The Terrapins women’s lacrosse team won its first two games against North Carolina last season but lost the one matchup everyone remembers. After knocking off the Tar Heels in the ACC tournament final, the Terps met their rivals again in the NCAA title game.

After 22 consecutive wins, the Terps fell one victory short of a perfect season, losing 13-12 to North Carolina in a triple-overtime thriller on the sport’s biggest stage. Tomorrow, after losing a starting senior from every position, the No. 2 Terps will have their first shot at revenge when they travel to play the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Though the No. 1 Tar Heels lost for the first time this season Monday at No. 7 Northwestern, the game remains a showdown between the two top-ranked teams in the nation.

“Definitely for the returners, you’ll never forget a triple-overtime loss in the national championship,” midfielder Taylor Cummings said. “But at the same time, it’s a new team, it’s a new year and I think the goal is always the same: to win.”

The Terps (13-0, 4-0 ACC) have done just that in recent years against North Carolina (11-1, 4-0). Despite the loss that ended last season, the Terps enter tomorrow’s contest having won six of the teams’ past nine matchups.

But the Terps have dropped two of their three games at Fetzer Field during that span. So for the Terps to earn the redemption the returning players desire, they will have to rectify their road woes against the Tar Heels.

“We know Carolina like the back of our hand and they know us,” Cummings said. “We play them all the time, so it is just about capitalizing on their mistakes and making sure we make as few mistakes as possible.”

While the Terps have played the Tar Heels nine times over the past four seasons, tomorrow will mark the teams’ final regular-season meeting as conference foes with the Terps’ move to the Big Ten this summer.

Coach Cathy Reese has talked with North Carolina coaches about setting up an annual nonconference game between the opponents, similar to what the Terps had with Syracuse before it moved to the ACC, but the 2015 schedule has not been finalized yet.

Regardless of potential future matchups, tomorrow’s winner likely will boast the No. 1 ranking when updated polls come out Monday. But Reese is looking at the game as just another conference matchup.

“It’s the most important game because it is the one we are going to be playing,” Reese said. “That’s kind of how we have been looking at each game this season.”

And as she has all season, Reese is hoping to see improvement on both sides of the ball, especially after the Terps’ narrowest win this season in Saturday’s 10-9 triumph over Boston College.

Reese made multiple lineup changes in the contest to spark a comeback, but she plans on using her typical starting lineup against the Tar Heels.

“We will start [goalkeeper] Abbey [Clipp], but Emily [Kift] is always ready to go, which is what we need,” Reese said. “We will make a switch if we need to, and hopefully we won’t.”

Reese will look to the same people who powered the Terps to 13 consecutive victories at the start of the season to continue their production in arguably the sport’s most heated rivalry. And the returning players who watched North Carolina end the Terps’ perfect season last year will be looking for payback.

“They have been top dog since that game,” defender Megan Douty said. “They are coming off a loss from Northwestern, and we are ready to give them another one.”