In the fashion of the Ultimate Warrior and former Minnesota Vikings star John Randle, Kelly Kasper puts on her mask of eye black by smearing it down her cheeks in a raw, uneven manner.

The Terrapin women’s lacrosse senior midfielder’s war paint is part of her identity as a player. Kasper first used the eye-black in high school, and now she and senior goalie Allie Buote use it as a pregame routine to get fired up.

According to her teammates, she leads by example by leaving it all out on the field and playing with a fierce competitive spirit.

“It’s intimidating to be an opponent,” senior defender Dana Dobbie said. “She does everything pretty much at full speed. Going at her in any situation, she’s always going to come out on top. She is a relentless player all over the field.”

In the Terps’ season-opening weekend, Kasper led the team to impressive road wins over UMass and Boston College, scoring 16 points, nine goals and seven assists in the two games combined. Kasper’s effort netted her ACC, Inside Lacrosse and WomensLax.com player of the week honors.

The Terps have relied on Kasper to come up with crucial, momentum-shifting plays when needed.

“She really was able to control on offense and find open players and finish on scoring opportunities when she had a chance,” coach Cathy Reese said after watching the game film. “She’s playing with a lot of passion, she is having fun, and she’s playing with a lot of fire. She’s just going out there and competing and playing at the top of her game.”

Dobbie added: “She is the type of player that the team looks to for a goal, cause a turnover, come up with a ground ball – that little extra you need in a tight game. Kelly plays with a lot of confidence on the field.”

Kasper’s intelligence is shown through her intensity. Even as the eye black and seemingly reckless abandon with which she plays might come across as her being out of control, she has a different rationale.

“You have to be aggressive to succeed,” Kasper said. “We are taught to compete as hard as you can. Sometimes when you compete you can get aggressive, and it can sometimes come off as too aggressive, but it’s me just going all out all the time.”

Last season, Kasper was a force for the Terps, averaging 2.5 points per game, a .313 shot percentage and 1.6 caused turnovers per game. She was tied for third on the team with 48 points.

But the two-time All-American has taken her game to another level this year. In two games – albeit against lesser competition – Kasper has improved her averages to eight points per game, a .500 shooting percentage and 1.5 caused turnovers per game.

“Kelly Kasper is one of those players that brings everyone’s game up when we play around her,” Dobbie said. “She has a presence and makes everyone else on the team excel and play better. The difference between last year and this year [is] she has grown a lot as a player since the fall. She is only going to get better as the season goes on.”

And as a whole, the Terps have improved with their senior midfielder. The Terps’ shooting percentage is up to .512 after a .398 average last season.

With the team surging on offense, Kasper has been the main beneficiary. But showing her humility, Kasper credits her success to her teammates who have given her opportunities.

“As a team, we have improved greatly over the past year,” Kasper said. “Being in my last season you have to give it all just not just for yourself, but for your teammates. I am just hoping to play well and have fun with my teammates.”

Kasper and the Terps will face their toughest test of the season so far tomorrow afternoon in No. 5 Duke. The Terps are excited about the challenge and rivalry game.

“Just being in the ACC, it’s a huge rivalry,” sophomore midfielder Caitlyn McFadden said. “Coming into last year, we hadn’t beaten them in a while. It was a huge thing, we came out and beat them last year and we hope to do the same this year. We are fired up for the game.”

The Terps will need to follow Kasper’s intense lead to take down the Blue Devils.

Terp Note: Head coach Cathy Reese may make the trip to Duke; a decision will not be made until Saturday morning. If Reese does not make the trip, associate head coach Jen Adams will fill in for her. Reese has missed all of the Terps away games this season due to her pregnancy.

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