In December, Inside Lacrosse named five Terrapins women’s lacrosse players as preseason All-Americans. About a month later, two players were named to the U.S. National Team’s foreign roster.
To start February, both the preseason media and IWLCA coaches polls ranked the team No. 1. On the same day, the Big Ten deemed the Terps preseason favorites to win the conference championship.
For a program that graduated 11 players from last year’s national championship team, it’s a list of significant accolades. So ahead of the Terps’ season opener Saturday against William & Mary, coach Cathy Reese had a familiar message for her club: Do not let outside pressure affect you. You have nothing to defend.
“We don’t really talk about outcomes,” Reese said. “We talk about what we need to do to get better. Right now, we’re really young.”
The Terps won’t have much time to ease into the season, though. Two weeks into the campaign, they travel to North Carolina on Feb. 27 to face the No. 2 Tar Heels in a rematch of last season’s championship game.
Still, Reese’s squad refuses to look beyond the Tribe.
“Right now, we’re just excited to get after it against William & Mary,” midfielder Zoe Stukenberg said. “We’re hoping to be dominant in all aspects of the game. Saturday is the first opportunity we have to see where we are with that.”
When the Terps and William & Mary met to open the 2015 campaign, the Terps scored eight goals in the opening seven minutes. They eventually scored 11 goals in the first half en route to a dominating 15-5 victory.
Former goalkeeper Alex Fitzpatrick and then-sophomore Emily Kift split time in goal against the Tribe last season. To begin the year, Reese said Kift, sophomore Emma Moss and freshman Megan Taylor will compete for the starting job.
Over the last few years, the Terps have relied on an experienced core. Blending new players into the starting lineup will be a good challenge for a team that has not been forced to rely on youth as much in the past, midfielder Taylor Cummings said.
“It’s good to push the boundaries,” Cummings said. “We’ve done a really good job throughout the fall integrating our freshmen, juniors and sophomores who haven’t necessarily received a lot of playing time in the past.”
Once the Terps take the field Saturday afternoon, Stukenberg said, there will be some early-season nerves, but the new faces “take the pressure off.”
As for the preseason recognition, Stukenberg said it’s no longer as relevant.
“The awards are the cherry on top of 2015,” Stukenberg said. “Everyone enjoys being flattered. We have to stay humble because we haven’t won a single game in 2016.”
