CSH's Ghitelman holds fort for undefeated Virginia

In the New Meadowlands Stadium, the spectator seats are all shades of gray with small white or silver stickers that identify the seat number. From a goaltender's point of view, "it's like there's 1,000 lacrosse balls out there," Virginia junior and former Cold Spring Harbor netminder Adam Ghitelman said, referring to the off-white color of the ball that flies at him.

He saw that difficult background during practice in an empty stadium Friday afternoon. But once fans wearing a variety of non-neutral colors filled the seats for Saturday's meeting between No. 1 Virginia and No. 2 North Carolina at the Big City Classic, Ghitelman said the sightlines became clearer.

Ghitelman made 12 saves in Virginia's 7-5 win over the Tar Heels to help make the Cavaliers the only unbeaten team in NCAA Division I men's lacrosse. Steele Stanwick led Virginia (11-0) with three goals and one assist. Ghitelman had five stops in the fourth quarter.

In what was largely a defensive battle, which certainly wasn't the main billing heading into this matchup of undefeated teams and potent offenses, each of Ghitelman's stops was of primary importance. "There was not much margin of error," Virginia coach Dom Starsia said. "We needed every save."

Virginia, which entered as the No. 2 scoring defense in the country (14.1 goals per game) was limited to single-digit scoring for the first time this season by a big North Carolina defense that included 6-6 junior starter Ryan Flanagan (West Islip).

After building a 5-0 lead 3:35 into the second quarter on Stanwick's no-look, over-the-shoulder diving goal on the doorstep of the crease, Virginia scored just twice more. Huntington's Shamel Bratton had just one assist and twin brother Rhamel had no points.

North Carolina (10-1) pulled within 5-4 with 7:59 left in the third, but the Cavaliers managed to hold off the Tar Heels. Virginia's Matt White scored from close range off a Stanwick pass from behind the cage to make it 6-4 with four minutes left in the third.

North Carolina attackman Billy Bitter, a 2006 Manhasset graduate, led the Tar Heels with two goals. But Bitter, the Tar Heels' leading scorer, was sidelined for about 21 minutes spanning the second and third quarters after taking a hard hit at the tail end of his second goal-scoring play.

Bitter was leveled by Virginia defenseman Bray Malphrus as Bitter's 10-yard shot from the right hash marks flew past Ghitelman to make it 5-2 5:26 into the second quarter.

"I didn't see it coming," Bitter said. "I felt a little dizzy. [The trainers] did some tests on me to see if my memory was OK."

Bitter returned with about three minutes left in the third quarter for North Carolina's final offensive possession of that quarter. During that possession, Ghitelman made a point-blank save. He was seeing the ball fine.

"Playing in these big stadiums is something you need to learn how to do," Ghitelman said. "I'm glad I finally came in and played pretty well on the big stage."