Goalkeeper Steven Rastivo steps up for UNC men’s lacrosse

Goalie Steven Rastivo watched his team’s first 420 minutes of lacrosse go by without getting one second of playing time.

But on Tuesday night, the North Carolina redshirt sophomore made his debut as a collegiate starter count.

No. 8 UNC, coming off a home loss to No. 7 Duke, defeated Dartmouth 12-7 behind 12 saves from Rastivo, who started the game slow but finished strong.

Rastivo allowed two goals in the game’s opening five minutes. But with the Tar Heels holding onto a one-goal lead entering the fourth period, he stepped up, holding the Big Green scoreless for the period’s first 13 minutes and making three saves.

“I had the butterflies going and I was a little nervous in the beginning, but I think that was expected,” Rastivo said. “But once the defense settled down, they gave me the opportunity to make some outside saves and get my confidence going. But it was a grind. It was a 60-minute grind.”

By the time he gave up his only goal of the frame with 1:40 left in the game, North Carolina had already scored three times to put the game out of reach.

UNC coach Joe Breschi said Rastivo needed to step up because the team is not very deep and was exhausted by the end of the match.

“Steven made some great saves and did a great job clearing the ball as well,” he said. “I couldn’t be more proud of him — 12 saves and seven goals against and with a tired group in front of him.”

Rastivo got the start after redshirt senior Chris Madalon was sidelined following the Duke match. Madalon had started all of UNC’s first seven games and played every minute of each.

“It was certainly not a knock on Chris Madalon,” Breschi said. “It was more of a ‘Let’s shake the tree a little bit and give Steven a chance.’”

Senior defenseman Ryan Flanagan said the team didn’t feel any pressure to change its game plan or play better with a new goalie in net.

“Steven will make more flashy saves, while Madalon just takes up a lot more of the net and will cut your angles down,” he said. “With Steven, you’ll think you’ll have a spot and he’ll rob you. We only needed to step up and make plays because we haven’t been playing well.”

Flanagan said when he saw Rastivo working to get himself ready for the game, he knew the goalie would play well.

“I live with him so I had a chance to see how hard he was preparing, how much more tape he was watching. He was definitely nervous, but he was unbelievable.”

Breschi said Rastivo will be the team’s starting goalie going forward, at least for the team’s next match at Maryland on Saturday.

“Steven will be the guy, certainly this week,” Breschi said. “We’re going into a hostile environment in College Park and it’ll be his first road game, but he’ll be the starter.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.