Seconds after the initial draw control spurted loose, Terrapin women’s lacrosse attacker Kristy Black scooped up the ground ball and peered downfield.

Almost immediately, she heard the voice of Sarah Mollison and connected with the wide-open attacker, who had managed to sneak behind George Mason’s last line of defense.

Seven seconds into yesterday’s contest, Mollison ripped a line drive past Patriot goalie Brittany Pastrana, a goal coach Cathy Reese said set the tone of the first half.  

And what a half it was for the Terrapin women’s lacrosse team, which left the field with a resounding 17-goal lead after a relentless offensive onslaught in the game’s first 30 minutes.

Reserves later carried the No. 1 Terps in the second half as the team pummeled George Mason, 21-2, its largest margin of victory in nearly seven years, on a sun-soaked afternoon at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex.

To say the Terps (6-0) came out strong might be an understatement. The team pelted the Patriots in the opening 12-plus minutes, netting the requisite 10 goals that force the clock to run uninterrupted.

The contest marked the first time the Terps had scored 17 goals in a half during Reese’s tenure. The team also broke the 20-goal plateau for the first time since a 21-6 romp over Ohio State on April 6, 2008.

A dozen players scored for the Terps in the balanced effort. Freshmen Jen Mendez, Meris Walsh and Amalie Trentzsch, who pocketed a team-high three scores in the rout, all netted their first career goals.

“I thought Amalie played really well today,” Reese said. “She had to play some time for us in the midfield, and she did well transitioning the ball for us, helping us get it from one end of the field to the other.”

George Mason midfielder Emily Ellisen broke free with 13:54 remaining in the second half to end the scoring drought and cut the Terps’ lead to 16.

Terp attacker Colleen Dawson, who nabbed her first two goals of the season, said she was particularly pleased the team did not wait until the second half — as it did against ACC rivals Duke and Virginia — to close out the Patriots (1-4).

“It was good because we’ve had pretty rough first halves in the beginning of the season, so it was good to go out and stick it to them in the beginning of the game,” Dawson said.

A pleased Reese also highlighted the importance of giving extended playing time to multiple reserves and said all three Terp goalies — Brittany Dipper, Mary Jordan and Kasey Howard — performed well.

“It was really fun to see everyone play, and everyone played awesome,” Black said. “It’s fun when you can see other teammates do well.”

castello at umdbk dot com