The Maryland women’s lacrosse team has dealt with high-powered attacks before, but facing No. 3 Florida on Wednesday presented a different challenge. The Terps were going up against the nation’s
top- scoring offense, which averaged 16.67 goals entering the contest.
But that didn’t prevent Maryland from winning its 10th straight game to start the season. It held Florida to their lowest scoring output of the season in an 18-8 victory at the Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex.
Goalkeeper Megan Taylor’s performance was a significant reason behind the Terps defensive success. The sophomore notched a career-high 20 saves against a Gators offense that fired 28 shots on goal. She had 15 stops in the first half.
“Our defense was fantastic, anchored by Megan Taylor, who had a phenomenal game once again,” Coach Cathy Reese said Wednesday. “We did a nice job limiting their offense, which is very powerful, very fast and high-scoring. Today we did a nice job on both ends of the field.”
The Terps (10-0) again stifled their opponent’s best scorer, as Mollie Stevens — among the nation’s top 20 finishers — didn’t register a goal.
They did the same to North Carolina’s Sammy Jo Tracy and Syracuse’s Nicole Levy in their previous wins over top-five foes.
“We just helped each other out a lot,” defender Nadine Hadnagy said. “She’s a cutter, so we knew we had to stay stick to stick on her, and a lot of communication out there really helped to know where she was each time.”
Another area in which Florida and Stevens excel is on draws, but the Terps limited the Gators there as well. Midfielder Zoe Stukenberg charged off the circle to corral nine draw controls. The Terps bested the Gators, 19-9, overall on the draw.
Reese also pointed out Florida’s physicality entering the game, and it showed Wednesday. The Gators committed 55 fouls and accumulated nine yellow cards. The Terps had zero yellow cards and fouled Florida (8-2) only 19 times.
Maryland took advantage of Florida’s ill-disciplined approach by scoring on seven of its nine player advantages. Though several Terps attackers were hacked at repeatedly, they remained composed in front of goal.
Stukenberg led the way with five goals, while attackers Megan Whittle, Brindi Griffin and Caroline Steele each notched hat tricks. Midfielder Jen Giles and attacker Taylor Hensh chipped in two scores each while attacker Caroline Wannen added four assists. Overall, the Terps dominated a defense allowing 10 goals per game coming into the contest.
“When someone’s having a bad day, we have such a deep bench and so many people who can come in and do just as well,” Griffin said. “When everybody is doing well, we just feed off of each other.”
The Terps have now defeated three top-five teams and five ranked squads in total this season. They return to the Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex on Saturday against Michigan.
“We know we need to keep working hard,” Griffin said. “It’s still halfway through the season. Everybody keeps getting better, and we’re just going to keep working hard.”
