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Most teams would kill to have a conference player of the year, a two-year ACC starter and a top-50 recruit comprise their first midfield.
At North Carolina, it’s the third line.
That’s the talent with which the Tar Heels are operating in 2026.
“It feels so good to finally have that depth we’ve been building,” coach Joe Breschi said.
In recent years, North Carolina’s recruiting acumen brought star attackmen Owen Duffy and Dom Pietramala to Chapel Hill, unearthed a pair of defensive gems in Peter Thomann and Chase Cellucci and ensured the Tar Heels would be set at the faceoff position with Brady Wambach.
But the group that generated the most buzz in the fall was the midfield. As more teams go position-less on offense, North Carolina is doubling down on the middle third of the field.
The Tar Heels moved senior captain James Matan from attack to midfield, where he’ll anchor the first line alongside sophomores Mason Szewczyk and Caden Harshbarger.
An all-freshman second line of Anthony Raio, Gary Merrill and Luke Bair drew rave reviews when they produced five of North Carolina’s 10 goals in a scrimmage against Richmond.
Then there’s the third line, which consists of graduate transfer Charlie Pope — the 2024 America East Player of the Year at Vermont — junior Andrew Preis and sophomore Luke Macaluso.
“That’s the beauty of it,” Breschi said. “Last year, we were kind of working through our second midfield. Now we’re working through our third midfield. It’s a formidable group.”
North Carolina is equally as deep at defensive midfield. The addition of mid-year transfer Dean Scalamandre (Rutgers) could open the door for All-American Ty English to play more offense. English was the Tar Heels’ top-scoring midfielder with 20 goals in 2025.
Raio, Merrill and Bair are the headliners — all of them five-star recruits.
The Tar Heels mixed and matched midfielders for the first three weeks of fall ball. Going into the Richmond scrimmage, Breschi suggested to offensive coordinator Jon Thompson that they unite the trio. He gave the example of William Perry, Justin Anderson and Tanner Cook, who played on the same line for three years before they graduated in 2021.
“I said to JT, ‘You know, we had Perry, Anderson and Cook back in the day. They played three years together and the chemistry was awesome,’” Breschi said. “‘Let’s throw them together and see what it looks like.’ And they came out with guns blazing.”
The all-time leading scorer in Long Island history, Raio was the USA Lacrosse National Player of the Year at Half Hollow Hills (N.Y.) and one of just four non-collegians named to the U.S. Men’s U20 National Team last year. Signed as a two-sport athlete out of St. Anthony’s (N.Y.), Merrill decided to forego football and focus exclusively on lacrosse. Bair made the Baltimore Sun’s All-Metro team both as an attackman in 2024 and as a midfielder in 2025.
“They’re just built differently,” Breschi said. “Usually when freshmen come in, they’re skinny, scrawny guys. These guys are thick and solid. They’re not getting pushed around.”
They’re not the only freshmen poised to contribute immediately. Attackman Brock Geraci will platoon with senior Matt Wrede at the third attack spot next to Duffy and Pietramala. Long pole Parker McDonald and short stick Caswell Friedman will play as part of a robust rope unit. And goalie Josh Marcus — the 2025 Connecticut Player of the Year and a three-time All-FCIAC selection at Staples (Conn.) — is in a dead heat with three other players in a competition for the starting role.
We were humming in the fall with everyone on the practice field. And it was like, 'Wow, so this is what it looks like healthy.'
Joe Breschi
As of last Thursday, Breschi was not ready to name the starter. Senior Kent Goode is the only goalie with collegiate experience. He appeared in 16 games over the last three seasons as a backup to Collin Kreig and Michael Gianforcaro. Redshirt sophomore Brayson Wilson and redshirt freshman Luke Arrighi had similar recruiting pedigrees as Marcus but have yet to see any game action.
“Josh Marcus is playing really well,” Breschi said. “You could see Josh Marcus.”
They’ve been rotating quarters during North Carolina’s scrimmages.
Duffy has barely practiced during his first two seasons due to a variety of injuries. Pietramala had to redshirt his freshman year. Thomann tore his ACL in a preseason scrimmage against Delaware last year. Cellucci withdrew from consideration for the U.S. Men’s U20 National Team due to the wear and tear of his freshman season, when he was thrust into Thomann’s spot on the starting defense and in the 10-man ride.
“We were humming in the fall with everyone on the practice field,” Breschi said. “And it was just like, ‘Wow, so this is what it looks like healthy.”
North Carolina has ramped up Duffy’s activity with the hope that he will be a full participant this week in advance of the season opener Sunday at Towson.
The Tar Heels are being more careful with Thomann, capping his reps as he nears the 11-month milestone of his ACL recovery.
“He’s just a terror in the middle of the field. We’re excited to get him back,” Breschi said. “He’s just too good of a talent not to have out there. His motor is unlike most.”
Matt DaSilva is the editor in chief of USA Lacrosse Magazine. He played LSM at Sachem (N.Y.) and for the club team at Delaware. Somewhere on the dark web resides a GIF of him getting beat for the game-winning goal in the 2002 NCLL final.
