The Maryland women’s lacrosse team wanted revenge.

Its only loss of the 2015 campaign came against Ohio State in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament. But the No. 1 Terps’ wanted a win over the No. 8 Buckeyes for reasons beyond proving they can top the Big Ten foe.

Members of the Terps’ senior class have never lost in College Park. And they wanted to show that even with several freshman starters, they could pick up where last season’s seniors left off against the Buckeyes in the regular season.

They overcame a sluggish start to earn a dominating 15-5 win over Ohio State at the Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex on Saturday afternoon. Senior midfielder Taylor Cummings paced the way with five goals and two assists.

For the first 15 minutes, though, it seemed the Terps might not avenge last year’s postseason defeat.

Just 32 seconds into the game, Buckeyes attacker Molly Wood’s bounce shot gave her team a one-goal advantage. Midfielder Christine Easton’s free-position shot doubled it minutes later.

The Terps (14-0, 3-0 Big Ten) appeared to be shaken up. For the third time this season, they failed to get on the board first.

“I’m really proud of how we responded,” Cummings said. “It would have been really easy for us to say, ‘Oh no’ and crumble again.”

At one point early on, attacker Megan Whittle scooped up a ground ball and sprinted across the field. She drove to the goal but was called for a charge.

When Whittle arrived in the penalty area, coach Cathy Reese told her she didn’t think it was a foul. Her message to Whittle was likely the same as the message to her team, which didn’t score for the first 14 minutes and six seconds of the game.

“Stay focused,” Reese told Whittle.

And for the rest of the game, the Terps were.

Whittle’s first score sparked a 4-0 run that helped Maryland take a 7-4 advantage into intermission. And little changed after halftime. Cummings scored a pair of consecutive goals to push the Terps’ lead to five. Midfielder Zoe Stukenberg added a pair.

“Ohio State’s tough,” Reese said. “They play a good packed in defense. We weren’t generating good shots for whatever reason.”

But with just more than 12 minutes remaining in regulation, Cummings scored her fifth goal. It gave the Terps a 14-4 lead, which resulted in a running clock.

“The first five minutes of the second half really set the tone for the rest of the game,” defender Alice Mercer said.

Defensively, the Terps were locked in throughout the second half, holding the Buckeyes (11-2, 2-1) to one goal in the final 30 minutes. So despite a slow start, the Terps were able rally and remain aggressive.

“We talked about being tighter on cutters,” Mercer said. “We were helping each other out and [goalkeeper Megan Taylor] came up with amazing saves.”

The stout defense put the Terps in a position to overcome the slow start.

It took about 15 minutes. But the Terps got their revenge.