CHESTER, Pa. — At times, the Maryland women's lacrosse team does not seem to be playing the same game as its opponents. The Terps are too talented, too fast, too experienced. The games often less resemble tests of athleticism and skill than rounds of whack-a-mole.

Defend one Maryland offensive possession, and a high-pressure defense awaits on the other end. Face-guard one Terps All-America attacker, and a midfielder will run wild in the newly vacated space. Take care of one Taylor, as No. 5 seed Syracuse did early Friday night, and another Taylor will emerge. Too many weapons, too few mallets.

But then, the Orange had a better chance of stopping traffic on the nearby Commodore Barry Bridge than of keeping Maryland from reaching its fourth straight NCAA Division I championship game. With a 19-9 win before an announced 7,906 at Talen Energy Stadium, the top-seeded and two-time defending national champion Terps advanced to face No. 3 seed North Carolina in Sunday's final. The Tar Heels held off unseeded Penn State, 12-11, in the early semifinal. They lost, 8-7, in the finalists' early-season meeting.

“We're going to celebrate tonight, and then tomorrow we're going to be right at work,” Cummings said. “People should be in for a good one on Sunday.”

North Carolina figures to try what Syracuse (19-6) sought in vain to do Friday: stop Maryland's big two. The Orange face-guarded attacker Megan Whittle (McDonogh) and midfielder Taylor Cummings (McDonogh) for much of the first half. The reasoning being, better to take your chances 5-on-5 than risk 7-on-7 against two of the nation's most potent offensive forces.

It was not a bad idea. The Terps (22-0) were just too good.

With Cummings content to linger on the fringes of the offense, another Taylor — midfielder Taylor Hensh (Marriotts Ridge), separated in class by two years and in jersey number by just one digit (she wears No. 20; Cummings, 21) — proved just as effective.

She had the game's first goal 40 seconds in. Syracuse scored less than a minute later, and Hensh soon added her second. That brought an onslaught. Midfielder Bryn Boucher, attacker Caroline Steele (Severn), midfielder Zoe Stukenberg (Marriotts Ridge) and midfielder Jen Giles (Mount Hebron) scored in succession to make it 6-1 less than 12 minutes into the game.

When Hensh completed her first-half hat trick minutes later, Cummings and Whittle had not yet scored, and the game was already out of hand. Syracuse goalie Allie Murray was pulled midway through the second half; she had no saves and the score was 13-6, Maryland.

“It was an incredible Maryland team that just stepped on that field with the level of confidence of a defending national championship team,” Orange coach Gary Gait said.

The teams' pedigrees were evident before the first draw.

Over 19 days in March, the Orange lost as many games (three) as the Terps have in four years.

Syracuse entered the game with two All-Americans; Maryland had five.

The Terps are now 20-1 all-time against the Orange, including wins in four straight championship weekend meetings.

A week after an 18-3 quarterfinal win over Massachusetts that featured a first-half running clock, the sport's version of the mercy rule, Maryland showed it was willing and able to finish the game at its own pace.

A goal by Cummings midway through the second half made it 16-6. The whistle blew, and the clock continued to run. There was only so much that could be done.

When the game ended and the Terps stormed the field, Whittle had four goals and an assist. Cummings, the Tewaaraton Award front-runner, and Hensh, a reserve, had scored four times. All-America attacker Kayla Treanor had been held to one goal. Her Syracuse teammates' shoulders slumped; the secret to stopping Maryland seemed as elusive as it had two hours before.

jshaffer@baltsun.com

twitter.com/jonas_shaffer