His only miss came on his final shot. Bitter was aiming at an open goal, but a defenseman deflected the attempt. Afterward, Bitter deflected the credit.

“If you look at the stats, most of my goals (six) were assisted,” said Bitter who matched the school record for goals in a game.

Attackman Bitter, who leads the nation in goals (46) and points (69), gets capable assistance from senior A Bart Wagner (35 goals) and junior M Sean Delaney (32 goals). Senior Shane Walterhoefer feeds the offense by winning 63.3 percent of faceoffs.

North Carolina first-year coach Joe Breschi has a daunting history to overcome. The Tar Heels have not been to the Final Four since 1993, losing at this stage five times, including two seasons ago to Duke, 19-11. The Blue Devils have already beaten the Heels twice this season, holding Bitter to a combined two goals.

“We have to keep pushing. In transition is where we get a lot of our goals,” said Bitter. “Duke’s the hottest team in the tournament. We know we’re the underdogs, but a win would be huge for our program.”

Ned Crotty, Duke

People in Annapolis are all too aware of Crotty, the playmaking engine of a synchronized Blue Devils offense that rang up a 10-0 lead on Navy, en route to a 14-5 win Sunday. Crotty, the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year and one of five finalists for the Tewaaraton Trophy, leads the nation in assists (47), feeding an offense that includes eight players who have scored at least 20 points.

When Crotty converted from midfield to the attack this season, Duke was slow to adjust. But after averaging 6.7 goals in losses to Cornel, Maryland, and Harvard, Duke has won eight straight, averaging 13.9 goals per game.

Sunday’s game with UNC figures to be an offensive shootout, like the Devils’ 15-13 win over the Heels in the ACC final.

“The Duke-UNC rivalry is something that has been great and it’s gotten even better this year [with] Coach Breschi,” said Crotty. “They’re playing their best lacrosse now. It should be a great game.”

Brian Christopher, Johns Hopkins

If the second game of Sunday’s doubleheader goes to overtime, Hopkins has the ultimate weapon in senior midfielder Christopher, who has ended three games this season in sudden-death, including last weekend’s tournament win over Brown. Christopher’s game-winners came in a span of 18 days, as he defeated Baltimore rivals Towson and Loyola, teams Hopkins likely needed to beat to get a tournament bid.

Christopher’s heroics have come as a surprise from a solid but unspectacular player, who has 28 goals and 11 assists. They have also turned the Blue Jays’ fortunes around. With one-goal losses to Virginia and North Carolina, Hopkins fell to 3-4 and was in danger of not making the tournament for the first time since the year it was established (1971). But Hopkins has rebounded with seven-straight wins, including a 10-9 victory over Maryland in the Day of Rivals at M&T Bank Stadium.

Blue Jays coach Dave Pietramala is gunning for his third NCAA title and seventh Final Four appearance in the last eight years.

Dan Glading, Virginia

The Tewaaraton Trophy finalist, a graduate of Georgetown Prep, has 28 goals and 29 assists this season, as the primary feeder of a multi-skilled offense that includes sensational freshman A Steele Stanwick (32 goals, 16 assists), skilled senior A Garrett Billings (33 goals, 17 assists), hard-charging midfielder Brian Carroll (29 goals) and fluid sophomore M Shamel Bratton (25 goals).

No team in the tournament has a wider variety of weapons than Virginia, which entered the tournament seeded No. 1 despite a pair of late-season losses to Duke in which it’s primary flaw — defense — was exposed.

Still Virginia has the pedigree. Coach Dom Starsia guided talented offensive squads to titles in 1999, 2003 and 2006.

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