In recent years, the UNC men’s lacrosse team has largely been defined both by its stars and its failure to advance past the NCAA Quarterfinals.

This year, however, has given birth to a whole new narrative—as the Tar Heels have relied on a team mentality to bring the school to its first Final Four since 1993.

Players like Joey Sankey, Marcus Holman and the Bitter brothers—both Billy and Jimmy—often took center stage on previous editions of head coach Joe Breschi’s teams.

Because those guys were consistently racking up incredible stats while also being named All-Americans, the pressure of ending the program’s long Final Four drought became suffocating at times.

Luke Goldstock scored 50 goals last season for UNC--mostly off assists from Joey Sankey and Jimmy Bitter. This year, a switch in style has seen his goal total cut in half. (Jeffrey A. Camarati/ UNC Athletics)

Luke Goldstock scored 50 goals last season for UNC–mostly off assists from Joey Sankey and Jimmy Bitter. This year, a switch in style has seen his goal total cut in half. (Jeffrey A. Camarati/ UNC Athletics)

One of UNC’s current captains, junior defenseman Austin Pifani, spoke about that feeling at Tuesday’s press conference.

“Playing with guys like Jimmy Bitter and Joey Sankey—they had so much pressure on them to make it to the Final Four, to be great, to be Tewaaraton winners [as the nation’s best player], and to take the program to the next level,” Pifani said. “Now this year, the pressure’s off.”

In 2015, Sankey and the younger Bitter led UNC to a 12-1 start—only for the Tar Heels to finish 13-4 with yet another loss in the NCAA quarters, a 14-7 drubbing at the hands of Maryland. Still though, the team finished the year averaging over 14 goals per game—with 150 combined points from Sankey and Bitter.

This year’s Tar Heels—currently 10-6 after a 3-3 start–have netted about two goals less per outing, with attacker Steve Pontrello the only player with more than 30 goals.

When asked the biggest difference between the two squads, Breschi laughed and said coaching was the main improvement–before noting that everyone in this current group knows their roles and plays within the team structure.

“Sometimes it’s not pretty, sometimes it is–like last weekend,” Breschi said of his team’s style. “But I think the biggest thing is that they continue to stick together and want to win for one another.

“We don’t have individuals on this team,” the coach continued. “We don’t have superstars. We have a lot of really good players that care about each other.”

Perhaps one of the best examples of UNC’s team success is junior midfielder Stephen Kelly.

Despite having just three goals and four assists all season, Kelly has worked wonders for the Tar Heels as their face-off man. Typically thought of as a 50-50 situation, Kelly has won a staggering 222 of his 376 face-offs this year, or 59 percent—an improvement of 10 percentage points over last season’s team rate.

UNC uses Kelly’s ability to spark their up-tempo attack, gaining more possession time and more open space for the wing players out on the sides, while goal scorers like Pontrello and sophomore Chris Cloutier can charge hard to the area around the net.

Stephen Kelly's excellence at face-offs and retrieving groundballs has made all the difference for the Tar Heels during their late season surge. (Jeffrey A. Camarati/ UNC Athletics)

Stephen Kelly’s excellence at face-offs and retrieving groundballs has made all the difference for the Tar Heels during their late season surge. (Jeffrey A. Camarati/ UNC Athletics)

“He’s just so creative in how he faces off,” Breschi said about Kelly. “Obviously he loves to bring it to himself, but he’s a game-changer. Both games against Notre Dame he allowed us to go on those runs because he’s consistent at the face-off X.

“Some say the face-off is overrated,” Breschi added. “Not me. I mean, you can’t score if you don’t have the ball.”

Although the team has now fully embraced playing this way, that wasn’t always the case.

A team meeting was needed after suffering early-season losses to both Hofstra and UMass, which aren’t exactly national lacrosse powers.

Everything was put out on the table that day, with the players quickly realizing that neither Joey Sankey nor Jimmy Bitter was about to walk through the door—it was up to them to come together in order to achieve their goals.

Fast forward to this week, and those meetings have changed quite a bit in tone.

“On Monday we had a lift and a five-minute meeting that said, ‘OK, there’s four teams left and you’re one of ‘em,’” Breschi said, pausing for emphasis. “What’s in the past is in the past.”