May 5, 2004

Final Stats

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - North Carolina's men's lacrosse team got back into the win column Wednesday night as the seventh-ranked Tar Heels defeated previously unbeaten Limestone 17-8 at Fetzer Field. The Tar Heels improved to 8-4 on the season heading into their regular-season finale against Ohio State Saturday while the Saints, ranked in a tie for the No. 1 spot in NCAA Division II, conclude their regular season with a 14-1 mark.

Junior attackmen Jed Prossner and Mike McCall led the Tar Heels with six points each in the contest. Prossner had four goals and two assists while McCall had three goals and three assists. Senior midfielder Kevin Frew continued his great season by winning 16 of 17 faceoffs. For the third time this season he equalled his career high for ground balls in a game with 13.

Frew has won 170 faceoffs this season, the most by any player in a season in school history. He now has 106 ground balls on the campaign, equalling the fourth highest total in a single season in Tar Heel history. Frew has won 397 faceoffs in school history, a total topped only by Jude Collins, who won 429 from 1993-96.

Besides Prossner and McCall, junior midfielder Lance Zimmerman had two goals and two assists for UNC, junior midfielder Bryant Will had two goals and an assist, sophomore attackman Scott Falatach had a goal and two assists and sophomore midfielder Andrew McElduff had one goal and one assist.

Limestone was led by Nolan Heavenor who had a goal and two assists while midfielder Chris Barrett and attackman Roger Vyse each scored twice for the Saints. David Wooster and Patrick Cardiff each had a goal and an assist for Limestone.

UNC jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the game as McCall scored the first goal 2:16 into the game when Zimmerman found him all alone on the crease for an easy putaway. The lead went to 4-0 in a span of just 12 seconds. Prossner scored the first of his four goals off an assist by Will at the 6:06 mark, followed by a goal by Falatach, assisted by McCall at the six-minute mark, and another by Prossner, with McCall's second straight assist, just six seconds later at 5:54.

The Saints got on the scoreboard at the 3:51 mark when David Wooster picked up a loose ball in front of the Tar Heel goal and scored an unassisted goal. Zimmerman answered 1:05 later for the Tar Heels off a Ryan Blair assist and then senior midfielder Johnny Seivold dodged a pair of defenders to score a nifty goal at 1:53 of the quarter. The Saints scored an extra-man goal as time ran out in the first period when Roger Vyse scooped up a loose ball off a failed clear and scored past Paul Spellman, who played the first three quarters for UNC and had nine saves while allowing five goals.

Limestone scored a second straight extra-man goal, again by Vyse, 2:13 into the second quarter to cut the Tar Heel lead to 6-3 before the Tar Heels began an eight-goal run that made the score 14-3 with 3:45 to play in the third quarter. Just 42 seconds after Vyse's goal, Carolina's Bryant Will sent a rocket past Limestone goalie Charlie Gray, who finished with six saves. At 6:53, Zimmerman scored his second goal of the game, assisted by Prossner to make it 9-3 in favor of UNC. Prossner scored the next two Tar Heel goals, with assists by Falatach and Andrew McElduff, before McElduff snuck one over Gray's right shoulder with 14 seconds left in the first half to make the score 11-3.

McCall scored his second goal of the game, off Zimmerman's assist, with 12:28 left in the third quarter before Tar Heel defenseman Hayward Howard got his first career goal on a fast break at the 9:55 mark. McCall scored again at 3:45, this time assisted by freshman middie Tom Sciolla.

Limestone answered with back-to-back goals by Chris Barrett and Jason Randolph to make the score 14-5 before UNC sophomore midfielder Kyle Henderson scored with 49 seconds left in the period, assisted by Falatach.

In the final period, Will scored his second goal of the game at 13:06, assisted by McCall, on an extra-man opportunity. That goal was answered 2:03 later by Patrick Cardiff with an assist by Heavenor. UNC's Andrew Lucas finished off the Tar Heel scoring with 4:32 left in the game after a broken clear before Limestone got two final goals, one by Barrett and one by Heavenor in the final 1:34 of the contest.

Limestone outshot the Tar Heels 38-31 but UNC had the edge in saves 15-6. Carolina won 21 of the 27 faceoffs and also had a big edge in ground balls 49-36.

Carolina substituted liberally beginning midway through the third quarter and every Tar Heel who dressed for the game saw action for the second time this season.

UNC will host No. 6 Ohio State (12-2) on Saturday at 12 noon at Fetzer Field for the season finale while Limestone now awaits its bid to the 2004 NCAA Division II Tournament.