class will be left out.

ACC Tournament: Round One Preview

This weekend the ACC will cram three highly competitive games in the span of three days at Philadelphia's PPL Park. Here's my attempt at breaking down what will happen.

#4 Duke vs. #1 Notre Dame

Need to Know

The first time these two teams played at Duke's Koskinen Stadium it was clear who was the better team. The Fighting Irish absolutely tore the Duke defense to shreds scoring at an insanely efficient clip to start the game and never letting up on their way to a 15-10 win.

After that game coach John Danowski spent more than 30 minutes in the locker room speaking with players before coming out to address the media. The normally talkative coach who loves talking X's and O's was short with reporters.

When asked if he could comment on what he said to the guys in the locker room all he could say was,"No, I can't."

Needless to say, that game was an emotional one for the Blue Devils. They may be the defending champions, but with a 1-3 record in ACC play, they know their backs are against the ropes.

I'm not going to go out and say that Duke will win this game, but it will most definitely be more competitive than last time. I don't believe Duke has the personnel to handle Matt Kavanagh and the Irish offense, but coach D will most definitely find a way to make Duke in this game. Keep in mind that if Duke doesn't win this game, there's a good chance the team will have to travel to play its first NCAA playoff game.

Prediction

While I truly believe Duke will come out ready to scrap, I don't see them pulling this one out. Notre Dame proved during the regular season that it wasn't just the best team in the conference, it was the best team in the country. I don't see that changing with this game.

Notre Dame 14, Duke 12

#2 North Carolina vs. #3 Syracuse

Need to Know

The crowd at North Carolina was enormous for the senior day of future UNC legends like Joey Sankey, Jimmy Bitter and Chad Tutton. UNC rode that home crowd all the way to a 17-15 victory as Sankey broke Marcus Holman's record for points in a career at Carolina.

UNC's offense was simply too prolific to stop. They have too many weapons that are too good, and if a team tries to take them on in a shoot out, they will lose 10 out of 10 times.

This time around Syracuse will have to tighten up defensively limit UNC's opportunities. They won't be able to completely shut down the Tar Heel offense that oozes depth and veteran leadership. In order to win, they'll need a strong performance out of the goalkeeping tandem of Bobby Wardwell and Warren Hill who combined for 10 saves in these teams' last contest.

But it's not that simple. It all starts with the Orange defense forcing UNC's risk-taking gunslingers into poor shot attempts.

Prediction

The Tar Heels don't have the home crowd to keep hype this time around, but they don't need it. It's the ACC playoffs. Guys like Sankey and Bitter don't need anything more to get them hype for a big game like this one. I think they'll take this one, but it'll be a good one for sure.

North Carolina 16, Syracuse 15

Former Tar Heel Makes A Difference In The Community

Here is an article I recently wrote for the Carrboro Commons about the work former UNC player Brent Voelkel is doing in the Chapel Hill community at the developmental level.

Joey Sankey Plays Big Despite Being Small (Full Version)

A shortened version of this feature story was published Saturday, April 18 in the Raleigh News and Observer. This is the full unedited version of that story. 

The conditions were damp and the field was slick as the No. 15 North Carolina men’s lacrosse team slugged it out with No. 5 Maryland Terrapins in a feisty game.

Hard hits came frequently and scrappy play was the norm for both teams as the hotly contested rivalry game evoked high emotions.

It was no place for an inexperienced freshman.

Yet for some reason, something possessed coach Joe Breschi to play then freshman Joey Sankey. Weighing in at 155 pounds and standing at 5-foot-5, the physically unimpressive freshman was beat and battered in the 2012 contest.

But somehow, he found a way to shine on the gloomy day.

“That was kind of his intro to division one lacrosse,” Breschi said. “He goes out there and he scraps and claws and gets absolutely hammered, but has a nose for the cage.”

Leading the Tar Heels to an upset win at home, Sankey had a hat trick and the breakout game of his Carolina career. Getting layed out and knocked to the ground every time he got close to the cage, Sankey showed outstanding tenacity by scoring all three of his goals while being hit.

“That was definitely one of the top-five most fun games I’ve played in,” Sankey said. “I just remember when I got the game ball coach Breschi said something about how all my goals I was on the ground for.”

Simply put by Breschi, “He earned it.”

Since that day, Sankey hasn’t grown physically. He’s still 5-foot-5 and likely will be the rest of his life. But he didn’t let it stop him then, and he doesn’t let it stop him now — never has, never will.

No excuses

Sankey’s played sports all his life. As the youngest boy in his family, Sankey’s always fought to keep up with his older brothers, and he’s been raised to never let excuses explain a lack of effort.

