A is for Sam Apuzzo. The junior leads Boston College in almost every category. She has a team-high 81 goals, 37 assists, 118 points, 31 caused turnovers and 145 draw controls, with the last stat being a program record. Apuzzo ranks third in Division I in points, sixth in goals and 11th in draw controls per game. She is the ACC Attacker of the Year, as well as the Eagles’ second Tewaaraton finalist.

B is for Baltimore. All four final four coaches hail from the Baltimore area. Boston College coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein grew up in Annapolis and later went on to play for Maryland, captaining her senior year in 2005. James Madison coach Shelley Klaes-Bawcombe, a Hall of Famer in the Greater Baltimore chapter of US Lacrosse, is a native of Glen Arm, Maryland, and then graduated from JMU in 1997. Maryland coach Cathy Reese, whose hometown is Ellicott City, Maryland, is a 1998 graduate of Maryland, the year she was the NCAA tournament’s most valuable player. North Carolina coach Jenny Levy, who graduated from Virginia in 1992, grew up going to Johns Hopkins games and lived right near Loyola in Baltimore. “It’s funny when you look where we all came from,” said Walker-Weinstein. “We’re all from home.”

C is for Caroline Steele. The Maryland junior attacker shined in last year’s NCAA final four. She was named to the all-tournament team after tying the NCAA championship game record for goals with six in the Terps’ 2017 title win over Boston College. She currently sits second on the team in goals (58) and points (78) behind Megan Whittle.

D is for the draw, which could make or break a game. Draws lead to possessions. Nationally, Maryland ranks highest at No. 2 with 17.05 per game, followed by Boston College at No. 7 (16.18), North Carolina at No. 8 (16.15) and James Madison at No. 33 (14.38). Individually, Tar Heels senior Marie McCool is eighth in Division I (7.75 per game, team-high 155 draw controls), followed by Eagles junior Sam Apuzzo at No. 11 (6.59, 145 DC), Terps sophomore Kali Hartshorn at No. 12 (6.43, 135 DC) and Dukes senior Haley Warden at No. 59 (4.52, 95 DC).

E is for the Eagles. No. 4 seed Boston College recorded its first perfect regular season, finishing 2018 undefeated at 17-0 before entering the ACC tournament, where it suffered its first loss at the hands of North Carolina in the conference final. With wins over Princeton, 16-10, and previously unbeaten Stony Brook, 12-11 in overtime, to advance to the semifinals, the Eagles have earned a rematch of the 2017 NCAA championship game, looking for revenge, as they fell to Maryland 16-13 last May.

F is for Elena Romesburg’s fierceness for James Madison. Sporting her signature eye black and double braid, she does all the dirty work for the Dukes. Romesburg ties Warden for a team-high 46 ground balls, while also recording 70 draw controls, 69 points and 22 caused turnovers.

G is for Kristen Gaudian. The CAA Player of the Year has the best shot percentage in Division I (0.655) and leads James Madison with 89 points on 74 goals and 15 assists. She is just the third Tewaaraton finalist in school and CAA history, the last being Gail Decker in 2004. Gaudian also set a program record with 26 free position goals and a career program record with 44 free position scores.

H is for Dempsey Arsenault’s hustle. The junior midfielder scored the game-winning goal in overtime to send Boston College past previously undefeated Stony Brook 12-11. Arsenault has been the secret weapon in the Eagles’ arsenal after recovering from an ACL tear her senior year of high school. She currently has 93 points on 59 goals and 34 assists, plus 29 caused turnovers, 58 ground balls and 102 draw controls.

PHOTO BY GRANT HALVERSON

I is for the inside scoop. North Carolina is the only final four team to have played all the other final four teams. The Tar Heels opened their season with a 15-14 double overtime loss to James Madison, defeated Maryland 16-15 in overtime on Feb. 24 and fell to Boston College 17-11 on March 24 before handing the Eagles their first loss of the year with a 14-11 upset victory in the ACC championship. Boston College has only played North Carolina as ACC rivals, Maryland competed against the Tar Heels and James Madison (a 15-12 Terps win on March 24) and the Dukes did not play the Eagles either.

J is for James Madison. The Dukes are seeded third in the NCAA tournament, the highest in school history, and entered with an 18-1 overall record, which is a program record for wins in a season. Its lone loss was to Maryland, 15-12, on March 24. To advance to the final four, JMU defeated Virginia 15-12 and sixth-seeded Florida 11-8. This year marks its 15th tournament appearance.

