North Carolina looks to continue their undefeated start against Ivy League foe Harvard Tuesday night on Fetzer Field in a top 20 showdown. The Tar Heels (8-0) start a tough six game stretch towards the ACC Tournament in late April with the Crimson (4-2).
UNC had a less than stellar week after dismantling Manhattan two weeks ago. Last Tuesday, they were down 6-2 at halftime to Bryant before scoring 8 goals in the 2nd half to beat the Bulldogs by one. Then on Saturday, the Heels had another slow start, this time only leading Richmond by a goal at halftime, before yet again pulling away in the 2nd half. Sophomore attackman Luke Goldstock led the way for UNC with 6 goals and an assist in their Saturday victory over the Spiders, while senior attackman Joey Sankey had a hat-trick and 3 assists. Goldstock, Sankey, and senior Jimmy Bitter, who already has 40 points on the season, make up one of the nation’s scariest attack units, combining for 113 points so far and are 2nd in the nation in scoring offense. UNC’s middies are also a contributing factor, led by Canadian senior Chad Tutton who was 20 points on the year. A name to get familiar with however is sophomore Peyton Klawinski, a sophomore from Memphis who has come from the scout team last year to a starting middie contributing to the Tar Heels.
On defense, sophomore Austin Pifani has been defending some of the top attackmen in the nation in his short career with the Tar Heels. The defense has gone through the mantra of “bend, not break” thus far this year, giving up double digit goals to Johns Hopkins, Denver, and Richmond as well as giving up 9 to High Point and Bryant as well. Junior Kieran Burke must improve going into this tough stretch of games, as he has a save percentage of .500.
For the Crimson, they lost their Ivy opener to Brown on Saturday 14-9 after playing close with the Bears and their explosive offense for the first three quarters. The attack unit of Devin Dwyer, Deke Burns, and freshman Joe Lang have 68 points combined for the year, which is the same amount as Brown’s three attackmen. Dwyer is the quarterback of the offense, recording a point per game average of 4.67 thus far this season, while Burns has a goal per game average of 3.33. After the three starting attackmen, the points diminish, especially with the middies. Junior Sean McDonagh leads with 10 points, while multiple middies have contributed as well. Freshman Sean Coleman is a name to watch as well. He was one of the top freshman last year before suffering a season-ending leg injury during fall ball. Coleman is a very agile middie and is starting to contribute more and more to the Crimson each game.
The defense hasn’t been a bright spot. They’ve given up an average of 13 goals a game, one of the worst defenses in the nation. However, keeper Brian Moore is in the top ten in save percentage in the nation with a .570 average, second behind Brown’s Jack Kelly in the Ivy League. Walker Kirby and Matt Ryan are excellent defensemen, as they cause about 1.33 turnovers a game.
I expect UNC to bounce back after two slow starts against two not-so-good opponents. However, I would not be surprised if it is a close game as well, given how well the Crimson played against the top scoring offense in the nation on Saturday. Both teams have games on Saturday after this one; UNC travels to California to take on one of the best defensive teams in the country in former ACC rival Maryland, while Harvard travels to take on Dartmouth.