“Dad would have kicked my ass if I didn’t (play) hard,” Sankey said. “He instilled that in me really early.”

“No matter what sport it was if I ever didn’t give it my all or didn’t give it 100 percent, I would hear it the entire car ride home, the entire night until I went to bed.”

Using that mentality, the physically unimposing athlete never let his lack of height be used as an excuse for anything. Instead Sankey studied the greats, more specifically those who shared his height disadvantage.

Watching players like Wes Welker from football and Mikey Powell from lacrosse, Sankey tried to emulate the professionals’ movements and adapt them to his game.

While Welker and Powell weren’t quite as short, Sankey still found that sometimes there were ways players his height could find advantages on the field.

For the Tar Heel stud, those advantages include using speed and a low center of gravity to duck under defenders fighting for groundballs and squeeze his body in tight spaces around the crease of the cage to make improbable goals.

So when Breschi was scouting Sankey in high school at Penn Charter to see if he would make a good future Tar Heel, it was a no brainer.

“There was no thinking twice,” Breschi confidently claimed. “I knew right away I wanted to recruit him. He was on our list in a hurry.”

Despite committing early on, that didn’t keep the youngster from having doubts once he got to Chapel Hill.

A friendly competition

Sankey’s not shy about admitting that he had second thoughts the fall of his freshman year. He was young and undersized.

Not only was Sankey dealing with the often overwhelming situation of adjusting to college level lacrosse, the Pennsylvanian was surrounded by amazingly talented and experienced players.

From Marcus Holman, who currently holds the UNC record for points, to Nicky Galasso, who had just had arguably the best freshman year of any player in UNC history, everywhere Sankey turned he saw another person he’d have a tough time beating out to get playing time.

“I kind of struggled a little bit,” Sankey said. “I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t running through my head, me questioning myself about whether I could play at this level.”

But then the injuries started to come.

With players like Galasso and others being limited due to injuries, Sankey quickly worked his way up the depth chart.

“Who knows if I would have played for the next few years if those certain guys weren’t injured,” Sankey said.

There was only one person standing in Sankey’s way — Jimmy Bitter.

Bitter and Sankey both came to UNC the same year and both ranked in the top ten according to Inside Lacrosse’s rankings.

With injuries hurting the Tar Heels each received his fair share of chances to play and make a difference.

“You never knew freshman year how much time you were going to get,” Sankey admitted. “It was almost a competition to see who messed up first and the person who messed up first would get less playing time.”

“When we played we weren’t actually at our best,” Bitter added. “It hurt us… because the thing we’re best at is taking chances and playing with reckless abandon.”

But it didn’t take long for the two to become starters — and friends.

“When we first got to college we weren’t that tight,” Sankey said. “I thought he was pretty annoying.”

Without the stress of trying to beat out Bitter for a job, Sankey felt like he could play more freely and started to get close to the outgoing spunky sharpshooter.

“When you’re with someone every single day of the week, instead of thinking he’s arrogant you think he’s funny,” Sankey said. “He’s still annoying though.”

As the two entered their senior season both have become vocal leaders and captains of the team as they look to finally take the Tar Heels to championship weekend in their last effort to win an NCAA title at UNC.

Ending on top

He’d be lying if said it wasn’t in the back of his mind. The thought of being the best UNC attackman ever is a pretty cool thought to say the least.

And Sankey has a chance to be just that.

Last weekend Sankey passed Marcus Holman’s UNC record of 213 career points. Sankey played with Holman for two years and reaped the benefits of playing along side the hardworking, savvy former record holder.

But now Sankey has a chance to surpass the guy he used to look up to as a leader. Having accumulated 157 points in his first three years, Sankey was just 56 points away from matching Holman’s record. Last season alone, the undersized All-American had 57 points.

It was almost a form of poetic justice that on Sankey’s senior day against the No. 2 Syracuse Orange he’d tally three points on his way to accumulating his 214^th point in front of 6,000 fans.

Not too bad for a kid who gets heckled with taunts like “midget” and “Mini-Me from Austin Powers.”

“I definitely did not expect to be the leading scorer on the team any year,” Sankey humbly attested. “It’s just one of those things where I just feel like I lucked out and picked the right place, the right team.”

Obviously it wasn’t completely luck.

Sankey’s speed, tenacity, fast shot, off-ball movement, ability to distribute and insanely high lacrosse IQ did a lot to help his cause.

In short, he’s able to make any play the team needs whenever they need it.

No situation better exemplifies that talent than a game in 2014 against the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays.

The Tar Heels trailed 7-4 in the game early on, but in the second half, the team miraculously turned it on offensively and gained a lead. 

