Terrapin men’s lacrosse defender Ryne Adolph knew coming into the season that it would be tough for the defense to overcome the loss of 2007 All-Americans Ray Megill and Steve Whittenberg.
But Adolph, a senior, also felt the unit had the right mix of experience and young talent to be very successful.
It proved him right on Saturday, holding then-No. 5 North Carolina scoreless for 20:13 in the second half to spark a 13-8 Terp win in Chapel Hill.
“We thought that we could win our match-ups, and we kept throwing different kinds of defenses at them, which kept them guessing,” Adolph said. “It was good because then they started throwing the ball away.”
The strong defensive stand keyed a 5-0 Terp run that included a man-down goal by Jeff Reynolds early in the fourth quarter. Brett Weiss’ goal with 9:29 remaining in the game gave the Terps a seven-goal lead, more than enough to withstand a late Tar Heel comeback effort.
“The pressure we put on them made them make stupid passes, stupid mistakes. And then we were able to capitalize on [their mistakes] on the offensive end,” said senior defender Joe Cinosky, who picked up four ground balls and caused two turnovers in the game.
The Terps have given up fewer goals in several games this season, but shutting down an ACC team on the road was as impressive as any of those performances.
With a mix of man-to-man and zone defenses, the Terps continually denied the Tar Heels quality scoring opportunities as they tried to organize set pieces in the goal area.
Cinosky praised the game plan devised by defensive coordinator Dave Slafkosky, and the players executed it perfectly.
“Our kids got their sticks up,” coach Dave Cottle said. “When you play zone you’re going to have to intercept some passes or knock some down. We did a good job of that in the second half.”
The Terps, who have one of the biggest defensive units in the country with their top seven defensemen and long poles averaging 6-foot-3 and 221 pounds, have adjusted well without their All-Americans this season.
With Cinosky anchoring a starting unit that has rotated Adolph, senior Jacob Baxter and freshman Max Schmidt, the Terps have given up an average of 7.6 goals per game – slightly less than last season’s 8 goals per game – and that includes a 15-7 loss at No. 2 Duke on March 1.
After Saturday’s game, that poor showing seems far in the past.
Saturday was the perfect time to put together a good defensive effort, with a match-up against No. 1 Virginia on Saturday and more tough games looming after that.
“When you shut down a team like this, it just makes you feel better about yourself and gives you a lot of confidence heading into the bigger games like Navy and [Johns] Hopkins coming up,” Adolph said.
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