Maryland women’s lacrosse midfielder Zoe Stukenberg and her teammates looked on as midfielder Deb Milani sprinted through a running sprinkler to retrieve something from the turf before practice at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex on Tuesday. Stukenberg laughed and said, “Classic Deb.”

It represented the same lightheartedness the Terps have had all season en route to winning 13 straight games and beating three top-10 foes.

On Wednesday, Maryland will play another one of the nation’s best squads. After contests at Virginia and Rutgers, they will return home to play No. 7 Princeton.

“It’s nice to be back home and playing a top-10 team in Princeton,” coach Cathy Reese said. “Princeton and Maryland have a lot of tradition, a lot of history and they’re always a talented team that plays real straight-up and tough. It’s always a good game.”

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The Terps played then-No. 1 North Carolina at Maryland Stadium on Feb. 25 before hosting then-No. 4 Syracuse and No. 3 Florida in March. Reese’s squad won those three contests by a combined score of 48-25.

Princeton (9-1) poses a similar threat, but Maryland isn’t concerned with what the Tigers have accomplished so far this season.

“We want to take every team very seriously,” midfielder Jen Giles said. “For every team we prepare the same way, making sure we know the threats that we’ll be in contact with and just how to play them.”

The Tigers boast one of the nation’s top goalkeepers in senior Ellie DeGarmo. The Baltimore native leads the country in saves per game (12.20) and save percentage (59.5) — about one percent higher than Terps goalie Megan Taylor.

DeGarmo’s performance has caught Maryland’s attention, as the team talked about how to prepare for her before practice this week. The Terps hope their ball movement will force her to shift around, opening up space for shots. In one-on-one situations, Giles said they’ll use shot and pass fakes to keep her off balance.

And regardless of who plays goalie at the other end of the field, Stukenberg knows the Terps are well prepared.

“Luckily for us we play against Megan Taylor every day in practice,” Stukenberg said. “We’re used to shooting on good goalies and having to work for the right shot.

“In this game, it’ll be more important to work for the right shot instead of just taking the first shot because of how strong [DeGarmo] is in there.”

In the past two meetings, No. 1 Maryland hasn’t had much trouble with Princeton, which was ranked in the top 15 both times. It won, 18-10, in 2015 before securing an 18-10 victory a year later.

Still, Stukenberg said the Terps “definitely don’t want to overlook” the Tigers, who suffered a one-goal defeat to them when she was a freshman in 2014.

But after facing formidable squads throughout the year, the Terps are confident they’ll be able to overcome any difficulties Princeton may present.

“It’s just another game,” Stukenberg said. “If we stick to the things that we do well and we play like we have been, then things will end up good for us.”