Maryland women’s lacrosse goalkeeper Megan Taylor dropped her stick and sprinted toward the middle of the field.
As time expired in the No. 1 Terps’ 18-3 win over UMass in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday afternoon, Taylor joined her teammates’ celebratory huddle. Unlike after Maryland’s previous 20 wins, though, the freshman was more vocal.
“I was screaming ‘Final Four! Final Four! Final Four!'” Taylor said.
Maryland starts three freshmen — Taylor, midfielder Caroline Steele and defender Julia Braig — and depend on several others from the nation’s second-ranked freshmen class. When the top-seeded Terps battle fourth-seeded Syracuse on Friday night, this bunch will have a chance to play in its first final four, two wins away from capturing a national title.
“There’s absolutely pressure,” midfielder Zoe Stukenberg said. “We have a lot of new faces on the field, but they’re worried about winning their first semifinals game Friday night. Everyone does a good job of focusing on the task at hand.”
Attacker Megan Whittle was in a similar spot last season as she prepared for her national semifinals appearance. Whittle dreamed about winning a championship with the Terps since she was six. In the days leading up to last season’s contest with the Orange, she got excited when thinking about the amount of people she’d play in front of at Talen Energy Stadium.
Still, the veterans reminded Whittle what the Terps were trying to accomplish. Before Maryland’s first game in Philadelphia, then-seniors Kelly McPartland, Kristen Lamon and Brooke Griffin gave Whittle advice.
“They would say ‘hey, don’t play like a freshman, go out there and do your thing, we need you out there,'” Whittle said. “It’s really encouraging when you have people tell you they need you.”
When Whittle first met with Reese in the fall, the sophomore asked to take on more of a leadership role. So during Tuesday’s practice, Whittle and the senior captains told the freshmen how to handle the pressure.
Most importantly, they told the freshmen they were needed.
The first-year players, along with the rest of the team, will have the challenge of facing the Orange in the final weekend of the season for the fourth consecutive year.
The Terps won 19 of 20 meetings against the Orange, and they didn’t have much trouble in their 14-9 win at the Carrier Dome in March. It was one of the Terps’ younger players — sophomore attacker Taylor Hensh — who stepped up in the first matchup, tallying four goals and an assist in her best showing of the season.
Less than three weeks later, after the Terps defeated Northwestern, 17-4, defender Alice Mercer said that performance was the first time the team realized its potential. It was also the only time during the regular season Reese said her squad played a complete game.
“We knew from the beginning we had a lot of new faces, a lot of freshmen coming in,” Mercer said. “I think that game was exciting for us because it was like ‘Wow, this is what we can do.’ And now fast forward and everything’s kind of falling into place.”
As the Terps prepare for their second meeting with the Orange this season, they are relying on their leaders. Among them is Whittle, who is excited to relay the message she received last year to this season’s group of freshmen.
“I’m excited to tell the freshman ‘Enjoy this moment, but we need you to play as you have this whole season,'” Whittle said. “It’s the most exciting time of the year.”
