North Carolina
Maryland
Women's Lacrosse Wins ACC Title
April 21, 2002 | Women's Lacrosse
April 21, 2002
DURHAM, N.C. - For the first time in school history, the second-seeded and fourth ranked North Carolina women's lacrosse team won the ACC Championship on Sunday with an 11-10 victory over fourth-seeded and 12th-ranked Maryland at Koskinen Stadium in Durham, N.C.
The Tar Heels were led by ACC Player of the Year Christine McPike, who tied a career-high with five goals on the afternoon. In the two ACC Tournament games, McPike scored seven goals and was named ACC Tournament Most Valuable Player (MVP).
Carolina put the first points on the board in the first minute of the game as Lindsay Stone scored her 36th goal of the season. Maryland would connect on two of the next three goals and the match remained tied 2-2 until North Carolina sophomore Rachel Szakmary registered her first goal of the season and her second career goal at the 8:32 mark.
The Tar Heels would never trail the rest of the way as Carolina scored five goals in a row to take a 7-2 lead with less than four minutes remaining in the first half. Maryland's Kelly Coppedge and Kristie Leggio each posted goals prior to halftime, but with 10 seconds remaining North Carolina's Erin McInnes connected on her 27th goal of the season with two seconds left to give the Tar Heels an 8-4 halftime advantage. At the end of the first half, North Carolina held a 19-12 shot edge.
Maryland came out in the second half scoring two goals by Coppedge and Katie Robinson, but Carolina was able to counter with two goals of its own by Kellie Thompson to put the Tar Heels up 10-6. The two squads would then exchange goals and then the Terrapins mounted a comeback scoring three goals by Leggio, Coppedge and Acacia Walker to cut the North Carolina lead to 11-10 with 46 seconds remaining. Maryland had a couple of opportunities in the final seconds to even the score, but Tar Heel goalkeeper Katelyn Hoffman was able to control the ball.
For the game, North Carolina outshot Maryland 31-26 and held a 27-26 ground ball advantage. Hoffman finished the day with four saves, all of which came in the second half. Coppedge led the Terrapins with three goals on the day. With the victory, North Carolina improves to 13-2 overall, while Maryland falls to 9-7 overall.
McPike, Thompson, Andy Fortino, Meghan Kelly and Porter Wilkinson all were named to the All-ACC Tournament team.
#4 North Carolina 11, #12 Maryland 10
Post Game Quotes
North Carolina Head Coach Jenny Slingluff Levy
"It was a great championship today. It's fantastic that we had the opportunity to put a women's lacrosse game on television. Hopefully they saw a high level of play today. I want to credit Maryland for a fantastic game. They came out to play hard and they challenged us up to the end, which we all saw. With 3:50 left we were up by four goals and I credit Maryland a lot for putting a lot of pressure on our offensive players. It was hot. Both teams were tired and they stepped it up a notch and really tried to come back on us and I thought it was a great effort by both groups today."
On what she said to her players after Maryland made a run at the end:
"There's not much I could say. I didn't have a timeout left. I had to
rely on the leadership on the field and the hard work that these guys
have put in all year, just to stay composed and to stay focused, which I
think we did 50 percent of that. They toughed it out. We've been in a
lot of tough games this season and it's been a while since we've been in
a championship game, so it was a new experience for us and they handled
it o.k."
On what first went through her mind at the end of the game:
"To find [Maryland Head Coach] Cindy Timchal and tell her what a great
job she had done. I credit every player that has come through the
Carolina program. We started from scratch with club players who were
the ones who petitioned to get this program started with a little help
from Title IX. We've consistently been a very hard working team. We've
always played with a lot of heart and these guys are the benefactors of
a lot of previous hard work. They've been able to focus their energies
in a very positive direction. I was very happy to see them reach a goal
of ours for this season."
Maryland Head Coach Cindy Timchal
On today's ACC loss to North Carolina
"We lost to a very fine Carolina team. We were slow from the very
beginning. I am proud of our players for getting to the championship.
They played hard today, but came up short at the end. I am proud of the
team for hanging in there while we were behind. They really made a run
to come back."
On the early deficit:
"The plan was not to fall behind. We had problems finishing our shots.
We were able to find ways to fight back hard. Our players showed a lot
of character today. We would have liked to have played a little bit
better. Once they got the five goal lead, it was pretty easy for them to
keep the lead."
Maryland's Meredith Egan
"We didn't play as well as we would have liked to, but we never gave up.
We played hard until the last second. I am really proud of the team for
not giving up."
On Carolina's performance:
oth teams were really pushing each other. It was hot and both teams
wanted to win. They were making their shots and we missed a lot of ours.
