About halfway through the first half, Maryland women’s lacrosse midfielder Zoe Stukenberg scooped up a ground ball at midfield.
She sprinted toward the goal but had three Michigan defenders to beat. She looked around and raised her stick to prepare for a pass before realizing she didn’t need to.
Having already beaten one Wolverines defender, Stukenberg decided to test the other two. She beat the final Michigan player standing in her way, drove to the goal and put the ball in the upper right-hand corner of the net to give top-ranked Maryland a 7-1 lead.
It was just one of many instances in which the Wolverines defense failed to stop coach Cathy Reese’s team’s up-tempo offense in the Terps’ 18-8 road win Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Terps clinched at least a share of the Big Ten regular season title.
“[The big lead] was a huge deal for just getting our confidence and momentum up,” said midfielder Jen Giles, who recorded two goals. “It wasn’t easy at all. Michigan’s a really great team and they came out fighting really hard.”
Stukenberg, attacker Megan Whittle and midfielder Caroline Steele all recorded hat tricks. Nine different Terps scored against a Michigan squad has that allowed double-digit goals in each of its losses entering the contest.
Reese said the Terps (16-0, 4-0 Big Ten) were doing a nice job of “getting good looks on cage.” In the past, she challenged her young team to improve its shooting percentage in the past.
It wasn’t an issue against the Wolverines. The Terps were 15-for-22 in the first half and 18-for-30 on the afternoon.
“I think our offense has just come a long way this season,” midfielder Bryn Boucher said. “Everyone is just starting to connect so much better with each other. Not even just the starters but the people who are coming in.”
Consistent offense has been the Terps’ mantra this year, as Reese’s squad entered the game with the best offense in the nation. Their success continued against the Wolverines (6-10, 0-4 Big Ten).
Whittle got the Terps on the board about two and a half minutes into the contest.
The Terps went on to score eight of the game’s first nine goals. Reese told her squad it needed to start fast, and they responded Saturday.
“We [focused on] really making it count early,” Reese said. “We need to keep our feet on the gas and keep working. Our team really rose to the challenge.”
And their defense, with the exception of a 3-0 Wolverines spurt that began with just more than 11 minutes remaining, was stout in the victory.
After the Terps’ run to start the game, the closest the Wolverines got was when midfielder Anna Schueler scored with 4:43 left in the first half to make it 10-5.
From there, the Terps put the game away.
Cummings’ bounce shot less than two minutes later sparked a 5-0 Terps run that sent them into the intermission with a 10-goal advantage. Their 15 first-half goals were also a season high.
Giles said at the half, the Terps didn’t realize they had such a sizable lead. That could have fueled their second half rally, as the Terps went on a 3-0 run after half time.
Once the Terps scored for the 18th time with just under 22 minutes remaining, the Wolverines went on a 3-0 run of their own.
But at that point, it was too late.
“Everyone gets down the field and everyone just sees each other,” Boucher said. “It works, and it’s just fun.”
