On paper, it seemed No. 18 Penn State would prove a tougher obstacle for the Terrapins women’s lacrosse team than William & Mary or Delaware.
In reality, Sunday’s match in State College proved little different for the seemingly unstoppable Terps, who held the momentum solidly throughout a 16-6 victory.
In their first game of the season away from the friendly confines of College Park, the Terps — in what is quickly becoming a trend — wasted little time getting on the board. Just more than a minute and a half into the game, midfielder Beth Glaros broke the deadlock with a man-up goal after a yellow card against the Nittany Lions. Fellow midfielder Katie Schwarzmann scored another a mere 24 seconds later, and the Terps were off and running.
“Overall, we played well against a strong Penn State team,” coach Cathy Reese said. “We got off to a good start and we had a few lulls where we were a little hesitant, but we had a very balanced attack again with eight players scoring goals.”
Although the Nittany Lions did find the back of the cage a few times against goalkeeper Brittany Dipper (eight saves), they never scored consecutive goals on the day, something the Terps’ defense didn’t even accomplish against William & Mary or Delaware.
After the Terps took their 2-0 lead, Dipper made back-to-back saves to preserve the lead and keep the flow of the game solidly in the Terps’ favor. In a matchup between Dipper and Penn State goalkeeper Dana Cahill, two Tewaaraton Award Watch List candidates, Dipper was the superior force.
Schwarzmann, meanwhile, had her first goal spark a career day. The junior midfielder netted six goals, with five coming in the first half. She also led the Terps in transition, claiming six ground balls, a game high.
“Katie [Schwarzmann] had a big day for us and I thought Iliana [Sanza] also had a great performance defensively,” Reese said. Sanza had four ground balls and four draw controls, a team high.
Schwarzmann’s first-half surge put the Terps in control as they went into halftime. Three of her five first-half goals were a part of the Terps’ 5-1 run that closed the half. Coming out of halftime, Schwarzmann shot another one past Cahill while the Nittany Lions were down a man, putting the squad up 11-3 and never looking back.
Attackers Karri Ellen Johnson and Alex Aust, as well as midfielder Brooke Griffin, scored two goals each in the winning effort.
The Terps will have to wait the rest of the week to resume their road trip. The team will travel to Durham for Saturday’s match against No. 4 Duke, which will be coming off of its second defeat of the season after losing to No. 1 Northwestern.
munson@umdbk.com