As time slowly ran out for the Blue Jays, the Tar Heels were looking to milk the clock on offense as much as possible to let their defense rest without drawing a stalling warning from the referees.

Taking on his man from behind the goal, Sankey managed to get his defender hung up in front of the net. If the defender went left, Sankey would have a wide-open lane right. If the defender went right, Sankey would have a wide-open lane left.

Knowing that a recent rule change allowed Sankey to stay behind the net without drawing a delay of game as long as his teammates were making cuts in front of the goal, the savvy attackman waved his arms back and forth directing his teammates to move like a conductor orchestrating a string ensemble.

“I knew that this was a perfect time to try and wait as long as I could back there and make that defenseman or that goalie come out,” Sankey said. “For some odd reason they just didn’t do that.”

By the time a Blue Jay defender finally moved toward Sankey, the damage was already done. Minutes had run off the clock and fans in the stadium were livid that so much time could be taken off the clock from a player simply sitting behind the goal.

“I heard Hopkins fans, even North Carolina fans, screaming to try and do something because they were bored watching me back there,” Sankey said.

“I was just patient.”

It’s savvy play like that that got Sankey to where he is today.

He may not have the size that many players rely on, but he doesn’t need it. He’s got more than enough skill to make up for it.

Sankey Plays Big (News and Observer feature)

I was lucky enough to get my first ever feature story published in a professional newspaper Saturday.

He's my story about UNC senior attackman Joey Sankey. This feature was essentially cut in half because of space issues in the paper. I'll be posting the full edition here in the near future for those interested.

Will The Real Myles Jones Please Stand Up

He's a monster of a man. 

Standing at 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds, Duke midfielder Myles Jones is every coach's dream physically and athletically. Leading the nation in points by a midfielder, he's far and above the best attacking middie in the nation, with about 4 goals a game. The next closest midfielder is averaging almost a point less.

But in the past month, Jones has been streaky to say the least.

The towering gunslinger was not only kept relatively silent against Notre Dame, but he didn't score in the first half against North Carolina a week ago and didn't score at all against Syracuse the week before that.

Between the Blue Devils contests against Georgetown and North Carolina, Jones encountered a scoring drought that lasted more than 100 minutes—not what you want from your leading offensive threat.

While Jones's sheer athleticism allowed him to dominate early in the season, as Duke has played tougher competition and better defense, Jones has begun to struggle.

Since accumulating eight points against Georgetown in the middle of march, Jones has only been able to muster up six points in the past three games. In those three games, he's only scored three goals—the same total he had in one game against the Hoyas.

To give Jones his credit, he's been playing against higher caliber defenses. Notre Dame came into Koskinen Stadium Saturday with the top-ranked defense in the ACC and the 12th ranked defense in the nation. UNC held Virginia to six goals and held one of the other top middies in the game, Ryan Tucker, scoreless. Syracuse was no slouch of an opponent either—they're ranked in the top 20 in terms of points against too.

But that's no excuse for a player poised to become the most prolific offensive midfielder in Duke history. Jones only needs 11 points to pass Jim Gonnella as the all-time leading Blue Devil point getter from the midfield.

There's no reason for the junior to not be dominant.

When Jones is at his best, he uses his physical gifts to beat his opponents with one powerful dodge up top and quickly rip a shot or find the open man.

Lately that has not been the case. Instead of playing patiently, Jones has tried to make extra moves to force himself into the heart of defenses, and good opponents have made him pay with turnovers.

In the past three games, Jones has lead his team in turnovers in every single game and piled up a total of 12. 

Jones's stick work has never been his strong suit. He's a great player because of his whale of a shot and his ability to bully defenders to draw double teams.

But we haven't seen that Myles Jones as of late.

If Duke wants to get over this three game skid and mold itself back into the championship contender everyone thought they were early this season, it's going to start with finding that Myles Jones again—the man they hope to be the real Myles Jones.

Duke Gets Downed By Top-Ranked Irish

Here's a link to a story written for Lacrosse Magazine about Duke's 15-10 loss against Notre Dame. 

North Carolina's Pontrello Getting Back Into The Mix

It's a scene North Carolina men's lacrosse fans are used to seeing. Steve Pontrello receives the ball up top with a short-stick defender guarding him. The Jersey kid licks his chops, splits his defender, steamrolls by him and pings the upper left corner on a rifle of a running shot.

It's what we're all used to seeing, but what we haven't seen nearly enough of this year.

When Pontrello scored his lone goal against Duke in UNC's 15-14 win Saturday, it wasn't just another mark on the scoresheet. Pontrello's goal represented a turning point in the Tar Heels season.

