UNC-Maryland Postgame Notes
May 30, 2016 | Women's Lacrosse
2016 NCAA Division I Lacrosse Championship Final
#3 North Carolina vs. #1 Maryland
May 29, 2016 – Talen Energy Stadium, Chester, Pa.
North Carolina Postgame Notes
- North Carolina won its second national championship in program history. The other title came in 2013 against a Maryland squad which also entered the championship game undefeated at 22-0.
- Today's Tar Heel victory marked the sixth time a team won the national championship against a previously undefeated program. The other teams to enter the national championship game without a loss included Trenton State in 1982, Harvard in 1989, Maryland in 1994, Princeton in 2004 and Maryland in 2013.
- North Carolina ended its season with a school-record 20 victories. In addition, the team's 17- game winning streak is the longest in school history. The program previously won 18 games in 2013 and 2015.
- The Tar Heels were able to snap Maryland's 26-game winning streak which dated back to last season. The Terps' last loss came against Ohio State by an 11-10 score on May 1, 2015 in the Big Ten Tournament.
- North Carolina's defense held Maryland, which boasts the nation's leading offense, to less than 10 goals for just the second time this season over 23 games. The only other time the Terps failed to net at least 10 goals came on Feb. 27, 2016 when they defeated the Tar Heels by an 8-7 decision.
- The Tar Heels improved to 17-0 this season when leading at half.
- Seven players from the 2013 UNC team that won the national championship are still active, including five who played in the title game versus Maryland in 2013 and 2016 (Mallory Frysinger, Aly Messinger, Megan Ward, Kelly Devlin and Sammy Jo Tracy).
- Aly Messinger set a career high for assists in a game by registering four helpers in the first half. The four assists came in a span of 17:38. In addition, her 34 assists this season rank second in program history behind Becky Lynch, who notched 36 in 2011.
- Messinger matched a career high with six points in the game by finding the back of the net twice in the second half.
- Megan Ward set a career high between the pipes with 14 saves. She made her final stop against Maryland's Taylor Cummings with 11 seconds remaining in regulation.
- Marie McCool ended her sophomore season having recorded a point in 32 consecutive games. She had one goal and two assists in today's championship contest.
- Aly Messinger was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Championship.
