Believe It or Not: Ripley, UNC Thwart Terps
by Powell Latimer | Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online | Game Blog
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Maryland's leading scorer Karri Ellen Johnson saw her opening. She took aim and fired — but all her shot hit was the stick of North Carolina goalie Logan Ripley. It was that kind of day.
Ripley used her senior day as an encore, shutting down the the
No. 2-ranked Terrapins and giving her No. 3-ranked Tar Heels the
upper hand in the ACC. The national goalie of the year in 2009,
Ripley recorded 13 saves, tying her career high, in North
Carolina's 13-9 victory. Saturday
"She's an All-American goalie," UNC coach Jenny Levy said. "She's
awesome."
It was Maryland's first regular season loss since April 2008.
The Tar Heels jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the opening 13
minutes. Ripley and the UNC defense, playing with a cushion the
rest of the game, held off the Terrapins despite extended
possessions for Maryland.
Maryland would spend three minutes at a time around UNC's goal,
trying desperately to score.
"It helps me to say more focused if the ball's down on my end,"
Ripley said. "It's easier to stay in it. If the ball's constantly
coming at you, I think those games are better for goalies."
The Terrapins fired 28 shots on the day, but too many clanged off
the crossbar or sailed wide. Maryland attackers had so much respect
for Ripley that they repeatedly passed out of free position shots.
The Terps went 1-for-5 on free positions, while UNC went
3-for-4.
Senior Kristen Carr dominated the draw control for UNC. Carr won
five draws by herself and collected five ground balls. UNC won 15
draws to Maryland's nine.
"She just dominated the draw," senior Kristen Taylor said. "And
that's the difference for our team. She did an unbelievable
job."
Taylor led UNC with four goals and an assist. She scored twice in
the first 10 minutes of the second half as part of a 4-0 UNC run to
break the game open for a 10-4 lead with 20 minutes remaining.
Maryland pulled starting goalie Brittany Dipper shortly thereafter
for backup Mary Jordan.
The Terps went on a 3-0 run, and Sarah Mollison cut the margin to
12-9 with seven minutes to play, forcing Levy to call timeout.
"I wanted to tell them that we were in control of the game," Levy
said. "We were up three or four goals. Our seniors did most of the
talking."
Two minutes later, the Tar Heels briefly switched from their
spread-the-field delay offense to attack. Laura Zimmerman drove
right and before she was taken out, she flipped it to Taylor, who
buried the shot and killed Maryland's momentum.
"I thought it was a really important goal, actually, because I
think up by three is fool's gold," Levy said. "It's anyone's game
if you're up by three."
Johnson led the Terps with three goals. Caitlyn McFadden had
three assists.UNC's Becky Lynch and Zimmerman each had two
assists.
The game was a rematch of last season's NCAA semifinal, which UNC
won 8-7. But the win is the first for UNC against Maryland on
Fetzer Field since 2006.
"We've never beaten Maryland at home or in the regular season,"
Taylor said. "That was something that we as a senior class really
wanted to do. It's the best way to possibly go out."
