North Carolina at Maryland: Three things to watch
No. 6 Maryland and No. 7 North Carolina enter Saturday’s contests with 12 combined wins and just three losses. But both teams are 0-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference and jockeying with each other to avoid meeting league-leading Duke in the conference tournament semifinals. Here are a few factors that could influence the outcome at Byrd Stadium in College Park.
1) Reviewing Rastivo. The Tar Heels (6-2) started two different defensemen in senior Emmit Kellar and freshman Jordan Smith in Tuesday night’s 12-7 victory over Dartmouth, but Terps coach John Tillman pointed out that the players they replaced, junior Charlie McComas and senior Kevin Piegare, were inserted five minutes into the game and played extensively. The biggest change involved sophomore Steven Rastivo starting in place of redshirt senior Chris Madalon. “We’re still going to generate the same types of shots, quality shots – at least in our opinion – and we’ve just got to stick those shots,” Tillman said. “Madalon was a veteran guy, a big guy [at 6 feet, 3 inches and 210 pounds] which posed some problems. Rastivo seems to be very, very quick. He was really good in high school. He looked great the other night. So we’ve still got to finish shots, get good shots, make the most of them, and make them earn saves.”
2) Minding the midfield. Injuries have sapped North Carolina in the midfield, but sophomore Marcus Holman has flourished since being moved from attack to midfield. Junior Jimmy Dunster scored four goals against Dartmouth, and the possible return of junior attackman Thomas Wood would keep Dunster and Holman paired on the first line. “If Wood is in there, Holman goes to midfield and he can initiate,” Tillman said. “If you put a short stick on him, he’ll either dodge or he’ll go behind and play a pick-and-roll game with their attackmen. So that means that all of a sudden, you now have to deal with picks and either [attackmen Billy] Bitter or [Nicky] Galasso, who are very talented. And if you put a pole on him [Holman], that will let Dunster dodge a little bit more, and he’s very, very fast and extremely dynamic.”
3) Keeping up with Keenan. The Tar Heels have been buoyed by the play of freshman R.G. Keenan, who has won 67 percent (118-of-176) of faceoffs this season. Sophomore Curtis Holmes is no shrinking flower for the Terps, having won 60.3 percent (79-of-131) of draws thus far, but Tillman said the rest of the team must assist him against Keenan. “We have a lot of confidence in Curtis, but like any game we go into, we know it’s not just Curtis against their guy,” he said. “We always look at it as a 10-on-10 faceoff. Curt’s going to have to be at his best, but so will the wing guys, and so will the attackmen and the defensemen. Hopefully, Curtis will get off the ball pretty quickly. I know Curtis is a very tough. Keenan’s a very tough kid. … We’re going to have to work our butts off, and that’s a credit to Keenan. We’re going to have to do a really good job.”
Categories: Maryland, Three things to watch