K is for keepers. Maryland junior Megan Taylor ranks 24th in Division I with a .477 save percentage and Boston College junior Lauren Daly is 62nd (.431). Molly Dougherty, who’s been playing the full 60 minutes for James Madison since the CAA championship on May 6, has a .485 save percentage. While she hasn’t logged enough minutes to be ranked nationally, North Carolina redshirt freshman Taylor Moreno has a .555 save percentage, which tops all other goalies’ marks.

L is for Long Island. The 2018 NCAA Division I women’s lacrosse championship takes place at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium in Stony Brook, N.Y., which is the heart of Long Island. From the state of New York, North Carolina has the most players with 11, followed by Boston College with 10, James Madison with seven and Maryland with one. The Tar Heels boast six players from Long Island – Maggie Bill, Katie Hoeg, Maddie Hoffer, Kate Kotowski, Taylor Moreno and Jamie Ortega – with Hoffer, the redshirt freshman defender, being the only player of any team from Stony Brook specifically. The Eagles have seven Long Island natives – Sam Apuzzo, Maggie Casey, Lauren Daly, Kaileen Hart, Abbey Ngai, Cailee Perettine, and Cara Urbank. Plus, the Dukes have four – Natalie Fuccillo, Corinne Schmidt, Rebecca Tooker, Tara Wahl – and Maryland has one – Nikki Sliwak.

M is for Marie McCool. The Tewaaraton finalist is the do-it-all midfielder for North Carolina. The senior leads the Tar Heels with 155 draw controls, 35 ground balls and 22 caused turnovers, while also recording 78 points on 59 goals and 19 assists. After leading UNC to an upset of previously undefeated Boston College in the ACC final with 11 draw controls in the win, McCool was the first player in conference history to repeat as the ACC Midfielder of the Year.

N is for North Carolina. The No. 2 Tar Heels enter the final four with a 17-3 overall record, with their losses coming against James Madison (15-14 in double overtime on Feb. 10), Florida (17-10 on March 3) and Boston College (17-11 on March 24). They cruised through the ACC tournament for their third straight title, then defeated Virginia Tech 17-8 and Northwestern 19-14 to earn a rematch with the Dukes on Friday. North Carolina aims to make their fifth appearance in the NCAA championship Sunday, last winning the crown in 2016 with a 13-7 win over Maryland. It has won two of the last five NCAA titles.

O is for Jamie Ortega. The freshman attacker out of Centereach (N.Y.) is North Carolina’s leading scorer with 66 goals. She also has 15 assists for 81 points, good for second on the team, as well as 23 ground balls and nine caused turnovers. Ortega, the 2017 Long Island Player of the Year as New York state’s all-time leader in points with 588, was tabbed the top incoming freshman for 2018 by Inside Lacrosse.

P is for “the proof’s in the pudding,” said by JMU coach Shelley Klaes-Bawcombe about validating the talent in the CAA. In recent years, the ACC and Big 10 have dominated the final four, but JMU has advanced to championship weekend for the first time since 2000. “One of the beautiful things about the final four is that you have been able ot get your program to a certain level,” she said. “It’s about results and performance that get you to that opportunity, so the proof’s in the pudding, and for us, we understand that. We are a program that has been at this level. We’ve been able to honor the 2000 team and celebrate them and we’re expected to be able to do it again in 2018.”

Q is for qualifications. The final four teams represent the top four seeded teams as determined by the NCAA selection committee – No. 1 Maryland, No. 2 North Carolina, No. 3 James Madison and No. 4 Boston College. The Terps earned the automatic qualifying bid from the Big Ten with a 21-12 win over Penn State for the conference title, the Tar Heels defeated the Eagles 14-11 for the ACC automatic qualifier and the Dukes won the CAA crown with a 16-10 win over Towson.

R is for records. A number of records were broken by the final four teams and their players in 2018. Just to name a few… Senior attacker Megan Whittle became Maryland’s all-time leading scorer, earning the distinction in a 20-5 rout of Ohio State on April 15, passing all-time great Jen Adams. North Carolina set a new program record for goals in an ACC tournament game with a 21-12 victory over Syracuse on April 26, while goalie Taylor Moreno made a tournament-record 33 saves as its most valuable player and freshman Jamie Ortega set an ACC tournament record with 15 goals in UNC’s three games. James Madison senior midfielder Haley Warden broke the program’s career record for most draw controls in a 19-7 trounce of Temple on March 3, senior attacker Katie Kerrigan set a program record with eight assists in a 15-3 win over Elon on April 15 and senior attacker Kristen Gaudian set a single-season program record with 18 free position goals in a 15-10 triumph over Virginia on April 18. Sam Apuzzo broke the Boston College program record for goals in a game with nine in a 20-14 win over Navy on Feb. 27 and Dempsey Arsenault set a new single-game program record with 12 draw controls in a 19-10 win over Louisville on March 17.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JAMES MADISON

S is for national team stats, specifically looking at the top five in Division I. Maryland is No. 2 in draw controls per game (17.05), No. 3 in shots on goal per game (27.10), shots per game (37.14) and turnovers per game (12.71), No. 4 in fouls per game (13.14) and tied for fourth in scoring offense (16.33 goals per game). North Carolina ranks fifth in assists per game (8.50) and points per game (24.50). James Madison has the No. 4 scoring defense (8.86 goals against per game) and boasts the No. 2 shot percentage (0.497). Boston College is No. 1 in win percentage (0.955).

