In practice, the Terrapins women’s lacrosse coaches call free position shots free throws.
Coach Cathy Reese makes the comparison every week to emphasize the importance of making each shot. Against the then-No. 5 Tar Heels last weekend, the Terps were 1-for-7 on free position shots.
But the No. 1 Terps had more success on the foul looks in a 20-5 victory over Hofstra at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex Saturday afternoon.
Midfielder Zoe Stukenberg gave the Terps the lead on a free position shot 37 seconds into the game. It came off one of Hofstra’s 33 fouls on the afternoon.
The Terps (4-0) capitalized on many of those opportunities, going 8-for-11 on free position shots Saturday.
“Every day in practice, we’re working on eight meters,” said attacker Megan Whittle, who scored four goals. “We do practice it a lot and it did come up. I thought every other whistle was an eight-meter. We did a good job of capitalizing on those.”
Reese said she wanted her team to attack consistently and be more disciplined against the Pride. When the Terps had the opportunity to be, they were. Seven of their 12 first-half goals came on free position shots.
The fast start resulted in a running clock with just more than 16 minutes remaining in the first half and forced the Pride to be aggressive. Although the Terps were able to take advantage of free position shots, their offense also attacked quickly when Hofstra didn’t commit a foul.
Stukenberg scored a hat trick less than five minutes into the game, and midfielders Kacie Longo and Taylor Cummings each scored a pair of times in the first half. The Terps scored the game’s first 12 goals.
“I want them to learn to read a defense and evaluate what’s open and where you’re going to get your looks,” Reese said. “I think today we were driving hard and generating shooting space calls. They did a nice job of reading what the defense was going to do.”
When the Pride gained possession, they struggled advancing the ball. The Terps defense forced 13 turnovers on the day.
The lone Hofstra player who gave the Terps defense fits was attacker Lindsay Scott, the Pride’s leading scorer. She halted the Terps’ 12-0 run and scored three more times in the second half.
But the Terps offense continued piling on goals, even though they only attempted 11 shots after the break.
“The focus was on executing every play as perfectly as we could,” Whittle said. “Started figuring out their defense, a little zone, a little face-guard action. Off the draw, we came out hard and fast.”
They only had one free position chance after halftime, which freshman midfielder Jen Giles deposited in the back of the cage. It was that type of efficiency on the foul looks in the opening period that broke the game open and allowed the Terps to score at least 20 goals for the first time since 2014.
“We were working on moving offensively in practice, and I think we displayed that really well,” midfielder Kacie Longo said. “Especially with all of their yellow cards, we were able to score off our man-up situations.”
