Attacker Brooke Griffin guards a Richmond player during the Terps’ victory over Richmond on Feb. 16, 2014.
With a little more than 20 minutes to play Sunday, midfielder Kelly McPartland scored on a free position shot to give the Terrapins women’s lacrosse team a 12-1 edge over Richmond. And with the commanding lead, coach Cathy Reese emptied her bench.
The benefits were twofold. The freshman class gained experience in its continuing transition from high school to college. And the starters were also allowed to rest at the end of the game.
Today’s contest against Boston marks the Terps’ third game in six days. While Reese doesn’t expect fatigue to be an issue, the Terps had only one practice to prepare for the matchup.
“Coming off a game, you have quite a bit of things you want to work on,” Reese said. “But at the same time we only [had] a short bit of time to prepare for BU.”
Reese said the Terps will have to wait until practices after today to start working on areas they need to improve on going forward, and she wants to see improvement in offensive execution.
The Terps have scored 29 goals on eight assists through the first two games this season after they assisted on nearly half of their goals last year.
In the two blowout wins to start the season, the Terps’ execution on offensive set pieces has not been as precise as Reese wants it to be. She wants to see the team performing the plays exactly how they are drawn up.
“We are confident in anyone on our team who can score,” attacker Brooke Griffin said. “I think everyone on our team is dangerous, and that is what makes our team so dangerous.”
While she wants to see the team run the offense better, Reese also said the defense needs to play tougher. The defense allowed one goal on six shots in the first half against Richmond and four goals on 10 shots in the second.
“I think defensively, we just need to talk more,” midfielder Taylor Cummings said. “Really work together as a cohesive unit.”
Reese is starting to see the defense’s new experience from the season’s first two games on the field, but she wants the Terps to take more chances on interceptions. The Terps have caused 23 turnovers so far.
The Terps finished even with Richmond in draw controls and ground balls Sunday, two categories they usually have the advantage in.
“I think draws are going to be a main focus and ground balls,” Cummings said. “Those are just the hustle stats that we need to work hard at.”
Today’s matchup with the Terriers not only provides the Terps a chance to improve their offensive precision and defensive toughness, but also gives contributing freshmen another opportunity to continue acclimating before ACC play begins March 1.
Midfielder Zoe Stukenberg and defender Nadine Hadnagy started in their first two career games. Goalkeeper Emily Kift is still competing for the starting position in net.
Cummings, who won ACC Freshman of the Year last season, said getting minutes early in the season are important moving forward. And the sophomore class especially, she said, has helped the freshmen because they just experienced the transition, something vital to the team’s development, especially in early-season matchups like today’s against Boston.
“We just need to keep working together as a team and getting used to the chemistry out there,” Griffin said. “Adjusting to the rule changes and seeing where it takes us.”