T is for the top-seeded Terps. Maryland is 20-1 entering the final four with its lone loss being to North Carolina, 16-15 in overtime on Feb. 24. It beat Johns Hopkins 16-11 and Penn State 21-12 for the Big Ten title, and then Denver 15-4 and Navy 17-15 in the NCAA tournament to advance to its 10th straight final four. The Terps are the reigning national champions, defeating Boston College 16-13 in 2017, and have won three of the past five NCAA crowns. Their most recent victory over the Mids was the result of a successful comeback effort thanks to Megan Whittle’s three-goal run in the final 10 minutes. Maryland leads the nation with 34 NCAA appearances, while also topping in wins (71), final four appearances (26), championship game appearances (21) and NCAA titles (13).

U is for the underdogs. Fans won’t be surprised if Maryland and North Carolina advance to the championship game. (They last played each other in the final in 2016, a 13-7 win for the Tar Heels, and in 2015, the Terps emerged victorious against UNC, 9-8. The most memorable NCAA title game was a triple-overtime win for North Carolina over Maryland in 2013.) But No. 3 James Madison and No. 4 Boston College are both looking for their first national title. The Eagles made its first NCAA championship appearance in 2017, but fell to Maryland by three. The Dukes have yet to play in an NCAA title game.

V is for validation. Again, Maryland and North Carolina have proven that their programs are among the best. ACC foe Boston College has slowly risen in the ranks, advancing to last year’s NCAA final, but James Madison has consistently tried to prove itself as a member of the CAA. Wins for both the Eagles and Dukes in the semifinals would validate not only this year’s success but also the growth of their programs, but a win in the NCAA championship would validate even more.

PHOTO BY RICHARD PALAIKIS

W is for Megan Whittle. The senior is Maryland’s clutch attacker. She single-handedly brought the Terps back into the game against Navy in the semifinal, and that’s exactly what you’d expect from a Tewaaraton finalist out of the Maryland program. She leads the Terps with 98 points on a team-high 83 goals plus 15 assists. The 2018 team captain and Big Ten Attacker of the Year also is coming off a bronze medal performance with Team England in the 2017 FIL Women’s World Cup.  

X is the X-factor. The unsung heroes won’t be your leading scorers. A lot of the time, it’s the defense that doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. Like the old saying goes, defense wins championships. Outside of goalies, Maryland’s defense is anchored by senior Kathy Rudkin, who played a key role in the second half against Navy as Maryland decided to faceguard Mids star Julia Collins after six of her eight goals came in the first period. North Carolina’s senior leadership comes from Naomi Lerner, who has started all 20 games and has 16 caused turnovers. James Madison seniors Corinne Schmidt and Rebecca Tooker have started all 21 games on defense, grabbing 39 and 22 caused turnovers, respectively. Boston College junior Elizabeth Miller, led by senior captain Carly Bell on defense, is the ACC Defender of the Year, earning the role as its go-to matchup defender against the likes of Kylie Ohlmiller, and will likely guard Megan Whittle on Friday.

Y is for yellow cards. James Madison (20-1) ties for 11th (40 in 21 games), Boston College (21-1) ties for 36th (31 in 22 games) North Carolina (17-3) ties for 45th (30 in 20 games) and Maryland (20-1) ties for 84th (22 in 21 games). Historically, the Terps have played one of the cleanest games in Division I.

Z is for zero games played by Eagles senior attacker Kenzie Kent in 2018 after being named the 2017 NCAA tournament most outstanding player. She had five goals and five assists for 10 points in last year's 16-13 NCAA championship loss to Maryland. On March 30, Boston College formally announced that she decided to redshirt the 2018 lacrosse season after finishing her senior ice hockey season. “There was some really tough shoes to fill, and I think people are also playing for Kenzie, and I think that's a powerful thing,” coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein said Monday on the NCAA head coaches teleconference. “So, I think there's two things. It's playing for her and knowing that she was a big part of the success, and she is a big part of our program. But also, they know that they don't want the program to take a step back.”