BLOG: Another Rematch for Terps in NCAA Tourney
5/15/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
By Eli Davis, Maryland Athletics Student Assistant
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - An underlying theme of the 2015 NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament has been regular season rematches. The story rings true for the 6th-seeded Maryland men's lacrosse team as it crosses paths with a familiar foe for the second time in as many tournament games when it takes on 3rd-seeded North Carolina in the NCAA Quarterfinals Sunday in Annapolis.
The Terps were able to avenge their regular season loss to Yale with a fourth quarter rally that led to an 8-7 first round win last week.
The script has been flipped this week, however, as the Terps play a team it previously defeated earlier in the season. Maryland bested North Carolina, 10-8, behind five goals from senior midfielder Joe LoCascio on March 21 in the Pacific Coast Shootout.
“North Carolina has always been a good matchup for us and we're really excited to play them,” said junior midfielder Bryan Cole. “Both teams always compete hard. We've always had really close games - really tough games against UNC - so that's something that I know both teams are looking forward to.”
The Terrapins know the regular season matchup, played nearly two months ago, holds little weight at this point in the season. Just as the Maryland side has adjusted since the mid-season tilt, so too has their Chapel Hill counterpart.
“I think both teams are just going to clean up some of the mistakes they made,” said Cole, who is averaging four points per game over the last three contests. “We just want to focus on us this week and look back on what we didn't do so well.”
Led by junior goalie Kyle Bernlohr, Maryland was able to limit the high-powered North Carolina offense to zero goals in settled situations in the March 21 meeting.
“North Carolina's offense is playing at a very high level,” said senior faceoff specialist Charlie Raffa. “We just need to make sure our defense is ready and our offense is ready to go on Sunday.”
Raffa, who went 15-of-22 at the faceoff X in the first matchup, has been a crucial piece to Maryland's success throughout the season.
“Carolina was a good day for us at the faceoff X,” Raffa said of the regular season meeting. “Matt [Neufeldt] and Isaiah [Davis-Allen] picked up a lot of huge groundballs. Just continuing that growth with them throughout the year has been great. Hopefully we can keep some momentum going.”
A win on Sunday would propel the Terps to their second straight Final Four and fourth in the past five seasons. In order to return to championship weekend, Maryland has stressed the importance of playing fundamental lacrosse.
“It's the groundballs. It's the tough defense,” Cole said. “Offensively, just playing hard for each other. Our coaches really do a good job preaching all week the importance of getting back to Terp lacrosse and I think that's something we are really looking forward to showing.”
