The No. 14 North Carolina men's lacrosse team lost on Saturday afternoon 15-7 to No. 10 Maryland.
Last May, UNC beat Maryland, 14-13, to win the 2016 NCAA Championship in front of a crowd of 26,749 fans at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Maryland produced a similar offensive output Saturday, but unlike in 2016, North Carolina just couldn't keep up.
What happened?
With 9:45 left in the first quarter, North Carolina's Luke Goldstock scored to tie the game at one. From that point forward, Maryland (5-2) dominated. The Terrapins scored five unanswered goals during a stretch in the first quarter and went into halftime with a 9-3 lead.
At the end of the third quarter, Maryland held a 13-4 lead. The large crowd at Fetzer Field Saturday afternoon roared when the Tar Heels scored their fourth goal with 5:56 left in the third, but UNC (5-4) couldn't translate whatever momentum that goal produced into a meaningful comeback.
UNC got three goals in the fourth quarter trying to climb back into it. However, Maryland had built up an insurmountable lead and cruised to the easy victory.
At halftime, Maryland ran into the locker room energized and with all the momentum. But North Carolina walked over to the side of Fetzer Field, eventually holding a halftime meeting in front of the signs that display all the championships and Final Four appearances for the soccer and lacrosse programs at UNC.
Two Tar Heels didn't get the message. No 17 Austin Pifani and No. 15 Timmy Kelly jogged back alone towards the McCaskill Soccer Center and had to be alerted that the rest of their team was meeting somewhere else. It was that kind of afternoon for the Tar Heels.
