Men's lacrosse's early advantage doesn’t stick in second ACC loss

After going up by four goals in the first quarter against North Carolina on Saturday, the Terrapin men's lacrosse team seemed primed to claim its first conference win of the season.

But after their initial outburst, the Terps' offense sputtered and struggled to find its rhythm against a zone-oriented Tar Heel defense. North Carolina's offense, meanwhile, took full advantage of the Terps' lull and went on an eight-goal run that spanned three quarters in an eventual 11-6 victory in front of 3,176 at Byrd Stadium.

The No. 8 Tar Heels (7-2, 1-1 ACC) held the No. 5 Terps (6-2, 0-2) scoreless for more than 25 minutes, a stretch that started with 5:50 left in the first quarter and lasted until the 9:44 mark in the game's third frame.

"Give Carolina credit. For the last 51 minutes of that game, they were clearly the better team," coach John Tillman said. "They fought back, which we knew they would do. We didn't make that counterpunch. ... We just couldn't get it back after they made that run."

The Terps' four-goal run in the first quarter forced Tar Heel coach Joe Breschi to use all three of his timeouts in the game's first nine minutes. Breschi promptly switched to a zone defense after the Terps' fourth tally, and it ended up paying dividends for the remainder of the game, as the Terps could muster only two goals during the final 51 minutes of action.

"Down 4-0, we needed to do something to change the momentum," Breschi said. "We mixed it up, and good stuff happened."

Just minutes after Breschi used his final timeout, the Tar Heels notched their first score of the game. Attackman Pat Foster pulled Terp midfielder Dan Burns out on an isolation dodge behind the net and beat him around the right side with a split-dodge before finishing with a shot that got past goalkeeper Niko Amato (seven saves) on the near post.

Paced by Foster and fellow freshman attackman Nicky Galasso, who recorded four and six points, respectively, North Carolina went on an 11-2 run to one-up the Terps' quick start.

Foster, who was filling in for injured attackman Thomas Wood, made his first career start and recorded his first career hat trick.

"They're two terrific players, and that's why we recruited them — to come in and make an impact," Breschi said of Foster and Galasso. "It's all about confidence. These freshmen have been playing since the start of the year, and we've had some peaks and valleys. ... They're gaining confidence."

In addition to North Carolina's switch to a zone defense, the Terps also struggled after an apparent goal by midfielder John Haus was called back due to a loose-ball push and a three-minute non-releasable, illegal-stick penalty was called on attackman Ryan Young. Both calls came midway through the first half and deflated any Terp momentum.

But in the end, it was uncharacteristic errors — bad passes, rushed offensive possessions, penalties and unforced turnovers — that doomed the Terps. The team committed 16 turnovers and played man-down for more than four minutes as a result of penalties called on Young and midfielders Jake Bernhardt and Scott Larue.

Those mistakes have been far from the norm for the Terps so far this season. Not surprisingly, players and Tillman expressed only abated optimism following their five-goal loss to the Tar Heels.

"There were just a lot of breakdowns. ... It's stuff that we knew, but we got away from," Tillman said. "We can't define ourselves on 50 minutes. That would be foolish. We're better than what we played the last 50 minutes, but we've got to go out and show it."

TERP NOTES: Attackman Owen Blye started a third straight game for the injured Travis Reed and recorded two points. Burns, meanwhile, saw his first playing time of the season, coming in off the bench as a short-stick defender for the Terps. Burns had been sidelined previously due to an undisclosed injury.

"He certainly gave us an emotional lift," Tillman said of Burns. "But there are some things he's still working the rust off of."

jengelke@umdbk.com