She laughed off the notion the two topics are related, but the statistics don’t lie. Maryland women’s lacrosse midfielder Kali Hartshorn likes to score goals against teams from New Jersey.
Following a six-goal explosion at Rutgers on Saturday, the Allentown, New Jersey, native tacked on five more against another home-state foe in Princeton on Wednesday, helping the Terps secure an 18-12 win.
Regardless of the opponent, Hartshorn credited her teammates for her recent scoring success. The second-leading scorer for the No. 1 Terps (14-0, 3-0) hadn’t notched more than four goals in a game before the past two.
Hartshorn, a three-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week, said players like midfielder Jen Giles, who assisted one of her goals in each of the past two contests, have an innate ability to find her cutting across the net. From there, Hartshorn has been confident in her finishing abilities.
“It’s really my teammates always looking for me in the middle,” Hartshorn said. “Just the confidence that they have in me to catch it and score really pumps me up. It gives me the confidence to actually score.”
[Read more: Maryland women’s lacrosse uses an offensive onslaught to beat No. 7 Princeton, 18-12]
The “hometown hero,” as Whittle described her, has tallied 13 points in the past two games. And Hartshorn’s contributions don’t stop there.
With a team-leading 67 draw controls, she’s already cracked the program’s top-10 in single-season draw control output with three regular season games to go.
“It’s what we said from the start of the year,” Reese said. “We were throwing her in there, and we knew she was taking the draw. She’s come up really big in the second half of the season. She’s really come together, coming into her own.”
Hartshorn’s recent form has been a combination of several attributes, Reese added, ranging from her shooting ability, tactical awareness and toughness in traffic.
Most of Hartshorn’s goals come from finding space in front of goal and hoping her teammates find her. While she sometimes gets open looks, other times the middle is clogged. Still, she’s continued to come up with the ball and create enough space to launch shots.
Against Princeton, Hartshorn also displayed athleticism on a couple of solo scoring efforts. In one instance, she sprinted around the eight-meter arc and fired a deep attempt that pierced the top corner of the net. In the second half, Hartshorn notched her final goal by juking between two defenders and depositing the ball past Princeton goalkeeper Ellie DeGarmo.
Whittle and Reese had high praise for Hartshorn, but while her confidence has risen over the course of the season, she’s not “getting cocky.” She’ll look to continue her strong run of performances when the Terps host Ohio State (6-9, 0-4) on Saturday.
“I just go out and play Maryland lacrosse and if it comes together then I score, if I don’t I don’t,” Hartshorn said. “Hopefully I can keep doing what I’m doing. As long as I do that I feel like I’ll be pretty successful.”
