COLLEGE PARK — It may have come one day later than expected, but nearly everything else went according to script Sunday for the top-ranked Maryland women's lacrosse team against No. 2 North Carolina.
A day after having their game suspended after just 9 minutes because of the snow, the host Terps returned to finish the job, dominating draw controls and shots in a 13-11 win over their former Atlantic Coast Conference rival.
Despite having to give up the 4-1 lead they had built when play was stopped Saturday — with the game replayed from the start — the Terps picked up where they left off, building a 5-2 lead after the first 11 minutes.
Senior Kelly McPartland admitted that she and her teammates were initially frustrated with the prospect of starting the game at the beginning.
"A lot of people put their heads down and were like 'Aw, now we've got to do that all over again,' " she said. "Then [coach] Cathy [Reese] came in and gave us a speech. It was like, 'There's no way to get around it. We can't change that, so we have to keep doing what we do best.' "
And on Sunday, the Terrapins did just that.
Led by junior Taylor Cummings (McDonogh), Maryland (2-0) won 18 of 26 draws, parlaying that into a 33-16 advantage in shots. Cummings, McPartland and highly touted freshman Megan Whittle (McDonogh) scored three goals each, as the Terps kept control, trailing for just 34 seconds early in the first half.
"We were tough today, and we came off the 30s well on the draw," Reese said. "We were supporting Taylor in the middle, which was huge. We need to do better in our shooting, but obviously this is a game in February that tries to show you some things to work on. It's good for us to kind of have the opportunity we had."
It was on defense, however, where the Terps truly stood out. Led by seniors Megan Douty and Shanna Brady, Maryland won the majority of 50-50 balls, leaving few loose balls uncontested, and forcing 12 turnovers.
"I thought we had to battle a lot harder for the 50-50 balls. I don't think anyone was winning it cleanly," North Carolina coach Jenny Levy said. "It was about the scrap battle, and we just didn't do a good enough job. Credit Maryland for that."
Trailing, 2-1, Maryland took the lead for good when McPartland, Cummings and Whittle combined to score four straight goals in a span of 3:59.
After trailing, 7-4, at the half, the Tar Heels (3-1), led by junior Sammy Jo Tracy and sophomore Alex Moore (three goals each), made a game of it to start the second half, winning two straight draws and turning them into consecutive goals by Aly Messinger and Tracy.
But Maryland quickly regained command, scoring four of the next five goals, including a pair by Cummings, to make it 11-7.
Though North Carolina pulled back to within two in the final minutes, the Terps sealed the win when McPartland came up with a huge draw control after the ball had bounced into the Tar Heels' end with 2 minutes to play.
Afterwards, players were still marveling at their experience of the previous 24 hours.
"I've never been a part of something like that," Whittle said. "But we have such a great coaching staff, so it was like, 'You know what? We'll just play whenever and figure it out.'
"We went through the same routine again today, we got our breakfast and everything. It was interesting to be a part of it. It was just awesome to be able to pull it together and focus when it really mattered."