HEMPSTEAD, NY * Sophomore Billy Bitter scored four goals and the Tar Heels had an eight goal second half as #10 North Carolina downed #7 Hofstra, 13-8, in front of 6,661 at James M. Shuart Stadium Saturday night. The Tar Heels, with their second straight win, improved to 10-4 on the season. Hofstra, which had its seven-game winning streak snapped, is now 9-2 on the year.

In addition to Bitter, junior Sean Delaney tallied three goals-all in the second half- and one assist while senior middie Ben Hunt posted two goals and two assists. Junior Gavin Petracca notched two goals while his freshman brother James recorded nine saves in the UNC cage for his second win of the season. Hofstra was led by sophomore attackman Jay Card with four goals, red-shirt freshman Kevin Ford had a goal and an assist, and freshman goalie Andrew Gvozden posted 12 saves in the Pride net.

North Carolina scored five times in the third quarter to erase a 6-5 Hofstra halftime lead and take a 10-7 lead into the fourth quarter. Delaney scored twice in the 4-0 run to open the third with Hunt and Bitter scoring the other two. Card scored his fourth of the game and 26th of the year with 5:17 to play in the third to cut the Pride deficit to 9-7. But Gavin Petracca scored his second of the game and 20th of the year two minutes later to give UNC a 10-7 advantage.

Kevin Ford scored his 10th of the year just 1:10 into the fourth quarter to bring Hofstra to within two at 10-8. But Bitter notched his fourth of the game and 33rd of the season with 11:03 to play to start a three-goal UNC spurt that put the game away.

North Carolina got on the board first 2:35 into the contest as Hunt fired a bullet from 15 yards out for a 1-0 lead. Pride freshman Brad Loizeaux scored on a jumping, twisting shot off the right side of the crease to tie the game almost four minutes later. But the Tar Heels scored the next three goals as Petracca, Bart Wagner and Bitter scored unanswered goals to take a 4-1 lead 2:23 into the second quarter.

But the Pride came roaring back, scoring three straight goals and five of the next six to take a one-goal lead at halftime. Card scored his 23rd of the year 38 seconds later. Junior middie Tom Interlicchio notched his third of the year with 9:35 to play in the half on a bullet from 20 yards, and Card tied the game with a man-up goal, off a perfect pass from Michael Colleluori, to tie the game at 4-4 with 6:05 to play in the second.

A minute later Bitter scored his second of the game on a diagonal run from behind the cage to give the Tar Heels a 5-4 lead. But Hofstra sophomore Stephen Bentz scored his fourth of the season off a pass from Anthony Muscarella on a man-up situation with 3:03 to play, and Card notched his sixth hat-trick of the year 10 seconds later to give the Pride a 6-5 lead at halftime.

North Carolina outshot the Pride, 39-31 and picked up 37 ground balls to Hofstra's 25. The Tar Heels also benefited at the face-off X as Shane Walterhoefer won 17 of 25 face-offs.

The Pride will return to action on Tuesday, April 21 when they host Long Island-rival Stony Brook at Shuart Stadium at 7:00 p.m.

* * * *

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. - Led by a balanced offensive attack, the 10th-ranked University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team used an 8-2 second-half scoring blitz to rally past sixth-ranked Hofstra University Saturday night before a crowd of 6,661 fans at James M. Shuart Stadium. The win was Carolina's 10th of the regular season as the 2009 team became only the sixth Tar Heel team since the program's start in 1949 to reach double figures in wins before the start of post-season play.

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2009-04-19