At times last year, the Tar Heels’ attack depended on the individual skills of Jimmy Bitter, Joey Sankey and Chad Tutton to manufacture offense. The trio combined to tally 191 points in the form of 104 goals and 87 assists while playing their way to All-American selections.
But this year the attack’s strategy has changed.
“A lot has been talked about our team losing some superstars, which we did, but we’re at our best when the guys are all playing together,” Coach Joe Breschi said. “Instead of standing around watching the superstars play, everyone has to play.”
This season, the North Carolina attack’s game plan revolves around patience and balance instead of the sparks of individual brilliance that powered the 2015 team.
“We put in an offense and our job is to execute it,” said senior attackman Steve Pontrello. “It’s different from last year with those two studs Jimmy and Joey, so just sharing the ball on attack and listening to our coach is important.”
This fact was abundantly clear during Saturday’s 14-6 win against Furman at Fetzer Field. The Tar Heels (2-0) executed an unselfish style that led to seven players tallying goals and no single player scoring more than three times.
“The focus really isn’t on who is scoring the goals, it’s more just on our offense scoring,” said senior midfielder and team captain Patrick Kelly.
Balance isn’t the only thing Breschi has emphasized to his players this season. He also wants his team to be more systematic in the way it attacks, especially when it comes to shooting.
