The Maryland women’s lacrosse team celebrates every goal it scores, but the defenders usually stay in their own half of the field. However, when defender Nadine Hadnagy finished a full-field run with a free position goal Wednesday night against Boston College, each one sprinted down to congratulate her.
Hadnagy’s goal spurred a second-half offensive onslaught as the No. 1 Terps (5-0) turned a one-goal lead at halftime into a 21-13 victory in their first game at the Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex this season.
The senior captain’s score was her first of the year and the second of her career. It started a 5-0 run to begin the second half and allowed the Terps to distance themselves from the Eagles, outscoring them, 13-6, in the period.
“That’s just the type of player Nadine is, when our team needs a pick-me-up, that’s what she’s going to give us,” midfielder Zoe Stukenberg said. “She gave us that spark we needed to come out strong in the second half.”
After beating Hofstra on Saturday, the Terps wanted to work on starting strong. They did, opening the game on a 4-0 run. However, they allowed Boston College to tie it at four and struggled to separate.
With an 8-7 lead at the break, coach Cathy Reese said the Terps had to adjust their mentality. If they could stick to the game plan, avoid errors and stay mentally tough, she anticipated things would turn around.
“We always talk about playing our best game of lacrosse, and that first half was not our best game of lacrosse,” Stukenberg said. “There were too many mental errors. It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t us. It was just like, ‘Fix it.'”
That’s what they did after intermission. Attacker Caroline Wannen had five goals while assisting three for eight points in the second half.
Stukenberg, meanwhile, led the Terps on offense for the second straight game after her four-goal performance against Hofstra on Saturday. The senior captain also scored five while adding four assists for a career-high nine-point day. She also had six draw controls, tied for the most of any Terp this season.
Wannen and Stukenberg combined for 17 total points, helping the Terps score 21 goals for the first time since 2012.
“In the second half, everybody kind of got going,” Wannen said. “We had a big streak of goals there right when the half opened, so that helps everybody’s confidence.”
In total, five Terps scored at least three goals. Attacker Caroline Steele, who had two goals entering the game, scored four, while attacker Megan Whittle added three.
Freshman midfielder Kali Hartshorn produced her best offensive output of the season with three goals and an assist while equaling Stukenberg with six draw controls.
Despite the improvements in the second half, the Terps allowed 13 goals. Reese wants her team to continue its offensive production but fix the issues that contributed to allowing the Eagles to keep pace.
“We need to continue to be focused for a full 60 minutes,” Reese said. “We’re not there yet. We weren’t there today. As we move forward, we just need to look to play a more consistent game of lacrosse. Boston College capitalized on our mistakes and we need to minimize that.”
