Maryland Wins Third Straight ACC Title
from press release
CARY, N.C. -- Using an explosive second half,
No. 1 Maryland dropped North Carolina, 12-7, en route to capturing
its third consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference Women's Lacrosse
Championship crown Sunday.
Senior Laura Merrifield garnered championship Most Valuable Player
honors after netting a game-high five goals and helping guide a
stellar defense that allowed one of the nation's top offenses a
mere one goal in the second half. Katie Schwarzmann, Sarah Mollison
and Beth Glaros all added two goals as the Terps tallied its
league-best eighth championship.
After trailing for the first time this season and facing a
season-high three-goal deficit through 30 minutes of play, Maryland
(17-0) sealed its 27th-straight victory with a devastating 8-0 run
to cap the second half. The Terrapin defense did not allow North
Carolina (12-5) to score in the final 26 minutes of the match.
In addition to Merrifield, senior Katie Gallagher, junior Brittany
Dipper, Mollison and Schwarzmann were all tabbed to the
all-tournament team. It is Dipper's third straight appearance on
the team. After missing last season due to a battle with Crohn's
Disease, Gallagher led the Terrapin defense with a game-high three
caused turnovers and three ground balls.
"I am really proud of our team and the way that we pulled that
out," head coach Cathy Reese, who captured her third title in only
her fifth season at the helm of the program, said. "We made some
adjustments at halftime and really wanted to step up our offensive
game.
"I felt in the first half, credit to their goalie [Lauren Maksym]
who was making some great saves, but I don't think we were choosing
our shots as good as we could have. So going into the second half,
we wanted to generate more offense and move off the ball and move
for each other. When we did that, we were able to get some good
opportunities and put some goals away."
