Highlights: UNC vs. Maryland (NCAA Women's Final)
May 29, 2016
Megan Ward made a career-high 14 saves and Aly Messinger totaled six points to lead the Tar Heels to a 13-7 win over Maryland in the 2016 NCAA championship game May 29. (UNC Athletics)
UNC Dethrones Maryland in NCAA Women's Final
by Matt DaSilva | LaxMagazine.com | Twitter
CHESTER, Pa. - For all of the talk about Taylor Cummings and the Maryland women's lacrosse dynasty, history will show that North Carolina and the Tar Heels seniors were just as good.
Attacker Aly Messinger, midfielder Sammy Jo Tracy and goalie Megan Ward reprised their roles as Terps killers Sunday, as North Carolina defeated previously unbeaten Maryland 13-7 in the NCAA championship game Sunday in front of 7,129 fans at Talen Energy Stadium.
Messinger picked apart the Terps' vaunted defense with precision passing. Tracy outdueled Cummings on the draw. And Ward, just two days after getting yanked in the Tar Heels' semifinal win over Penn State, shut the door on Maryland with a career-high 14 saves. Ward's 14th save with 12 seconds remaining came against Cummings, the two-time Tewaaraton Award winner whom North Carolina limited to 1-for-6 shooting and just four draw controls.
Messinger, the NCAA championship's most outstanding player, finished with two goals and a career-high four assists, all of which came in the first half as the Tar Heels jumped to a 6-1 lead. North Carolina held the Terps scoreless for 19 minutes, 19 seconds, before Megan Whittle ended the drought with 8:50 remaining.