Men's lacrosse zones out in loss to North Carolina

In the week leading up to its crucial ACC contest against North Carolina, the Terrapin men's lacrosse team prepared for exactly what it would encounter against the Tar Heels' defense Saturday.

But the Terps' meticulous preparation — the team studied film and mimicked North Carolina's zone defense all week in practice — ultimately proved fruitless in their 11-6 loss to the Tar Heels. After going down by four goals early, North Carolina switched from a man-to-man defensive set to a 3-3 zone that stifled the Terps' offense for the remaining 51 minutes of action.

After the adjustment, any semblance of offensive rhythm was absent for the No. 10 Terps (6-2, 0-2 ACC), who forced bad passes to the inside and rushed possessions that ended with low-percentage shots.

"They zoned us. We practiced against zone all week, and we've seen a lot of it," coach John Tillman said. "We just didn't dodge aggressively. We got a little impatient. We started throwing the ball inside to guys that were covered."

Though Saturday's game wasn't the first time the Terps had seen a zone defense this season, it marked the first time they truly struggled against one.

In the Terps' earlier games against UMBC and St. Joseph's — the two opponents leading up to their matchup with No. 5 North Carolina — the Retrievers and Hawks both played zone defense for extended periods of time, but to no avail. The Terps scored 15 and 11 goals, respectively, and were able to bust the two teams' zones with accurate shooting from the perimeter and strong cuts to the crease.

The Terps went a combined 35.1 percent in their shooting against St. Joseph's and UMBC, but Saturday was a whole different story.

After their early outburst in the game's first nine minutes, the Terps could muster only two more goals after North Carolina switched things up, recording an abysmal 18 percent shooting mark.

"The zone was tough to play. I really don't know," attackman Grant Catalino said when asked why the zone was so effective. "We expected it. Because it worked, they kept running it like any other team would do."

And although Catalino still had a good day — the senior recorded his 13th career hat trick in the loss — the rest of the Terps' offense seemed anemic.

The Terps have been without attackman Travis Reed, a natural shooter and Catalino's counterpart on the attack's left wing, for three straight games due to an upper-body injury that he suffered during the team's 8-4 win at Towson on March 12. His absence helped in part to explain the Terps' struggles against North Carolina's zone, and it may continue to be a hindrance should other teams successfully follow the Tar Heels' example.

As in basketball, outside shooters are the key to breaking any zone. When defenders slouch off players to cover unprotected areas in the zone, they often leave opponents on the wing open for shots. Following Saturday's loss to the Tar Heels, even Tillman acknowledged the positive effect the sharpshooting Reed could have had — and he wasn't the only one.

"Right now, Catalino is the only outside threat. This team desperately misses Travis Reed," ESPN lacrosse analyst Mark Dixon told The Baltimore Sun. "You put Catalino on the right, Reed on the left, and that really opens a lot of things up. Now teams are keying on Catalino or playing zone and daring other players to beat them from the outside, and it's just not happening for Maryland."

Even though North Carolina found success with the zone against the Terps, Tillman and players believe Saturday's performance was an aberration. With Reed's return nearing and the development of shooters such as Catalino, attackman Ryan Young and midfielders Joe Cummings, John Haus and Jake Bernhardt, the Terps have the firepower, at least on paper, to beat a zone defense.

After his team's five-goal loss, Tillman all but dared opponents to copycat the Tar Heels' tactics.

"If people want to zone us, I've said all along, with some of our personnel, that might not be a bad thing for us," Tillman said. "If you're going to zone and we have Grant Catalino and Ryan [Young] and Joe Cummings — those are pretty good shooters."

jengelke@umdbk.com