Final Four is not a new experience

The top-seeded Terrapin field hockey team’s trip to the final four this weekend means excitement and anticipation but little novelty for many of the players.

The undefeated Terps (22-0) will play fourth-seeded Princeton this afternoon in their fourth NCAA Tournament semifinal appearance in five years. They claimed the National Championship in 2005 and 2006 and, after a second-round exit in 2007, came back to win again last year.

All but two Terp starters have championship experience, and senior goalkeeper Alicia Grater has been a part of each title-winning squad. Five of the starters are returning to the very place their Final Four careers began, Kentner Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C., the site of the team’s 2006 title victory.

“We know what it’s like,” senior midfielder Alexis Pappas said. “We’re not so nervous about being in there and saying, ‘Oh my god, it’s a final four.’ We’re just more chilled and ready to take on the competition.”

The NCAA Tournament bracket played out as seeded, with No. 2 Virginia meeting No. 3 North Carolina in the other semifinal match.

But while each team has excelled this season, only Terp players have consistently competed at the championship level. In the past five years, the Tar Heels have appeared in the final four once, in 2007, when they won the national championship. Princeton has not made it to the semifinals since 2001.

“I think if you look at any program, whether it’s a winning program every year or it has surged to make the final four, you always get better by the experience of being there in the final four or competing for the national championship,” coach Missy Meharg said.

So the Terps should have a leg up on the competition. Even without final four experience, though, the Tigers (16-2) should provide a challenge.

The Terps have only trailed two teams this season. Princeton is one of them. The Tigers led 1-0 and then 2-1 during the regular-season match in College Park on Oct. 7, before the Terps won 3-2 in overtime.

“I’m very excited to play with Princeton,” Meharg said. “I love their style. I love the athleticism when we play with them. We can play them a lot better than we did in the first match.”

The rematch almost didn’t happen. After blowing past Stanford 4-0 in the first round, the Tigers were trailing 3-2 at halftime to Syracuse. But they surged back with a five-goal second half to win 7-3.

The Terps recently had a comeback victory of their own, rallying from a 2-0 deficit in the ACC Championship two weeks ago to beat Virginia 3-2 in overtime. Last weekend, they carried energy from that win into the start of the NCAA Tournament, dominating American 6-1 and Drexel 5-0 in the first two rounds.

They hope, though, that the Tigers won’t bring their momentum into the Final Four — or any ideas of revenge.

The Terps know what powerful motivation a loss can be. The sting of a regular-season loss to Duke and their early exit from the 2007 NCAA Tournament helped fuel last year’s National Championship run.

“Not to know what it’s like to lose and to feel that in a season is hard,” Pappas said. “Honestly, to lose is to make you want to play harder, and we haven’t done that. So it has to come from mentally throughout the team. We have to strive and push really hard just to keep that winning streak going.”

kyanchulis@umdbk.com