UNC Flexes Best Self in 17-7 Throttling of No. 3 Harvard

SEVERN, Md. — Tasked with slowing down Harvard’s potent offense, North Carolina turned to the best strategy available: Denying the Crimson enough scoring opportunities to stay in the game.

Brady Wambach won 22 of 25 faceoffs and Owen Duffy scored a career-high seven goals as the Tar Heels dominated possession on the way to a 17-7 victory before 2,471 at Archbishop Spalding High School.

“When you have the best faceoff guy in the country in Brady Wambach, you can do some special things,” North Carolina coach Joe Breschi said. “We finally capitalized on that today.”

Dominic Pietramala added three goals and freshman Josh Marcus made 11 saves for North Carolina (9-1), which never trailed in its non-conference finale. The Tar Heels added to an already abundant postseason resume that features victories over Army, Johns Hopkins, Penn and Penn State.

Jack Speidell had three goals and Graham Stevens stopped 14 shots for Harvard (8-1), which was off to its best start since winning its first 10 games in 1961 and remains well-positioned to make a second consecutive NCAA tournament appearance.

Still, the Crimson’s most obvious vulnerability was a faceoff unit ranked 65th in Division I entering the weekend at 43.5 percent. And no one was better equipped to take advantage of it than North Carolina, which features the nation’s best faceoff man.

“I don’t think we played well in any facet of the game, not from a lack of effort,” Harvard coach Gerry Byrne said. “They just had the ball. I bet they had the ball for 42 minutes of that game. We have a good offense, but that means you have to be ultra-efficient. I think we had the No. 1 offensive efficiency in the country, probably not after this game. You live and you learn. We beat Syracuse losing nearly every faceoff but one. We know we can do that. You don’t want to rely on that as a strategy.”

Wambach did little to dispel any notions he is on his way to back-to-back first team All-America nods, and he wasted little time establishing control of matters Sunday.

The junior won the first 10 faceoffs, keeping a Harvard offense averaging 14.9 goals off the field as the Tar Heels created separation. Both Duffy and Pietramala scored in the opening minutes before the Crimson had a possession, and Harvard burned through both of its first-half timeouts before it won a draw.

As slick as Wambach (12 ground balls) was, his wing play was every bit the exceptional complement. Redshirt sophomore defenseman Peter Thomann collected a pair of ground balls and caused three turnovers, while sophomore short stick Parker Hoffman set a career high with six ground balls.

“They just continue to get better,” Duffy said. “It’s hard to fathom because they’re so good.”

Hoffman didn’t practice until Saturday because of a bruised ankle.

“It looked like he wasn’t going to play on Monday morning, but with all the [physical therapy] that he’s done, it makes it so much easier,” Wambach said.

Despite the possession disparity, Harvard wasn’t in a dreadful spot down 6-3 with seven minutes left in the first half. But Duffy and Pietramala took turns scoring again, and Marcus made a save to stymie a transition opportunity with 2:04 before the break.

After a timeout, Duffy somehow maintained control of the ball despite a triple team for several seconds, only for the ground ball to squirt out to Anthony Raio. He then found Luke Bair to make it 10-3.

Wambach then won nine of his 10 draws in the second half, and the Crimson never got the margin to less than six again.

“We’ve won those games,” Byrne said. “We’ve went almost 20-something straight games without being over 50 percent at the faceoff, so we know what that’s like. We didn’t think we’d come into the game and be 50 percent. We were hoping we could get to 33 percent. It just puts extra pressure on everything else.”

If North Carolina can apply that sort of pressure on an undefeated team — albeit one with faceoff issues — it has the potential to do so against its remaining gauntlet. The Tar Heels will play their ACC opponents the next four Saturdays, starting with a visit from Syracuse.

After a March that featured close calls against Penn State and Army but ended with arguably its best performance of the season, North Carolina appears well-prepared for what’s to come over the next two months.

“That’s what we’ve been looking for, that total team [game],” Breschi said. “After that Army game, it felt like there was more. We all felt like there was more, and we weren’t taking advantage of [Wambach]. We were winning 70 percent of the faceoffs and not taking advantage of it offensively. So we took care of the ball better, we worked the shot clock more, we shared the ball more and that’s what happens. When we play like that, that’s what we’re capable of.”