Charolettesville, VA - The Terrapin women’s lacrosse team had been in this position before. The Terps were on the verge of squandering a sizeable lead in the ACC tournament, but unlike last season, they came out on top.
The Terps raced out to 6-1 lead and controlled the game. But North Carolina scored four unanswered goals in the second half to make it a close game. But, unlike last season, the Terps played stifling defense and held on, 6-4, to advance to the ACC championship game.
“The best thing that you can take out of this game is that we won,” senior midfielder Dana Dobbie said. “We scored more goals than they did so we are super excited about that. For us seniors this is our first time going for an ACC championship.”
For the Terps this win was more than just a ticket to the ACC championship game. It was redemption for last season’s collapse in the ACC semifinals.
“Its like a weight has been lifted off our shoulders,” senior attacker Casey Magor said. “We made it past that hump and we are ready to go. We are so excited.”
The Terps raced out to a quick 6-0 lead. But that would be the extent of the Terps offensive fire power. The Terps offense stalled in the second half, and the Tar Heels offense reeled off four goals to cut the lead down to 6-4 with 23:22 to go.
But with Tar Heels within striking distance, the Terps defense held off the comeback to advance.
“They came out hard after [halftime], and they wanted to get back into it. It took us a while but we controlled the ball when we needed to and stopped it when we needed to. We did what we had to do and came out with a win. It may not have been pretty but it worked.”
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