CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Last season, the Terrapin women’s lacrosse team’s backline boasted everything a defense needs — speed, physicality, depth and experience. And the Terps seemingly had all of their key pieces returning this year.
The four starters, who combined for 145 career starts coming into the 2010 season, each excelled in their roles. Katie Gallagher provided the size and strength to succeed as a one-on-one defender. Alexcia Niumatalolo’s athleticism drew praise from coach Cathy Reese. Brittany Poist’s breakaway speed proved crucial to the Terps’ transition offense. Captain Karissa Taylor served as the defensive unit’s guide and leader. In goal, Brittany Dipper was named to the ACC All-Tournament team in her freshman year.
But unforeseen problems have forced Reese to adjust her game plan. Gallagher has missed the majority of this spring because of a hamstring injury and an on-going illness, Niumatalolo is no longer on the team due to a violation of team rules and Dipper has struggled recently.
Saturday, No. 3 North Carolina exposed a Terp defense that, despite high expectations, is still figuring itself out. The Tar Heels (11-1, 3-1 ACC) scored several uncontested goals and sprinted out to a six-goal advantage against the Terps (12-1, 3-1).
Right now, the defense is a work in progress. So far this season, there have been some ups — the Terps held No. then-No. 5 Duke to four goals on Feb. 27 — and some downs — the Terps failed to keep up with a quick Towson team on March 31 and faced a five-goal second-half deficit against the then-No. 7 Tigers before rallying.
Reese replaced Niumatalolo with senior Abby Caso, who had played in 37 games entering the year but had never started. When Gallagher went down — the senior hasn’t started since Feb. 21 — Reese decided to start freshman midfielder Katie Schwarzmann in her place.
“It’s different without her,” Taylor said about Gallagher. “She is definitely one of our best defenders, but we also have other defenders that compete everyday in practice and are prepared just in case.”
Along with the changes on the defensive line, Reese went back to rotating sophomore goalkeepers Dipper and Mary Jordan to “find the best fit for the team.”
Despite all the alterations, the Terps managed to stay undefeated through the first 12 games this season. Even after allowing 13 goals against North Carolina, the Terps are allowing only 7.38 goals per game, nearly a two-goal drop from last season.
“We all know the game plan, so when there are changes we still know how to play together,” Poist said earlier this season. “We just want to play 60 minutes of complete lacrosse and show that we’re improving every game.”
But for the third time in four games, the Terps’ offense needed a comeback from a first-half deficit against the Tar Heels. North Carolina scored three unassisted goals in the first half, which Reese attributed to her defensive players not helping each other out, allowing for one-on-one opportunities against Dipper.
In the second half, when the Tar Heels decided to slow the tempo, Reese had the Terps defense pressure North Carolina much further out from goal than usual. The change allowed the Tar Heels to burn the defense for a couple goals to ice the win.
With only two games remaining before the ACC Tournament, the Terps know that their defense is key to getting back to where they were last year at this time — playing well enough to compete for a national championship.
“I think we’re going to learn a lot from this game,” Reese said. “I’m not quite sure I like when people say that, but for us, we were able to pull out some close wins without playing some great lacrosse. We can’t have these mental lapses throughout the game and come out with wins.”
ceckard@umdbk.com
