Attacker Megan Whittle looks for a way past the Penn defense during the Terps’ 12-7 victory over Penn on Mar 18, 2015 at College Park.
PISCATAWAY, New Jersey — Entering the Big Ten tournament semifinals, the Terrapins women’s lacrosse team hadn’t lost since April 5, 2014. But Friday night, the Terps couldn’t overcome Ohio State’s scoring runs and fell for the first time in 28 games.
While the loss marred the top-seeded Terps’ quest for a perfect season, the team found a bright spot in the 11-10 defeat. Attacker Megan Whittle scored three consecutive goals, spanning halftime, in her first college postseason game.
“Seeing that she can take the ball and go to the goal and score three goals in a postseason game is great,” defender Megan Douty said. “It’ll help us definitely in the playoffs.”
Whittle started her scoring run with 5:25 left in the first half after the Terps gained possession from one of goalkeeper Alex Fitzpatrick’s seven saves. The Terps took off in transition, looking to halt the Buckeyes’ momentum after they had answered the Terps’ early 4-0 lead with their own four-goal run.
On the offensive end, Whittle stood unmarked within the 12-meter fan and redirected a pass from attacker Kristen Lamon behind the Buckeyes goal to help the Terps regain the lead.
“We can count on her,” attacker Brooke Griffin said. “When she’s going to goal, she’s going to goal, and it’s awesome.”
Ohio State threatened to tie the game again about two minutes after Whittle’s first goal, but the Buckeyes shot clanked off the post, and the Terps successfully cleared the zone.
Midfielder Taylor Cummings rifled a shot at Ohio State goalkeeper Tori DeScenza, who made the stop, but Whittle recovered the loose ball and drew a foul. The rookie then fired her free-position shot into the upper-right corner of the net to boost her team’s lead to 6-4 at the break.
“I like to see that she’s not afraid to go and is confident in that,” Terps coach Cathy Reese said. “She’s a great dodger, so she had a lot of good opportunities out there.”
Whittle kicked off the second-half scoring with a bounce shot about six minutes into the period for her team-leading 59th goal of the year.
But from there, Whittle and the Terps offense went cold for a stretch. The Buckeyes controlled three straight draws and grabbed their first lead of the game with 16:55 left. It was the latest the Terps had trailed in a game all year.
And even Whittle struggled at times. The Terps’ only freshman starter failed to put five of her shots on goal, and she also drew a yellow card with less than two minutes remaining after colliding with a Buckeyes player.
“I know at the end, she probably wished she would have shot a little bit better,” Reese said. “[But] she generated a lot of offense today. … She was getting a lot of good looks at goal.”
Still, Whittle, whose third assist of the year opened the game’s scoring, led the Terps in points along with Griffin. Both players were named to the all-tournament team.
While their contributions weren’t enough to help the Terps avoid their first loss in more than a year, the team said they will use to Whittle’s performance as the type of play they are looking for entering the NCAA tournament.
“She just has a ton of confidence,” Douty said. “That’s what we need — everyone to have confidence on the offensive end.”
