The Maryland women’s lacrosse team found itself trailing No. 18 Virginia by two goals about five minutes into Wednesday’s game before pulling out a 16-11 win.
Within about the same time frame at Rutgers on Saturday night, the Terps built a six-goal advantage.
Behind a strong start, they coasted to a 20-8 demolition of their third Big Ten opponent this season. After going up, 6-0, Maryland never allowed Rutgers to close the gap to fewer than four goals.
The Terps notched 14 goals before intermission, the most they’ve scored in a half since April 2016 when they scored 15 in the opening period against Michigan.
Attacker Caroline Wannen, who tallied six points — scoring three and assisting three — said the team’s ability to distance itself from Rutgers came down to offensive execution.
“In the first half, we were patient on offense and took a lot of shots that were good looks, that were wide open and that we placed really well,” Wannen said. “We weren’t just shooting to shoot and get on the board. We were really working on our offensive sets and looking for good looks.”
Whereas the No. 1 Terps came from behind twice before running away from Virginia, they opened the scoring against the Scarlet Knights just over a minute into the contest and quickly netted five more goals.
Rutgers responded with a 5-3 run, which coach Cathy Reese said stemmed from the Terps making defensive mistakes that gave the Scarlet Knights quality shot opportunities. But her squad rebounded, scoring the next eight goals to take a commanding advantage.
Part of Maryland’s turnaround came from its attackers’ defensive prowess. In one instance, attacker Brindi Griffin chased down Rutgers’ Amanda Romano from behind and swatted the ball out of her stick. Griffin picked up the ground ball and scored about 20 seconds later, giving the Terps a 9-3 lead with about 15 minutes to play in the first half.
In contrast to Virginia’s 100 percent execution on clears in the first half Wednesday, the Terps’ ability to defend with their front line unit forced 11 Rutgers turnovers in the first frame. The Scarlet Knights also went 2-for-7 on clear attempts in the first half.
Wannen credited fellow attackers Megan Whittle and Caroline Steele for their efforts, as they combined for three caused turnovers. She said they had discussed before the game how vital it was to keep Rutgers on its own end.
“That’s awesome if we can just stop them even from getting into their offensive end,” Wannen said. “It makes it easier on the whole team.”
The Terps outscored their first two conference opponents 37-11 entering Saturday’s contest, and that dominance continued against the Scarlet Knights. The blowout allowed Reese to insert 19 reserves as her team moved to 3-0 in Big Ten play.
“We were able to play everyone that we could,” Reese said. “It was nice to see everybody contribute. And that way we could keep our foot on the gas as far as our offense goes.”
