The Maryland women’s lacrosse team waited two years for the game against the North Carolina Tar Heels Sunday night. Their loss in the 2014 regular season and their win in the 2015 regular season simply didn’t carry the equivalent emotional weight. The only game the teams have played in the last three seasons that means anything to Maryland’s upperclassmen is the bitter triple overtime loss in the 2013 national championship game. That was the game the that festered just under their skin and the one the Terps needed to soothe. The final score: Maryland 9 North Carolina 8. Mission Accomplished.
First half – Carolina’s defense rules
North Carolina won the opening draw and Maggie Bill charged down the field drawing a foul inside t he eight meter and a free position that she converted on a low bouncer just 15 seconds into the game giving the Tar Heels a very early 1-0 lead.
Carolina went 2-2 on draws but the Terps forced a turnover. Maryland turned it right back on their attempted fast break and the Heels converted with Sam McGee converting a feed from Bill. Draw numbeers three and four also went to the Tar Heels. but it would be the Terps who whold score. Twice.
Zoe Stukenberg created a turnover on the first opportunity and it led to a one on one dodge from Megan Whittle that Terp fans hadn’t seen in nearly two games because of the decision by both Northwestern and Syracuse to face guard the freshman.
Maryland equaled the score after Alex Fitzpatrick picked up her first save of the game. The score came from Taylor Cummings who whipped home a sidewinder after a jab step left and move to the right.
With the score tied at two, Cummings won her first draw of the night but Maryland turned the ball over on a foul by Whittle going after a contested ground ball. Megan Douty caused another Tar Heel’s turnover and the Terps picked up a player advantage when Sammie Jo Tracy earned a yellow card for a slash as Erin Collins tried to clear the ground ball.
The Terps then missed two golden scoring opportunities. The first came when Zoe Stukenberg had her stick checked on an attempted free position about halfway through the two minute penalty. The second came when Tar Heels goalie Caylee Waters walked the clear out to midfield and Whittle made a spectacular effort running her down and checking the ball out of bounds.
On the restart, Whittle passed ahead to Brooke Griffin but the senior held the ball a beat too long and, as two Carolina defenders closed in from behind, lofted a pass for Cummings that went high and wide.
The defenses ruled the next seven or eight minutes with both teams forcing turnovers. Maryland took the lead at 3-2 on Collins’ goal with 9:36 to play. The senior went top shelf after taking a pass from Cummings.
Continuing to dominate on the draw, the Heels needed a minute and a half to get even and another minute to retake the lead. The goals came from Bill and Aly Messenger. Casey Pepperman got Maryland the next draw but Waters made a gigantic save on a point blank free position by Collins.
After a possession of nearly two and a half minutes, Nadine Hadnagy got caught ball watching and Bill found Marie McCool on a long cross field pass to put Carolina up 5-3. Erin Collins won the draw but Waters again won the moment stuffing Whittles from three yards.
UNC held for the final shot and Sydney Holman converted when she eluded Cummings putting a low bouncer past Fitzpatrick with 3.4 seconds left. At intermission, the Terps faced their second and largest halftime halftime deficit at 6-3.
Carolina’s defense held Maryland to just seven shots for the half. Five were on goal but Waters stuffed two of them. The Terps had five turnovers and trailed 6-4 on the draw. Strong defense, extra possessions and a hot goalie led to the Tar Heels’ advantage.
Maryland head coach Cathy Reese said, “To dig yourself into a hole against a team like Carolina by three goals in a national championship, obviously wasn’t our game plan.”
Second half – Whittle-ing the lead and too much Taylor Cummings
The opening draw went to North Carolina when Collins couldn’t cleanly secure the ground ball and it trickled out of bounds off her leg. But a sloppy turnover by the Heels gave Maryland the possession. Cummings tried to score off a roll dodge but Megan Ward, who started in place of Waters, picked it off.
McPartland forced a turnover on the clear and would eventually score Maryland’s fourth goal. The senior started her charge from well outside the 12 meter stepped left and put her shot inside the far post. The charge had begun. Cummings said that at halftime, “Cath kind of left us by ourselves at halftime. Well, she talked to us and then she left us. At that point, she can do as much as she can on the sidelines but it’s really us and I think in that moment we really pulled together. I think we exemplified what Maryland lacrosse really is in the second half.”
Cummings won the draw and the teams traded turnovers when the Terps missed their third free position of the game. The shot by Collins hit the pipe. Fitzpatrick made an huge save on a shot by Sam McGee. Ward returned the favor on a shot by Stukenberg and Whittle hit a pipe but Cummings force a turnover on the clear and picked up an assist on a goal by Griffin to nudge Maryland within one at 6-5.
After a controversial call where one referee called a UNC foul on a re-defend of Whittle five yards in front of the goal and another called Whittle for a charge, the Tar Heels won the jump ball but gave it right back to Maryland on another unforced turnover. The Terps capitalized quickly as a strong dodge by Whittle drew three defenders and left Cummings alone at the top of the eight meter. Most of the heavily Maryland crowd of 8,143 was on thier feet seconds before the junior scored the equalizer with 19:12 to play.
Douty picked up the draw and two brilliant plays by Whittle extended Maryland’s run to 4-0 and gave the Terps a 7-6 advantage. The first play came after Carolina forced a turnover but Whittle pressured Ward into turning back over.
Whittle then made a familiar, aggressive speed to burn dodge past her defender and put up a high shot that found the net put the Terps up. Whittle completed the hat trick on the next possession after Stukenberg picked up the draw. With Waters back in goal the freshman powerhouse went low and bounced one past Waters. With 15:51 to play, Maryland led 8-6.
Carolina won their second draw of the half and halve Maryland’s lead on a free position just as the clock ticked under 14 minutes. The next draw belonged to Cummings. As did the next goal. She culminated a two minute possession on a slip dodge. Cummings joined Whittle with three goals and Maryland again had a two goal lead.
Cummings’ fourth draw control of the half led to a five minute Maryland possession. However, Stukenberg’s tough night continued as she fired one shot high and had another saved by Waters before a turnover by McPartland gave the ball back to Carolina with 6:45 to play.
Just as she had in the semifinal against Syracuse, Fitzpatrick continued her raising her play in the second half. She picked up her second save of the half and Douty cleaned up the ground ball on the rebound.
With 5;27 to play, Maryland had possession and a two goal lead. The Terps called timeout with 4:04 to play. The Tar Heels aggressively double teamed the ball and forced a turnover by McPartland. The Tar Heels scored on a fast break with Bill registering a hat trick on a spin move much like Terps fans have seen from Brooke Griffin.
The score came with 3:02 to play and Maryland was awarded the ball on the draw when the officials ruled that Carolina had made an illegal substitution and had too many players on the field. Bill picked up a yellow card with 1:34 to play. The Tar Heels chased aggressively but the Terps ran out the clock and claimed the 9-8 win and their second consecutive National Championship.
The Terps had come all the way back. They held North Carolina to just two goals in the second half, won the draw control battle 7-2 largely on the back of Tournament Most Outstanding Player Taylor Cummings, who won five draws in the half and seven for the game. The Terrapins also forced six turnovers and forced the Tar Heels in committing 18 fouls. Most importantly, they scored nine goals to Carolina’s eight and will bring the 12th NCAA National Championship Trophy (and 13th overall national title) back to College Park. Wound healed.
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