The Maryland Terrapins are in a familiar place with a lot of new faces.
The reigning national champions and top seeds will take on No. 4 Boston College, whom they beat to win that title, in the second of tonight’s two national lacrosse semifinals in Stony Brook, N.Y. The winner will face either James Madison or ACC champion North Carolina — the only team to beat both BC and Maryland this season — in Sunday’s championship game.
“We are really excited to be in this position and have the opportunity to compete in the Final Four,” said Maryland coach Cathy Reese. “This has been a fun season for us and fun group, and I think we have come a long way since the beginning of the year.”
Maryland’s resume has no equal at this level. The Terrapins’ 16-13 win over BC last year at Gillette Stadium gave them three of the last four championships and 13 overall. Only three other programs — Northwestern with seven, plus Princeton and Virginia — have as many as three since UMass won the first-ever crown in 1982.
The Terrapins (20-1) have qualified for 34 of the 37 NCAA tournaments, with 26 Final Four appearances and 21 championship game appearances pending tonight’s result.
“Maryland is known for their tough man to man defense,” said BC coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein, herself an All-American and team captain as a player at Maryland. “They have multiple scorers that can do many different things and dynamic.”
The game will match two of the most talented finishers in the country. Maryland is led by attacker Megan Whittle and her 83 goals, while the Eagles (21-1) answer with Sam Apuzzo, who has 81 goals, 118 points and a staggering 145 draw controls.
Whittle and Apuzzo are also two of the five finalists for the annual Tewaaraton Award, given to the nation’s best player.
Apuzzo “is a very talented player that is for sure,” said Reese. “I think she does it all and she does it well and she been a huge player for Boston College.
“We don’t play them in the regular season so it has been somewhat from afar but she is fun to watch. She is creative, she is determined and she is passionate and she does really nice job all over the field. “
North Carolina beat the Terps, 16-15, in overtime at home on Feb. 24. BC won its home meeting with their conference foe 17-11 a month later, but UNC took the ACC title game, 14-11, to end BC’s program record 19-game winning streak.
“The second time we played them we made a few adjustments and played a lot better and that was a month and half later,” said Carolina coach Jenny Levy. “We just had a better team game than we had earlier in March.”
