Philadelphia
With Terps senior long-stick midfielder Mike McCarney serving a one-minute penalty for cross-checking with 2:11 left in the extra session, Cloutier accepted a pass from redshirt junior midfielder Michael Tagliaferri and flicked an off-hip shot past redshirt senior goalkeeper Kyle Bernlohr to set off a raucous celebration among the Tar Heels contingent before an announced 26,749 at Lincoln Financial Field.
North Carolina capped the year with a 12-6 record buoyed by four consecutive wins against seeded opponents in No. 6 Marquette, No. 3 Notre Dame, No. 7 Loyola Maryland and now Maryland. The Tar Heels became the first unseeded team in seven attempts to win the title.
Cloutier, who broke Eric Lusby of Loyola’s NCAA tournament record of 17 goals in 2012 with 19 goals during this postseason march, paced the team with five goals.
Junior attackman Luke Goldstock scored four times, and redshirt sophomore goalie Brian Balkam made a game-high 13 saves including a stop on sophomore midfielder Connor Kelly during a Terps extra-man opportunity.
Maryland fell to 17-3 and suffered its first loss in 17 contests and first since a 9-4 setback to Notre Dame on March 5. The Terps’ lack of success in NCAA title games is now 0-9 since the 1975 squad captured that championship.
The Tar Heels team that claimed the 1991 title was honored during halftime of Monday’s game for the 25th anniversary of their achievement.