This morning was the Final Four teleconference with the four coaches from each of the Final Four teams (the Terps, North Carolina, Syracuse and Northwestern).
Friday, the No. 1 Terps (20-1, 4-1 ACC) take on unseeded Syracuse in the semifinals in Towson, Md. at the Johnny Unitas Stadium. The Orange are coached by Gary Gait, a former Terps’ women’s lacrosse assistant coach.
He coached in College Park between 1995 and 2001, winning seven national championships during his tenure. Current Terps head coach Cathy Reese both played under him and coached with him.
Since beginning his coaching tenure at Syracuse in 2007, Gait has guided the Orange to their first ever Final Four. This year they return after knocking off No. 4 seed Georgetown and No. 5 seed James Madison.
Here’s what Gait had to say this morning -
“Syracuse is very excited to be back at the Final Four. We had a taste of it two years ago. Our seniors have really taken the program from the top 20 to the top 10.”
On the Terps – “They are very similar to last year. They are a year older and more mature. They want to show that the can win [the national championship] again. They are a great team and they’re bringing their maturity.”
In order to win – “We’re going to have to play our most effective game this season.”
On his team’s NCAA run – “I think we’re just playing well together. [We're] executing the defense that we put in there. We’ve been trying to make adjustments every game we’ve played this NCAA run. We’ll try to make some adjustments and hope our players can adjust with that.”
Gait and the Orange faced the Terps in the quarterfinals of last season’s NCAA Tournament. After taking a quick 4-0 advantage, the Orange allowed the Terps to scored four straight to even the game up.
The back and forth affair lasted into the second half, where the teams were tied at 9 with 15 minutes remaining. Then Caitlyn McFadden scored two goals in a 36-second span to put the Terps up for good.
The Terps’ 12-10 victory sent the team to the Final Four, before they lost to North Carolina in the semi-finals.
“Honestly,” Reese said this morning. “I don’t remember much from last year’s game. It’s been a long time since then.”
Chris Eckard is the Diamondback’s Terrapin women’s lacrosse beat reporter. He can be reached at ceckard@umdbk.com.