The University of Maryland athletic staff partied Wednesday in honor of both the men's and women's lacrosse teams winning national championships. The men claimed their first title in 42 years with that 9-6 win over Ohio State on Monday
“I guess it really hasn’t hit yet. Obviously it’s kind of been a powerful moment,” said Terps head men’s lacrosse coach Tillman. “Looking up in the stands and seeing some of the alums in tears and families in tears and tears of joy and seeing our kids celebrate, obviously awesome.”
As for the ladies, Sunday's 16-13 win over Boston College clinched their third title in four years.
“This has been such an amazing journey,” said Terrapins women’s head lacrosse coach Cathy Reese. “To have had the opportunity to go through this season with this team that we had, and watch them accomplish what they did, is something that’s really hard to put into words, something that’s really special.”
Making the women's championship even rarer is that they were a perfect 23-0 in 2017.
“It’s funny because you don’t really think about it until it’s all over and then everyone’s like ‘oh my god we didn’t lose’. And we didn’t. Credit to our players, credit to our staff,” added Reese.
There is one small downside to winning the national championship for Tillman, thanks to a promise he made to a couple of his players before last season.
He told Terps all-time leading scorer Matt Rambo and captain Colin Heacock, he’d get a tattoo if the Terps won a national championship.
“At some point I’m going to have to own up and I’m happy to do that. I’m not really excited about it. But, I made the agreement so, I got to follow through on what I say,” said Tillman with a laugh. “It’s going to be small and it’s going to be in a very discreet location that’s for sure.”
And just like the championship memories, it will last a lifetime.
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