Terrapins squeak past Tar Heels

As the tournament’s top seed and winners of 12 in a row, it seemed that the Maryland girls lacrosse team would be a shoo-in for a spot in the ACC championship game.
But facing the fifth-seeded Tar Heels, the Terrapins just about let the game slip away before holding on to win 6-4 at Scott Stadium on Friday.
“Getting into the ACC championship, obviously we haven’t won anything yet, but I think that’s a huge accomplishment,” said Maryland coach Cathy Reese.
With ten minutes to play in the first half, Maryland had already amassed a 6-0 lead behind a pair of goals from Dana Dobbie.
“In the first half I thought we opened really strong,” Reese said. “We were looking really good defensively. Offensively we were clicking. We were being really smart.”
However, the Terps never scored again, and the Tar Heels responded shortly thereafter, as Kristen Corr put her team on the scoreboard with just under nine minutes to play before halftime.
Something clicked for Carolina in the second half.
Behind St. Anne’s-Belfield alumna Meg Freshwater, the Heels midfield made its presence known, forcing a handful of turnovers, and winning the battles for ground balls.
Those small victories led to a trio of prolonged offensive possessions for Carolina.
For the opening eight minutes of second half, the Tar Heels managed to tally three goals, cutting the deficit to just two.
“Half our team was on fire in the second half,” Reese said. “We were coming up with some great saves. We were forcing some awesome turnovers defensively. And then on the other side of it, we made some uncharacteristic errors.”
The Terrapins eventually regained their composure and Maryland’s offense began working the clock.
“The bottom line is that it’s okay,” Reese said of her team’s near-miss. “It’s just a time to refocus. We can still be solid and composed. We just needed to pull together to do our thing.”
With five minutes to play, the Heels put together a pair of possessions in the Terps’ end but came out empty-handed.
“We have a lot of resetting and readjusting to do before coming into Sunday’s game,” Reese said. “I feel really good to get through a game like tonight with a win. Moving on to Virginia, we’ll take the night, and get ready for practice tomorrow to prepare.”
Maryland faces Virginia in the finals on Sunday in Scott Stadium at 1 p.m.
The Terrapins defeated the Cavaliers 8-5 in the matchup between the two teams in March.