Stats lie in loss to North Carolina
How do you take a four-goal lead, shut out an all-America attackman, dominate face-offs, win more ground balls, take more shots, and lose by five goals?
The Maryland lacrosse team found a way Saturday at Byrd Stadium, falling to North Carolina 11-6 in a game that defied easy explanation.
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Sophomore Curtis Holmes won 15 of 20 face-offs, senior Brett Schmidt stifled Billy Bitter (zero points, three shots), and UNC played without third-leading scorer Thomas Wood (unspecified injury), but Maryland (6-2, 0-2) scored just two goals in the final 50 minutes, 50 seconds after rolling to a 4-0 lead.
“We had more possession and we didn’t make them pay,” Maryland coach John Tillman said. “We can’t define ourselves on 50 minutes. That would be foolish. We’re better than those 50 minutes.”
The Terps, who entered ranked No. 5, surrendered seven goals and seven assists to freshmen. Pat Foster (three goals, one assist) moved from the midfield and in the first start of his career, joining classmate Nicky Galasso (two goals, four assists) on an efficient attack line.
“They’re two terrific players. That’s why we recruited them, to come in and make an impact,” UNC coach Joe Breschi said. “They’ve read the articles about our young guys playing and struggling a little bit but they’ve fought through it.”
No. 8 North Carolina (7-2, 1-1) also got production from freshman midfielder Duncan Hutchins (one goal, two assists) and sophomore attack Marcus Holman (one assist), both from the Gilman School in Baltimore. Another Tar Heel playing in his home state was junior defender Mark Staines (one goal) of the Severn School in Annapolis.
Maryland won more ground balls, 27-20, and took more shots, 33-26, including 16 in the fourth period, when it scored just once against sophomore Steven Rastivo (13 saves) and a UNC zone led by senior Ryan Flanagan (three caused turnovers).
“We practiced against zone all week,” Tillman said. “We just didn’t dodge aggressively. We got a little impatient. We started throwing the ball inside to guys that were covered. We also hit a bunch of pipes.”
UNC started slowly, giving up goals to sophomores Owen Blye and Landon Carr. After Maryland senior Grant Catalino (three goals) scored, Terps senior Brian Farrell bolted from the wing and clocked UNC face-off man R.J. Keenan, forcing a turnover that Catalino quickly turned into another goal for a 4-0 lead, 9:10 into the game.
“I used all my timeouts,” Breschi said. “I told my guys, ‘That’s it. You’re on your own.’”
Carolina recovered with the help of an illegal stick penalty against Maryland senior attack Ryan Young (one assist) at the start of the second period.
“That gave them something to build off of,” Tillman said. “There was some hope there on their side.”
Carolina scored just one goal during the three-minute unreleasable penalty, but the infraction steadied the Tar Heels, who dominated the period, allowing Maryland just one shot and forcing six turnovers.
“It got us the ball and got us comfortable within ourselves,” Breschi said.
During North Carolina’s eight-goal run, which gave the Tar Heels the lead for good, Galasso fed Hutchins for the go-ahead goal, then caught the Terrapins asleep off a re-start, passing to freshman midfielder Ryan Creighton for a 6-4 lead. Galasso opened the second half with a goal. When freshman Keenan won the ensuing face-off, he passed to Galasso, who fed wing-man Staines, who beat freshman Niko Amato (seven saves) for an 8-4 lead.
“Give Carolina credit. For the last 51 minutes, they were clearly the better team,” Tillman said. “They were the most opportunistic team.”
