“I feel it goes again to what we’ve preached and what we’ve mentioned all yr,” defenseman Brett Makar mentioned. “It’s positively a giant assertion and saying in our locker room: ‘You’re solely pretty much as good as your final shift. What have you ever performed for me currently? What are you able to do for me subsequent?’ ”

Rematch with Virginia is subsequent after Maryland rolls in NCAA lacrosse opener

But from a broader perspective, Maryland (15-0) is closing in on a uncommon accomplishment. Simply 3 times previously 30 years has the Division I champion gone undefeated, and none have performed so since 2006.

Every of these groups — 1997 Princeton, 2005 Johns Hopkins and 2006 Virginia — took its personal path to perfection. Of these, solely the Tigers of a quarter-century in the past have been coming off a nationwide title the earlier yr.

But the beginning of the 1997 season didn’t trace at dominance. Princeton opened with one-goal victories over Johns Hopkins, Virginia and North Carolina, and it scraped out an 8-5 overcome Brown in its sixth recreation.

“There was no thought at that time of going undefeated,” mentioned coach Invoice Tierney, now the coach at Denver. “It was simply survival in these early video games. That toughness early in all probability made us fairly hardened. If you win these one-goal video games, folks on the skin would possibly have a look at it as future otherwise you’re the higher crew. You have a look at all these one-goal video games, and as a coach, you’re in all probability taking a look at it as, ‘We have been fortunate.’ ”

These Tigers have been additionally exceptionally good. The centerpieces of Princeton’s dynasty have been attackmen Jon Hess, Jesse Hubbard and Chris Massey. All three have been juniors in 1997, and so they helped the Tigers tear by means of the again half of the common season.

Tierney famously carried out a “19-goal rule” in that period, instructing his gamers to move the ball round and never shoot to keep away from dropping 20 on an opponent. It was not an unusual improvement; Princeton scored 19 in 4 consecutive video games late within the 1997 season.

The faceoff specialist behind Maryland lacrosse’s dominant season

However then got here a rugged first quarter in an eventual quarterfinal defeat of Massachusetts and a two-goal deficit within the fourth quarter earlier than the Tigers ousted Duke within the semifinals. Memorial Day was soggy that yr, and the title recreation was performed round 11 a.m. Tierney distinctly remembers sitting down for an early breakfast on the Faculty Park Vacation Inn earlier than his crew confronted Maryland.

“We all know that is going to be a troublesome recreation, and I keep in mind one in every of our gamers standing up and saying, ‘We haven’t performed our greatest recreation but,’ ” Tierney mentioned. “I mentioned, ‘Perhaps that’s proper, and perhaps we’re delusional.’ It form of gave [us] an entire new season on that day. After which, after all, we exit and rating eight objectives within the first quarter.”

Whereas Princeton’s 19-7 rout was an anticlimactic finish to a sterling run, Johns Hopkins had a becoming end of its personal in 2005: a one-goal defeat of Duke on the final day of the season. It was in some ways all that mattered to these Blue Jays.

Hopkins misplaced to Virginia within the title recreation in 2003 and was crushed within the 2004 semifinals by eventual champion Syracuse. Just a few weeks after the latter loss, midfielder Kyle Harrison despatched an electronic mail to his teammates describing how a lot work he supposed to speculate for his senior yr and the way he anticipated the identical of everybody else.

Coach Dave Pietramala recalled the way it was a battle to maintain his crew engaged within the fall.

“Fairly actually, we weren’t within the common season, both,” mentioned Pietramala, whose crew performed three one-goal video games earlier than the event. “We needed to do one factor, and it was to get again to the Closing 4, and we weren’t going to be happy till we bought again to the Closing 4 and righted the flawed of the semifinal and righted the flawed of the ultimate.”

Probably the most memorable recreation of the season wasn’t the Memorial Day defeat of Duke however the 9-8 extra time overcome Virginia two days earlier. A lightning delay halted play with lower than 5 minutes left, simply after Virginia took its first lead of the day, and each groups returned to their locker rooms.

