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Ward's 6 Goals Carries UVa to an 11-9 win over North Carolina in the ACC Semis
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April 23, 2004
Chapel Hill, N.C. – Virginia defeated North Carolina 11-9 in the semifinal round of the 2004 ACC Men’s Lacrosse Championship Friday night at Fetzer Field on the campus of the University of North Carolina.
Virginia sophomore attackman Matt Ward scored the first goal of the game on an assist from sophomore midfielder Kyle Dixon to put the Cavaliers up 1-0.
North Carolina junior attackman Jed Prossner tied the game 1-1 with 9:08 remaining in the first period. He was assisted on the play by sophomore midfielder Andrew McElduff.
The Cavaliers went back on top 2-1 on a man-down goal by sophomore defender Chris Ourisman with 3:58 left in the period. Ourisman’s goal is the first of his career.
Less than a minute into the second quarter, North Carolina junior attackman Mike McCall evened the score at 2 on a pass from sophomore Scott Falatach.
Virginia regained the lead 4-2 on two straight second-quarter goals by Ward. He was assisted by junior midfielder Nathan Kenney and junior attackman John Christmas, respectively.
With 55 seconds remaining in the second quarter, North Carolina’s McCall cut the Cavaliers’ lead to one with his second goal of the game. He was assisted on the play by senior attacker Andrew Lucas.
Dixon scored on an assist by Christmas with seven seconds remaining in the half to put the Cavaliers on top 5-3 at halftime.
The Cavaliers pushed their lead to 8-3 in the third quarter on three consecutive unassisted goals by Ward, junior attackman Joe Yevoli and sophomore midfielder Foster Gilbert.With 2:58 left in the period, North Carolina junior midfielder Bryant Will scored his first goal of the game to make the score 8-4. Will was assisted by junior midfielder Lance Zimmerman on the play.
North Carolina’s Prossner scored back-to-back goals to put the Tar Heels within two (8-6) with 6:20 to play. Zimmerman assisted Prossner’s man-up goal with 8:04 remaining in the game, while Staines was credited with the assist on the second goal of the run.
Virginia’s Ward tallied his fifth goal of the game on an assist by Yevoli to extend the Cavaliers’ lead to 9-6 with 4:53 remaining in the game. Yevoli scored his second goal of the game with 3:04 left in the game to put the Cavaliers up by four goals (10-6).
Six seconds later, North Carolina’s McCall notched his third goal of the night on a pass by Prossner to make the score 10-7 with just under three minutes to play.
Virginia’s Ward recorded his sixth goal, a career-high, with 1:25 remaining to play to increase the Cavaliers’ lead to 11-7.
North Carolina senior midfielder Dave Duffy posted his first goal of the game to make the score 11-8 with 1:01 left on the clock. McCall then registered his fourth goal of the game with 0:12 remaining in the game to account for the game’s final goal.
Virginia goalkeeper Tillman Johnson registered a career-high 19 saves, while his counterpart, Paul Spellman, notched 16 saves.
The Cavaliers looks to be the first #3 seed to win the ACC Tournament as they face top-seeded Maryland Sunday at 3:30 pm. The game will be aired on WINA radio, AM 1070, as well as being televised by Comcast Sports Net, Fox Sports Net South and the Sunshine Network.