University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Maryland
Strong Second Half Leads Carolina Past Maryland, 11-9
April 15, 2006 | Women's Lacrosse
April 15, 2006
CHAPEL HILL -- Sixth-ranked North Carolina went on a 5-0 run to start the second half and held on to defeat No. 5 Maryland, 11-9, on Saturday night at Fetzer Field. Eight different players scored UNC's 12 goals on its way to the victory while Maryland was paced offensively by two goals each from Delia Cox, Kate McWilliams and Krista Pellizzi.
Carolina's 5-0 run put it ahead 9-5 after it had trailed 5-4 going into halftime. Maryland rallied to get within two goals twice in the game's final 16 minutes but could get no closer. The game was the final regular-season home game for three Tar Heel seniors -- Stephanie Scurachio, Lindsey Stover and Kristen Tadlock.
With the win, Carolina (11-3) finished regular-season play in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 4-1 record, good for a first-place tie with Duke and Virginia. Maryland fell to 10-5, 1-3 ACC. In other ACC action this weekend, Duke beat Boston College on Saturday afternoon and Virginia beat Virginia Tech on Friday night.
Carolina sported a balanced offensive attack in its win. Scurachio led the way with two goals and an assist. Meg Freshwater and Jess Allen each scored twice, while Christina Juras and Melissa McCarthy both had one goal and one assist.
The game was closely contested throughout, as neither team was able to get more than a one-goal advantage for more than three-fourths of the contest. Maryland's Cox was handed a red card in the game's 34th minute, and UNC went on to outscore the Terps 6-4 the rest of the way, including a critical 4-0 run.
The first half went back-and-forth the entire way with four ties and three lead changes. Carolina held a significant advantage in shots (22-10), but Maryland's Allie Buote came up with eight first half saves to help keep the Tar Heels off the board.
North Carolina controlled possession in the early going, taking eight shots in the first seven minutes before the Terps could get one off. The Tar Heels found the back of the net on that eighth shot, as Scurachio dodged from the left side of the cage to get in front of the crease for the score. The Terps knotted it up just over a minute later, though, with Krista Pellizzi cashing in after Maryland won the draw control.
The Tar Heels took back the lead in transition after Juras fed Allen, but Cox scored back-to-back goals to give Maryland the lead with 11:17 left in the half. On each score, Cox started well above the fan and sped past her defenders to the cage.
Chelsea Parks tied the game for the third time scoring quickly off the draw after Scurachio fed her from the edge of the fan at 10:47. Maryland's McWilliams scored an opportune goal after the ball was checked from Cox's stick and popped right to McWilliams in front of the net, where she scored.
Brooke Dieringer tied it up again with a strong shot at the 8-meter fan, but the Terps took the lead into the half after Brooke Richards rolled the crease and fired a shot between the goalie's legs to go up 5-4.
UNC quickly tied the game up in the second half after Stover forced a turnover deep in Maryland's offensive zone, and Allen took the ball all the way down field and promptly put the ball in the net at 28:44.
The Terps then suffered setbacks, the first coming at 25:37 when Cox was handed the red card, leaving the Terps without one of their top scorers for the rest of the game. Maryland then had a goal taken off the board on a crease violation just over a minute later.
UNC capitalized on the opportunities and took its first lead in over 29 minutes when Freshwater and Kelly Taylor each scored on free-position shots to take a 7-5 lead with 17:03 left, and Juras and Freshwater also notched goals to cap a 5-0 UNC run.
The Terps halted the run and their own 21-minute scoring drought when Kelly Kasper passed it to Pellizzi from behind the cage on a re-start for the goal with 12:01. The Terps then pulled within two after Richards found McWilliams cutting to cage in the 54th minute.
UNC re-gained its four-goal advantage with just over three and a half minutes to play goals from McCarthy and Scurachio.
Kasper scored her first goal of the day on a free-position shot with just 1:43 left in the game. Doolittle then won the next draw, and raced down the field for a score just :11 seconds later to pull the Terps to 11-9 with 1:32 left.
Kristen Hordy played very well in the goal for Carolina, recording 11 saves on the night. Buote had nine saves for Maryland.
Carolina will return to action next weekend with its regular-season finale on Friday at 4 p.m. at defending NCAA champion Northwestern.
