COLLEGE PARK, Md. — It is the destination the University of Maryland lacrosse teams sought since season’s start. It is the destination the Terps are used to.
"We didn’t come this far to come this far," said Terps men's lacrosse coach John Tillman. "We came to hopefully get a win on Saturday and keep that thing rolling."
"Our message to them too is just enjoy this," added Terps women's lacrosse coach Cathy Reese. "You’re going to walk on the field and know you’re meant to be there. Enjoy your surroundings and celebrate yourself and what you’ve done so far, and then let’s band together, take a deep breath and let’s get down to business."
Both the Terrapins men and women are Final Four bound. The women are heading to their 12th in 13 seasons. The men made it to the national semifinals for the seventh time in nine seasons.
"They have set the bar for not only women’s lacrosse, but the entire sport," said defender Brett Makar. "They have kind of set the bar there and the standard for us. So, we have got to kind of live up to them."
"It’s so cool to be a part of," said attacker Hannah Leubecker about both Maryland teams qualifying for a Final Four. "Hopefully we’re all celebrating together at the end of this thing."
To do that the No. 2 Terps women have to first get by No. 3 Boston College on Friday at 5:30 p.m. It’s a matchup of the past two national champs going down at Johns Hopkins’ Homewood Field in Baltimore.
"There is nothing like a women’s lacrosse final four in the state of Maryland, especially when Maryland is playing," said Reese.
The top-seeded, undefeated men's quest to become the best college lacrosse team of all-time continues on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. when they take on No. 5 Princeton in East Hartford, Connecticut.
"They are the number one ground ball team in the country," said Tillman. "That in itself is something that we have to make sure we focus on."
The Terps men have scored an average of 18.5 goals per game. That would be an NCAA record if they end the season with that mark. They have won by an average of 9.31 goals this season and topped the Tigers 15-10 three months ago.
Follow Shawn Stepner on Twitter @StepnerWMAR and Facebook