"We made adjustments at halftime with Tutton, Pontrello and Simpson on the first midfield line," coach Joe Breschi said. "We need (Pontrello) at this point in the season."

For the first 11 games of the season, Pontrello was used sparingly, only playing in six games as he started the season with an injury. Now that UNC has hit the toughest portion of its schedule—ACC play—the Tar Heels need Pontrello.

While Peyton Klawsinki and Patrick Kelly have performed better than expected with Pontrello and Shane Simpson's absences, there's no way the Tar Heels can replace Pontrello's strong right-handed shot and dodging ability.

With a physical presence that forces defenses to account for his driving and extend themselves to prevent his shot, Pontrello's abilities go beyond just scoring goals. He opens up space for other middies like Chad Tutton to find openings and improve the offense’s efficiency on the whole.

"It's been a gradual progression," Breschi said. "We were a little conservative, heading (toward starting Pontrello). Finally it was time to open up."

As a two-year starter coming into his junior year, Pontrello was expected to improve upon being the fourth leading scorer on the team from 2014. With 17 points, Tutton was the only midfielder to best the 5-foot-8, 195-pound corner-ripping specimen.

He might not reach those numbers this season, but if the Tar Heels are going to make a deep run all the way to memorial weekend, they'll need to see a lot more of the Pontrello we all got a glimpse of against Duke.

"Pontrello is getting to 100 percent," Breschi said. "But he's still lethal at 80 percent."

North Carolina Tops Duke In 15-14 Thriller (N&O)

Here's a link to a short story I wrote published by the Raleigh News and Observer about No. 4 North Carolina's win against No. 6 Duke.

COLUMN: UNC Students Are Missing Out

Disclosure: I am a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who has been following and covering the North Carolina men's lacrosse team for my entire college career. 

Every year, the North Carolina men's lacrosse team is highly touted as one of the country's top teams.

But the Tar Heels consistently see half-filled bleachers at home games on Fetzer field. Half of fans are family and friends of players and coaches and the other half are fans who travelled with the opposing team. 

UNC students come to events by the handful and all too frequently fail to bring the energy fans bring to venues like Syracuse's Carrier Dome or Johns Hopkins' Homewood. 

In my humble opinion, lacrosse sells itself. It's the fast sport on two feet, there's a lot of hitting and flashy play is usually rewarded. 

But for those UNC students out there who don't see that as a good enough reason for coming out to see one of the best lacrosse teams in the game as they start their conference play, let me throw down some knowledge that might help to persuade you. 

I'll start at the top. If you're all about March Madness and love seeing someone who can make a defender shake in their boots, turn off the TV. You shouldn't be watching the Elite Eight at the NCAA tourney. You should be out at Fetzer field watching Jimmy Bitter and Joey Sankey chase history Sunday against Duke at 1 p.m.

Coming into the season Sankey was 57 points away from breaking Marcus Holman's record for most points all-time by at Tar Heel. Last season the 5-foot-5 shifty attacker had just that—57 points. This season he's already reached 44 points. 

Bitter is not slouch either. Starting alongside Sankey all four years Bitter came into his season year with 91 goals. Since then he's past the 100-goal mark and is closing in on the all-time record of 128. 

But it's not the statistics of these two that should be wooing you. It's the high-tempo, risk taking and gunslinging that draws viewers  in.

This tandem isn't going to break records by being prototypical attack men.

Bitter and Sankey are going to be the greatest attacking duo in UNC history because they take risks and make flasher plays than the Tar Heel lacrosse program has ever seen. 

Bitter loves capitalizing off poorly positioned defenders and using them as screens when he beams lefty shots around them from range that ping corners. 

Sankey infuriates keepers by tiptoeing the crease while getting crushed by defenders double his size as he lays out to sneak shots into the goal from the smallest of angles. 

Nothing about what this Tar Heel team does is boring, and it's not just the seniors who are looking to break records. 

Sophomore and first-year starter Luke Goldstock put all the pressure in the world on his back when he decided to done the jersey number 1 that was worn by UNC's all-time greatest offensive player Marcus Holman. 

But he hasn't disappointed in the slightest.

So far this season that young gun has 32 goals. UNC's record for goals in a season is 47. Goldstock needs 15 goals to break the record and he has four regular season games and whatever post season play UNC gets to break it. That very conservatively means he has at least six game to get 15 goals. Goldstock has reached goal marks like that in some 3 game spans this season. 

Whether you'd like to watch history in the making, see a couple of undersized guys break ankles or just watch your school win games, you have no excuse to not take a study break and check out Breschi's boys. 

They're everything you've come to expect from UNC athletics and more. The only thing their missing is a student section that matches their fire and passion.