NCAA Lacrosse National Champion Crowned
North Carolina Claims Second National Title in Program History (UNCWLAX/Twitter)
The NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Final Four and National Championship came down to this weekend with the final four teams meeting at Talen Energy Stadium on Friday afternoon. The same weekend as the launch of the United Women's Lacrosse League inaugural season, the national championship would draw lacrosse fans everywhere to the Pennsylvania area. Here is a breakdown of the weekend!
Friday: National Semi Finals #3 UNC defeats Penn State 12-11
In the first semi-final of the day, #3 seeded North Carolina battled unseeded Penn State for a chance to play in the National Championship. Penn State making their first national semifinal appearance since 1999, gave the Tar Heels all they could handle before falling to the #3 team in the nation.
North Carolina took an early 3-0 lead in the match and looked well in control of making another finals appearance, but Penn State would respond with five goals in a span of 2:58. That led to the benching of senior Megan Ward for UNC and gave Caylee Waters a chance to showcase her talents in goal. The Tar Heels used a 4-1 run to close out the first half and take a 7-6 lead into the locker room.
The second half began with UNC pulling away from the Nittany Lions with a 5-1 run to open the half. With a 12-7 lead, the Tar Heels used a lot of the clock to kill time but PSU did not want to go home without a fight. The team went on its own run in the second half to close the gap and bring the crowd to their feet with 7:13 remaining. At 12-11, UNC earned the control after the draw at midfield, and utilized the lack of a shot clock to kill off about six minutes of game time. PSU forced a turnover late but Waters with 50 seconds on the clock made one of the biggest saves in her career and UNC held on to advance.
Friday: National Semi Finals
The University of Maryland continues to be a staple in the NCAA Women’s Lacrosse tournament and displayed that dominance as they scored 19 goals in a 19-9 win over Syracuse Friday night. The Orange came into the matchup with one win in 20 tries against UMD, which came in 2012, and could not put together the offense to keep up with the nations #1 scoring team.
Three Terrapins scored four goals to guide Maryland to their fourth straight national championship. Maryland, who never trailed in this one, scored 13 goals on Allie Murray before she was pulled for Bri Stahrr. On the opposite end Megan Taylor saved seven shots and got the win for UMD.
That would set up a #3 UNC v. #1 UMD for yet another National Championships up for grabs. UNC and UMD have met in three of the last four championship games.
North Carolina Claims Second National Title in Program History (UNCWLAX/Twitter)
Sunday: NCAA DI National Final
In a rematch of the 2015 national championship the University of North Carolina and the University of Maryland met for the third time in four years again in the title game. In 2013, the Tar Heels defeated the Terps, 13-12, in an epic three overtime battle to claim their first national title in program history. Last season the two met again and this time it was Maryland getting redemption and winning back to back titles for the first time since the 2001-2002 seasons.
This season the teams looked as if they were destined to meet again, especially following a one goal Maryland win during the regular season over UNC. Well that they did and with UMD rolling through opponents to the final, UNC was battle tested and faced some adversity. Megan Ward was benched in the semis after giving up five goals to Penn State in a span of 2:58. She was given the start for UNC and had a comeback performance to be remembered.
UNC started the match on a 6-0 run to put the defending champs on their heels early in the game, but UMD would storm back and close out the half on a 3-0 run to bring the Terps within two at the half. In the second half, UNC would answer every shot with a counter run of their own. Aly Messinger tied a career high with six points and Carly Reed had four points to help guide the offense for the Tar Heels. Although the offense came up big, it was Ward who stopped a career high 14 shots and kept the nations highest scoring offense in check. Messinger was award Most Outstanding Player for her performance and North Carolina came away with their second national championship in four years.
It was an amazing weekend for lacrosse and with the NCAA season over, we will now turn our attention to the UWLX and see some of the recent graduates join their teams as early as this week.
