About seven minutes into her squad’s game against the Maryland women’s lacrosse team Wednesday, Virginia coach Julie Myers watched Terps midfielder Taylor Cummings cause a turnover, scoop up the ground ball and clear to offense.
As the Cavaliers transitioned to the defensive end, Myers’ message to her team was clear.
“Don’t turn the ball over,” she yelled from the sideline.
But her team could not heed the message throughout the night at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex. No. 13 Virginia committed 15 turnovers, and the No. 1 Terps used a balanced offense to roll to a 17-6 win to clinch an unblemished home record for the regular season.
“It’s getting kind of sentimental,” said midfielder Zoe Stukenberg, who tallied two goals. “Every game matters. Every moment matters.”
Against then-No. 8 Ohio State on Saturday, the Terps needed about 14 minutes to score for the first time. In that 15-5 victory, the Terps faced an early two-goal deficit.
But against the Cavaliers, attacker Megan Whittle paced the offense with five goals, and midfielders Bryn Boucher and Jen Giles recorded hat tricks. The Terps never trailed.
Whittle scored the first goal, sparking a 6-0 Maryland run to start the contest. With eight minutes remaining in the first half, the sophomore deposited the ball in the upper right-hand corner of the net for her second tally of the night and her 50th goal of the season.
She completed her first-half hat trick with 50 seconds before intermission to give the Terps an 8-1 advantage at the break.
“We were doing a really good job in the first half of getting the draws and trying to push the fast break,” Whittle said. “It opened up a lot for the 1-v-1 dodges, not just for me but for all of us.”
For the fourth time this season, the Terps held their opponent to one goal at halftime.
“Our defense in the first half was much better,” coach Cathy Reese said. “You get in a flow and rhythm. Those seven who are usually back there are playing really well together.”
The Terps were without a pair of starters in the second half, though.
Cummings sat out the final 27 minutes after drawing her second yellow card. Defender Julia Braig, meanwhile, left with what appeared to be a right hand injury.
But their absences didn’t quell the Terps’ momentum as the victory extended the team’s season-long winning streak to 15 games.
Boucher and Whittle combined for three goals in the first five minutes and 18 seconds of the latter frame. The spurt pushed Maryland’s lead to 11-1, which sparked a running clock.
After Virginia strung together a 3-0 streak midway through the period, the Terps’ backline buckled down to position Reese’s squad for the victory.
“The defense gave us the momentum that really propelled us through and gave us that big lead that we were able to maintain in the second half,” Stukenberg said. “It’s just great to have a defensive unit that can frustrate a top team.”
As they prepared to host Virginia, Reese said the two teams’ meetings have “the most tradition of any two teams in women’s lacrosse.” But as the Terps’ seniors improved to 42-0 at home in their careers, Maryland never allowed its former conference rival to threaten its success.
“We knew UVA was going to be good, and we just wanted to frustrate them,” Whittle said. “Really good team effort, but the defense was excellent [Wednesday]”
