The North Carolina’s men’s lacrosse team might be young, but it is more focused than ever.
Despite losing 11 seniors from the 2015 roster — including Joey Sankey and Jimmy Bitter, who are UNC's No. 1 and No. 3 all-time leading scorers — expectations remain high for the Tar Heels this year.
Entering Saturday's opener against Michigan at Fetzer Field, UNC is ranked No. 6 in the U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Coaches Poll and No. 8 in the Cascade/Maverik Media Poll administered by Inside Lacrosse Magazine.
But junior co-captain Austin Pifani does not care about rankings. His primary concern is Michigan and proving that his young team is a legitimate national championship contender.
“We don’t try to listen too much to the noise,” Pifani said. “We keep it pretty in-house, and we know what we have. We lost a lot of guys last year, so there’s a lot of doubt. People don’t really know what to expect out of us.”
The Tar Heels return 30 letter winners from a 2015 squad that reached the NCAA quarterfinals. These players include preseason All-Americans Pifani, junior midfielder Tate Jozokos, junior midfielder Peyton Klawinski and junior attackman Luke Goldstock.
Pifani led the Tar Heels’ defense a season ago with 19 caused turnovers, and Goldstock looks to top his 2015 performance — which was highlighted by his school-record 50 goals.
“This year, this is a really close group and even more focused than last year, and I think we have all of the talent,” said senior attackman Steve Pontrello. “If we stick to what we know and listen to our coaches, I think the journey will be a fun one.”
But the Tar Heels still feel the loss of a dominant graduating class that included five All-Americans.