“We walked in, and [captain] Greg Raymond places on the Village Individuals, and so they’re dancing to ‘Macho Man’ or ‘YMCA’ or one thing like that, and I’m going, ‘What the hell is occurring right here?’ ” mentioned Pietramala, now the defensive coordinator at Syracuse. “However to be trustworthy, perhaps one of the best factor we did teaching was allow them to be who they have been at that second.”

It was one of many many instances in 2005 when Pietramala trusted his older gamers to deal with issues, and the Blue Jays went on to drive extra time on a objective with 1.4 seconds left earlier than advancing with a rating in additional time. As very important as that recreation was for the ultimate phases of Hopkins’s good run, it additionally planted the seed for what was to return at Virginia the subsequent spring.

By the point the Cavaliers’ bus arrived on the since-demolished College Corridor late that evening, a few of their sturdy personalities have been already shaping how the 2006 season would unfold.

“A few the older guys wouldn’t let anybody off the bus till that they had their say, which basically was saying, ‘Nothing like that is ever going to occur once more,’ ” mentioned then-coach Dom Starsia, who gained 4 NCAA titles at Virginia. “You clearly don’t anticipate that the subsequent season goes to be an undefeated nationwide championship, however that crew had an actual sense of objective early on.”

Maryland girls’s lacrosse crushes Florida to get again to Closing 4

Now retired as a school coach, Starsia usually speaks to groups in regards to the significance of inside management whereas pursuing a championship. Typically it simply takes one; he name-checks Tucker Radebaugh (1999), Chris Rotelli (2003) and Bray Malphrus (2011) from his different title runs.

However the checklist in 2006 was longer: Matt Ward, J.J. Morrissey, Michael Culver and extra.

“They have been shiny and social, however the predominant theme for that crew was, ‘Nothing will get in the way in which of the lacrosse,’ ” Starsia mentioned. “They clamped down on anyone that bought close to the sting that was going to harm what we have been making an attempt to do. It didn’t have to return from me.”

Then once more, there wasn’t a lot cause to be involved a couple of stumble. Other than a 7-6 victory at Princeton in mid-March, the Cavaliers gained the remainder of their video games by at the least 4 objectives. That included a 15-7 rout of Massachusetts in what felt extra like a coronation than a nationwide title recreation.

“I joke to folks generally that my job in 2006 was to get them to the sphere on time as a result of they have been simply not going to be distracted by something,” Starsia mentioned. “Usually, that group was not going to be denied. I don’t assume it was as a result of they have been obsessive about being undefeated. It’s simply that they have been obsessive about: ‘That is who we’re. No one performs with us.’ ”

It’s that Virginia crew that feels most analogous to what Maryland has performed thus far. These Terps have a burning reminiscence of final yr’s disappointment and have dispatched most of their opponents in ruthless, businesslike style, assembly a lofty normal in almost each recreation, together with a 23-12 demolition of the Cavaliers on March 19 at Audi Area.

“That’s the objective, proper? Every week, be one of the best model of your self, and also you hope you execute at a excessive degree, particularly with the groups we’re enjoying in opposition to,” Maryland Coach John Tillman mentioned. “I don’t assume it’s straightforward as a result of you realize, inevitably, there’s going to be video games that you just don’t play as properly.”

It simply hasn’t occurred a lot. The Terps are outscoring opponents by a mean of 9.3 objectives. They’ve trailed in simply three of their 15 video games. Solely two opponents, Notre Dame and Ohio State, have put even the slightest scare in them.

However perfection was by no means the purpose for Maryland this spring, identical to it wasn’t for the opposite undefeated groups of the previous 25 years. As an alternative, it’s the chase to be referred to as a champion, one thing Maryland can take one other step towards Sunday.

“Everybody got here again with a objective and a mission,” Makar mentioned. “There was no victory lap or simply having this additional yr to have one other yr of school earlier than going into the true world. It was with a objective and an intent to get again to the place we have been final yr. We’re simply doing every little thing we will to make it again to that time.”