With only two regular season games before the NCAA Tournament begins for the Terrapin women’s lacrosse team, time is running out for midfielder Caitlyn McFadden to make an impact on the record books.

After her five-point performance against North Carolina in the ACC Championship on Sunday, McFadden moved closer to the top of the Terps’ career points list. She currently ranks ninth all-time and is six points away from unseating Anysia Fedec for the eighth spot.

Earlier this season, McFadden passed Terps head coach Cathy Reese, who was previously 11th on the list with 217 points.

“I learn new things everyday,” Reese said when informed of McFadden’s move up the record books. “Caitlyn’s had such a wonderful career for us, so it’s good to see her coming along like that.”

McFadden also stands fifth all-time in total assists and is 18 goals from breaking into the top 10 for career goals.

She isn’t the only player forging her name in Terps’ history. Attacker Karri Ellen Johnson has scored 51 goals this season to lead the team, and with another nine scores, she will crack the top 10 for single-season goals. She’s chasing one of her own marks: Her 74 goals last season as a freshman marks the third-most by any Terps’ player.

But Reese said the marks are just unimportant footnotes when compared with the most pressing number for the team: nine — the number of years since the Terps won a national championship.

“I don’t pay any attention to that kind of stuff,” Reese said. “I know they take care of what they need to do on the field, and those accomplishments come along with that.”

‘D’ BOUNCES BACK

When the Terps faced North Carolina on April 10, the Tar Heels handed the Terps a rude wake-up call. In wrecking the Terps’ perfect season, North Carolina scored 13 goals, a season high in goals allowed, in a decisive four-goal victory.

Since that defeat, the defense has played its best lacrosse of the season, allowing just a combined 21 goals in its last four games to climb to No. 2 in the nation in goals allowed per game. After a sloppy showing against the Tar Heels, the team’s defenders have focused on their own individual matchups while working with teammates to form a cohesive unit.

When the Terps faced the Tar Heels for the second time last weekend, the defense showed marked improvement, limiting North Carolina to a season-low five goals.

“I think that’s huge,” Reese said. “We look to get better every practice and every game, and we’ve really come together the past few games. … The keys to being successful is to have a well-balanced team. That’s super important at the end of the season.”

NORTHWESTERN NO-GO

Reigning champion and No. 2 Northwestern will host another ACC foe this weekend — and it won’t be the Terps.

In a sport where top-ranked regular season games are the norm, the two most prestigious programs — the Terps and Wildcats rank No. 1 and No. 2 in all-time titles, respectively — haven’t met since 2007, when the Terps lost in the regular season, 12-7.

Since that meeting, Northwestern has regularly met the ACC’s other perennial powers. The Wildcats have played North Carolina four times and Virginia and Duke three times since the Terps’ defeat.

The Terps have battled the Wildcats for No. 1 votes in the top-20 rankings all season, but with no game scheduled between the two, it’s hard to decipher which team is better. A matchup between the two teams would provide an easy answer, but circumstances have kept the two programs apart.

Reese said the 787-mile trip from Evanston, Ill., to College Park doesn’t make sense given the strength of other local opponents, and the Terps’ early exits in the postseason have cost them a shot at a meeting with the Wildcats.

“It’s not an easy trip to take and within bus-driving distance for us,” said Reese, who left open the chance of a fall scrimmage between the . “We play the toughest schedule in the country, so I don’t think it’s necessary for us to add them.”

ceckard@umdbk.com