In its wins against Johns Hopkins and Rutgers, the Maryland women’s lacrosse team was held off the board for more than seven minutes to start the each game.
And while the No. 1 Terps (13-0, 2-0 Big Ten) went on to score a combined 28 times against the Blue Jays and Scarlet Knights, coach Cathy Reese wasn’t pleased with her team’s shooting percentages in those contests.
But the Terps improved their accuracy against No. 11 Princeton on Wednesday night. In a 15-6 victory over the Tigers at Sherrerd Field, the Terps shot close to 50 percent in the first half and remained aggressive in the second.
Attacker Megan Whittle paced the Terps with five goals, and midfielder Zoe Stukenberg tallied three.
Whittle and Stukenberg each scored hat tricks in the first half as the Terps took a 10-1 advantage into the intermission. The Terps continued that pace in the second half, too.
Midfielder Bryn Boucher opened the final period with a goal, pushing the Terps’ lead to 10, resulting in a running clock.
The Tigers went on a 3-0 run in the second half, but the Terps had already built a sizable lead, an advantage they wasted little time starting.
Like she did against Rutgers, Whittle put the Terps on the board first, this time with a shot into the upper corner of the net 44 seconds into the game. About five minutes later, the attacker doubled the lead.
After scoring the game’s first nine goals against the Scarlet Knights, the Terps, who tout the second-best offense in the country, scored the first six against Princeton.
The Tigers cut into their deficit when defender Amanda Leavell drove to the goal and scored with about eight minutes remaining in the first, but midfielder Taylor Cummings responded 26 seconds later to make it a 7-1 contest.
The Terps ended the half on a 4-0 run after shooting 10-for-23 in the period. They shot 5-for-13 in the second.
Princeton managed a late rally, but the Terps weathered the threat to secure their 11th consecutive win over the Tigers.
