With the beginning of the North Carolina men’s lacrosse season right around the corner, coach Joe Breschi is making final tweaks to the lineup in an attempt to prepare his team for a run at second straight ACC title.
Last season, the Tar Heels weren’t exactly oozing with upperclassmen, but another impressive class of incoming freshmen have made balancing college experience with youthful talent an interesting challenge for Breschi.
Attack
With a nagging ankle injury, junior lefty Jimmy Bitter’s ability to perform at a high level early on in the season may be limited.
Fellow attackman and classmate Joey Sankey said Bitter’s inability to play much of fall ball and the preseason could prevent Bitter from having a quick start to the season.
Sankey, has had injury troubles of his own as well, but the undersized attackman said his muscle injury was minor and he will be good to go come Sunday.
“I’ve practiced all week full go,” Sankey said. “I’m ready to go.”
As for a starting rotation come Sunday, Breschi expects Sankey, a preseason second team All-American, to be starting alongside senior Pat Foster and sophomore Spencer Parks.
Foster, who has limited experience as a starter, has been highly involved in the Tar Heel offense in the past years including running midfield, playing attackman and being a part of the man-up squad.
Parks turned heads as a freshman despite getting only two starts as an offensive midfielder. With nine goals, Parks took advantage of inverted offensive sets drawn up by Breschi that allowed the young gun to attack from the position of an attackman —something he looked very comfortable doing.
Along with the relatively experienced trio of Sankey, Foster and Parks, Breschi said sophomore Patrick Kelly and freshman Luke Goldstock will likely find their way into the game playing a significant role.
Midfield
Unlike last season, Breschi believes the team has a chance to have a more well-rounded offense, and that will start with increased dodging and ball handling in the offensive midfield.
That will all start with junior Chad Tutton’s lethal face-dodge and consistent left-handed finish, and from there it will continue with the likes of sophomore Steve Pontrello who’s been known to rifle a side-armed shot or two past a goalkeeper’s ear from range.
Defense
On the other end of the field, Kieran Burke will be leading the defense again in cage as a sophomore.
With returners, senior Jordan Smith and junior Jake Bailey surrounding Burke the Tar Heels will look to provide some stability to a defense that wasn’t reliable at times in 2013.
Sophomore Evan Connell, who played significant time last season at long-stick middle and closed defense, will likely get even more time this season as a utility player long stick defender.
Despite having numerous returners that will attempt to improve the viscosity of the Tar Heel defense, Breschi said he looks to add freshman Austin Pifani, a 2013 Under Armour All-American, into the mix, maybe as a starter.
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