As a sophomore on the Louisville women’s lacrosse team, midfielder Meghan Siverson was a starter, ranked second on the team in scoring and first in draw controls. But since transferring to Maryland this year, Siverson has rarely been in the starting lineup or found the back of the net.

That changed in the No. 3 Terps’ Big Ten-clinching 20-16 win over No. 7 Northwestern on Thursday.

The Morristown, New Jersey, native scored a hat trick against the Wildcats and had a team-high eight draw controls, positioning herself as a potential breakout candidate as the Terps enter postseason play.

“She’s awesome, and we’ve known she’s been awesome. I’ve been waiting for this kind of breakout game for her,” coach Cathy Reese said. “She’s great on the draw, she’s great on the offensive end, and she’s just continuing to become more confident as she goes through.”

[Read more: No. 3 Maryland women’s lacrosse wins Big Ten by beating No. 7 Northwestern, 20-16]

Siverson has started three of her 17 appearances this season, coming off the bench against Northwestern. Entering the contest, she had scored multiple goals in just three of her 16 appearances and hadn’t recorded more than three draw controls against a Big Ten opponent.

Siverson’s performance in the circle helped the Terps to a 20-18 advantage in draw controls, a significant feat against attacker Shelby Fredericks, who is fourth in the nation in draw controls per game.

[Read more: Grace Griffin is this year’s star freshman for Maryland lacrosse]

“[She] adds us another dimension on the draw,” Reese said. “Both her and [midfielder Kali Hartshorn] combined for [13 draw controls] tonight. That’s huge against a team that’s really strong on the draw.”

Siverson said her teammates made joining the team easy, even if it hasn’t always translated to playing time or the stat sheet.

“We all are here to win, so that’s the common goal with all of us,” Siverson said. “Every practice we have, we try to get a little better, and just when we go into games, we know playing the Maryland way is how we’re going to win.”

The team has noticed Siverson’s work ethic as a newcomer to the group.

“All of our freshmen [and] all of our transfers come in and they just want it,” attacker Megan Whittle said. “Meg especially. She perfects her craft on the draw. Really excited for the way Meg’s playing, she’s seeing the net really well, catching those feeds, [and] we’re looking for her.”

As Maryland enters postseason play to defend its Big Ten tournament and national championships, Siverson hopes to build off the most productive game of her Maryland career thus far.

“To get our first big title that we’ve earned really feels great, and just gives us momentum moving forward,” Siverson said. “We can’t wait to see what we can bring to the table.”