The Terrapin women’s lacrosse team waited until the second half of its game against Virginia in the ACC semifinals on Friday to really unleash their vaunted attack.

Today, in the ACC Championship, it’s a different story. Only 31 seconds into the game, midfielder Caitlyn McFadden scored on an assist from midfielder Amanda Spinnenweber. Since then, the game has played out entirely in the Terps’ favor as they’ve raced out to a 6-1 halftime lead.

McFadden played a role in four of the team’s first five goals and enters the break with two goals and two assists. Attacker Kristy Black has come off the bench to make an impact with two goals.

But possible the biggest difference from the matchup earlier this season is in front of goal. Terps’ goalkeeper Brittany Dipper has played another vital half for the defense, with five saves and only one goal allowed. At one point she stopped three consecutive free position shots by the Tar Heels.

The Terps are 50-50 with the draws (as Reese stresses) and have completely outshot the Tar Heels. Late in the second half, the Terps just ran the clock out for the final few minutes before taking a shot to close it out. I’ve never seen that from the team except at the end of games.

Shots: Terps 17, UNC 7
Groundballs: Terps 7, UNC 2
Draw Controls: Terps 4, UNC 4
Saves: Terps 5, UNC 8
Turnovers: Terps 3, UNC 7

Goals – McFadden (2), Black (2), Spinnenweber, Karri Ellen Johnson
Assists – McFadden (2), Mollison (2), Spinnenweber

Chris Eckard is the Diamondback’s Terrapin women’s lacrosse beat reporter. He can be reached at ceckard@umdbk.com

“Our team has great potential and we have yet to reach it, and I think that’s what excites me as a coach.”

Terrapin women’s lacrosse coach Cathy Reese after her team’s 10-6 victory against Virginia in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament on Friday afternoon.

Reese had better hope her team reaches that potential, or at least some of it, today when it takes on No. 1 seed North Carolina (14-1, 4-1 ACC). The No. 2 seed Terps (15-1, 4-1) lost to the Tar Heels earlier this season in Chapel Hill, N.C., 13-9. For the second straight season, North Carolina ended Reese’s perfect season.

Today, Reese and the Terps can get the revenge they hoped for earlier this season and this time for much more – an ACC Championship.

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D1Scourse’s Patrick Stevens gave an early-bird look at the potential field of 16 two weeks ago, but here’s a more recent breakdown from ESPN’s Quint Kessenich.

Top four seeds:

• No. 1 Virginia
• No. 2 Syracuse
• No. 3 Maryland
• No. 4 North Carolina

No surprise to see a lot of other local teams dotting Quint’s bubble there, too.

The first time attackman Grant Catalino faced North Carolina this season, the Terps’ leading scorer failed to get a single goal against a punishing defense in the 9-7 loss, the team’s first of the season.

But in the first round of the ACC Tournament tonight, Catalino reversed his fortunes. Seven minutes into the game, he ran straight at his defender and put an overhand shot into the near side of cage for the first score of the game. He never looked back, tearing through the Tar Heels’ backfield for six goals to lead the Terps in their 13-5 victory at Byrd Stadium.

“Our last Carolina game was a wakeup call for us,” Catalino said.

The No. 4 Terps (9-2, 2-2 ACC) dominated No. 3 North Carolina (11-2, 2-2 ACC) in all aspects of the game.

“I knew we were sitting on a good game,” coach Dave Cottle said. “That was probably the best we’ve played this year.”

After Catalino’s start, the Terps scored the next two goals, getting a strong start Cottle said they had lacked at times this season – the Terps had faced first-quarter deficits in every game since their match at Chapel Hill. (more…)

Now that Virginia has sealed their ticket to the ACC Championship game on Sunday, there’s only one more piece left to fill in.

The Cavaliers will meet either the Terps or North Carolina, who are playing as I type this.

So, naturally, I thought it would be a good idea to ask Virginia coach Dom Starsia who he’d be rooting for in the Terps/UNC matchup.

He started out with a laugh and then said, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Well, no, I wasn’t kidding, but the move was a good one for Starsia, who doesn’t want to give up any locker-room material for a team he might face in two days.

Jakob Engelke is a staff writer for The Diamondback. He can be reached at engelke@umdbk.com. You can follow him on Twitter at www.twtter.com/Jakob_Engelke.

With two of the best offenses in the nation going head to head, the first game of the ACC men’s lacrosse semifinals lived up to the hype.

Virginia (13.08 goals per game) beat Duke (13.07 goals per game) 16-12 in a high-scoring affair that featured Duke pulling starting goalie Dan Wirgrizer and replacing him with Mick Rock (just six games played before today).

Only down by two at halftime, Duke entered the thrid quarter seeking to bridge the gap. Attackman Max Quinzani scored a “you just had to be there” goal, as he caught a cross-crease feed and threw his stick behind-the-back to beat Virginia goalie Adam Ghitelman. It looked as if momentum might be swinging in favor of Duke, but Virginia maintained control and coasted to the four-goal victory.

In other news, the Terrapin men’s lacrosse team made an appearance during the game. Coming back from a pre-game warmup, players walked into Gossett Field House. A few stood by Testudo and watched a couple minutes of the third quarter.

If the Terps beat North Carolina in the second semifinal, they will face Virginia Sunday at 3:30 p.m.

There will be plenty of updates posted here during the Terps/North Carolina game, in addition to instantaneous developments at www.twitter.com/DBKSports. Also, check www.diamondbackonline.com Monday for a full recap of the game.

Jakob Engelke is a staff writer for The Diamondback. He can be reached at engelke@umdbk.com. You can follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Jakob_Engelke.