Lacrosse Struggles in Season's 1st Loss

After a rough-and-tumble 7-5 loss against Maryland, in which the two teams traded trash talk and cheap shots, the emotion spilled over into North Carolina's post-game huddle.

Several UNC players began yelling at one another, and after several assistant coaches diffused the situation, Coach John Haus put the loss in perspective.

"To play the way we played, we deserve to lose to a team like that," Haus said to his players. "Suck it up a little bit, come back tomorrow and go after the next one. If you don't, we'll continue to get kicked around."

No. 9 UNC (6-1, 1-1 in the ACC) didn't get kicked around by the No. 5 Terrapins at Fetzer Field, but Maryland dominated the final three quarters en route to the ACC win.

The Terps (5-1, 1-1), ranked in the top three nationally in offense and defense, relied on the former to wipe out a 3-2 halftime deficit and the latter to hold the Tar Heels scoreless over a 37:48 span.

"We played with a lot of emotion in the first half but not with a lot of intelligence, and we were still only down 3-2," said Maryland coach Dave Cottle. "We felt like if we got back to the things that make us successful, we'd be OK."

After a goal by Tim Gosier with 1:26 left in the first quarter gave UNC a 3-2 lead, the Tar Heels didn't score again until an unassisted strike by Austin Garrison with 8:38 left in the fourth quarter and UNC trailing 6-3.

Not that the Tar Heels didn't have their chances. Maryland goalie Danny McCormick made 14 saves between the pipes, and was saved a couple times by the pipes, including on a Gosier shot with 5:30 left in the game that would have gotten UNC within a score.

"We didn't finish a lot of our shots," said Garrison, who finished with a goal and an assist. "We hit a pipe here and there, we missed a pass here and there, and we let it get to us."

The Terps' offense eventually got to the Tar Heels too.

After scoring a season-low two goals in the first half, Maryland, which averages 14.3 goals per game and boasts two of the nation's top three scorers in Mike Mollot and Dan LaMonica, went on a 4-0 run to seize control of the game.

Alex Poole, who led Maryland with two goals and an assist, tied the game at 12:00 in the third quarter with an unassisted goal. The Terps added two more goals in the third to take a 5-3 lead.

After the Terps and Tar Heels traded goals in the fourth quarter, Maryland's Matt Brock scored an unassisted goal to effectively end the game. UNC's final goal by Andrew Lucas came at the final horn.

"I felt going in that we had to get 10 to win," Cottle said. "Going into halftime down 3-2, I knew 10 goals was out of the question.

"We weren't as disciplined as we need to be, but we still found a way to win."

UNC goalie Paul Spellman, who made 11 saves, said while the defense was able to hold Mollot and LaMonica to two points -- Mollot had two assists -- the rest of the Terps' offense picked up the slack.

"They've got a lot of offensive weapons," Spellman said. "Their top scorers weren't much of a factor. We got some stops, but it just wasn't enough."

The Sports Editor can be reached at sports@unc.edu.