The No. 2 seed Terps are tied 4-4 with the Tar Heels midway through their Final Four match.
They almost did not even have a tie. After taking the lead and letting North Carolina tie the score three times, with 3:17 remaining in the half, North Carolina’s Laura Zimmerman scored to give the Tar Heels a 4-3 lead, their first of the game.
But after Terp coach Cathy Reese called a timeout to refocus the team, midfielder Laura Merrifield used her 6-foot-1 frame to force her way past the Tar Heel defense and get a shot off before falling to the ground. But the off-balance shot was enough to tie the game.
The half was unusually low-scoring for the explosive Terp offense. In fact, it ties the attack’s lowest first-half goal total of the season. And one of the reasons was the lack of opportunities. It is not odd to see Terp shot totals in the 20s for a single half, but the Terps managed to get off only 12, the same number as the Tar Heels.
Still, the Terps should not panic in the second half. They have been in this situation before. The Terps were tied 5-5 at half against North Carolina in the regular season and went on to win 13-8. And in the ACC Tournament Championship, the Terps were down 8-4 to Duke and managed a comeback victory.
But the Terps still should look to reenergize their attack early in the half unless they want to play tug-of-war down the stretch for a victory.