Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/26/13
From Press Release and Staff Report
North Carolina, which got a boost from three Philly grads Friday night, will face undefeated and top-seeded Maryland tonight (8:00) in the NCAA women’s Division i championship game at Villanova University.
Matchup:: No. 3 seed North Carolina (17-3) vs. No. 1 seed Maryland (22-0)
Date & Time: Sunday, May 26, 2013, 8 p.m.
Site: Villanova Stadium, Villanova, Pa.
Video Coverage: ESPNU/ESPN3
Rankings: UNC is ranked No. 3 by the deBeer/Inside Lacrosse media poll and the IWLCA; Maryland is No. 1 in both polls
Buying tickets: Click here
Game Notes:
*Carolina will be making its second appearance in the NCAA title game.
*Sunday’s matchup will be the third meeting between UNC and Maryland this season. The Terrapins beat the Tar Heels 14-13 in the regular season on April 6 (in College Park, Md.), and 12-8 in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship game on April 28 (in Chapel Hill).
*Carolina beat second-seeded Northwestern, 11-4, in Friday’s semifinals to advance to Sunday’s title
game. The Tar Heels led from start to finish in the victory over the Wildcats. Senior midfielder and co-captain Emily Garrity (Strath Haven) had five groundballs, two caused turnovers and an assist; redshirt sophomore defender Margaret Corzel (Merion Mercy) had a groundball and helped hold down the powerful Northwestern attack all day; sophomore midfielder Kelly Devlin (Downingtown East) had a goal and a draw control.
*The Terps (22-0) edged Syracuse 11-10 to land t in their nation-leading 17th NCAA title game. Kelly McPartland tallied three second half goals to lead Maryland offensively while a stellar defensive effort held the Orange scoreless the final 18:31 of the contest.
*Maryland defeated North Carolina 14-13 in the regular season meeting in College Park April 6 and topped the Tar Heels 12-8 in the ACC championship game in Chapel Hill April 28.
*UNC beat unseeded Loyola and Virginia at home to advance to Villanova this weekend. The Terrapins have beaten Stony Brook, Duke and Syracuse in NCAA play this month.
*North Carolina will be making its second appearance in the NCAA championship game on Sunday. In 2009, Northwestern beat the Tar Heels 21-7 for the national title in Towson, Md.
*UNC is making its 15th NCAA Tournament appearance in 18 years as a varsity program and its ninth in a row.
*The Tar Heels are 2-5 in the NCAA Tournament semifinals, beating Maryland in 2009 (8-7 in Towson, Md.) and Northwestern in 2013 (11-4 in Villanova, Pa.) and losing in 1997 (10-8 to Loyola in Bethlehem, Pa.), 1998 (14-9 to Maryland in Baltimore), 2002 (16-2 to Princeton in Baltimore), 2010 (15-10 to Northwestern in Towson, Md.) and 2011 (11-10 to Northwestern in Stony Brook, N.Y.).
*Make no mistake, while Maryland boasts a stellar rookie class this season, 2013 has been deemed the year of the senior. With eight seniors, including Tewaaraton winner Katie Schwarzmann, it’s easy to see why.
* Alex Aust has led the Maryland attack with team-highs in goals, assists and points. She is joined by Brooke Griffin and
reserves Kristen Lamon and Halle Majorana to form one of the to p scoring offenses in the nation, averaging over 15 goals per match in 2013.
*Maryland’s deepest position is the midfield where it returned eight players from last year’s squad including
all-everything Schwarzmann. Freshman Taylor Cummings has made a seamless transition to the college game and leads the Terps in draw controls.
*The defense is led by IWLCA National Defender of the Year Iliana Sanza. Other key contributors to the back
is senior Melissa Diepold, sophomores Shanna Brady and Megan Douty and rookie Alice Mercer
