The Maryland men’s lacrosse team no longer competes in the ACC with No. 14 North Carolina, but the rivalry between the squads has endured.
During Saturday’s matchup in Chapel Hill, defender Tim Muller was penalized in the first five minutes for an off-ball hit. Then, after attackman Dylan Maltz gave the Terps a 2-1 first-quarter lead, Tar Heels defender Ryan Macri knocked him over with a late check for another unnecessary roughness flag.
The hard-hitting play continued throughout the contest, even as No. 9 Maryland pulled away for a 15-7 victory. While coach John Tillman lauded the energy of his players, he was disappointed with his team’s lack of discipline.
“That’s not really what we want to be,” Tillman said. “We want our play to do the talking. We don’t need to talk and say things. We’ve got to be better than that.”
Maryland suffered an overtime defeat to North Carolina in the 2016 national championship, its second straight title-game loss. While defensive midfielder Isaiah Davis-Allen claimed that result wouldn’t affect the team’s mentality on Saturday, there were multiple emotionally charged moments.
In addition to five penalties — four for unnecessary roughness — the sides exchanged heated trash talk, a result of the matchup’s importance. Entering the tilt, the Terps and Tar Heels had lost two of their previous three games.
At halftime, after three early Maryland violations, Tillman spoke with his players about settling down to avoid harmful calls. While the back-and-forth chatter between rivals continued after the intermission, Maryland didn’t have any second-half infractions.
However, the coach believed the players could have done a better overall job of maintaining their composure.
“Kids are putting a lot into this,” Tillman said. “They get pretty excited, and sometimes that can get the best of you.”
Tillman has emphasized levelheadedness throughout the year, often telling his players to compete with emotion without becoming emotional.
In Maryland’s season opening win at then-No. 11 Navy, an in-state rival, he was pleased his players demonstrated intensity without committing any penalties. Afterward, he credited senior leaders, such as Davis-Allen, for setting a positive example for younger players to make good decisions.
But against North Carolina, Maryland failed to replicate that level of self-control, committing more unnecessary roughness violations than it did through the first six games combined.
The Terps continued to excel at man-down defense, though, as the Tar Heels went 1-for-3 on extra-man opportunities. This season, the squad is tied for fifth in the nation for the fewest short-handed goals allowed (4).
Even so, Tillman pointed to discipline as a focus moving forward. He said handling emotion “is something we can do better” during “frenetic moments.” In particular, he bemoaned trash talking as an unneeded part of the game.
“It just seems like there’s more being said during the game these days than maybe ever before,” Tillman said. “There were some times [against North Carolina] where I had to remind our guys to just focus on playing. Don’t get caught up in that, let’s not get involved.”
