Attacker Kristy Black scores the first of three goals in the Terps’ 14-goal victory over Virginia Tech on Saturday. The Terps will face the Hokies again on Friday in the ACC Tournament in Durham, N.C.

If there were ever a game in which the No. 5 Terrapins women’s lacrosse team would showcase its program to the nation, Saturday’s game against Virginia Tech was always going to be it.

Donning their never-before-seen Pride uniforms, the Terps stomped a hopeless Hokies team in front of a crowd of more than 1,000 at Ludwig Field, winning their final regular-season game before the ACC Tournament, 19-5.

While she was thrilled with her team’s first-half performance, coach Cathy Reese was stumped by its play in the second half. After a dominating first 30 minutes – the Terps shut out Virginia Tech in the first half and had 11 goals by halftime – the Hokies started the second half on a 5-2 run, including a stretch of three consecutive goals.

The Terps regained their composure in the last 10 minutes, however, holding the Hokies off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game while scoring six more of their own.

“I thought we had a really good first half, but I was disappointed in the beginning of the second half,” Reese said. “I just thought we needed to be able to do a little bit better, and we need to be able to play for 60 minutes as opposed to having these lapses.”

Their first half, though, was pristine, and most likely their best of the year. The Terps (13-3, 3-2 ACC) had shut out an opponent for an entire half only two previous times this season – in the second half of an 11-4 win against Hofstra and the first half of a 13-3 win over Towson.

The Terps looked to be an offensive juggernaut, as well. The last time they scored at least 11 goals in a half was in their second half against Stony Brook almost four weeks ago, when they put 12 in the cage.

And they did it despite absences from key players. Attacker Karri Ellen Johnson has missed the past two games after developing flu symptoms following the team’s win over No. 3 North Carolina. She is expected to play in the ACC Tournament. Midfielder Beth Glaros, who has started in 14 games, will be out indefinitely after tearing her ACL.

Still, other players picked up the slack against the Hokies (9-6, 1-4). Midfielder Kelly McPartland was the leading scorer with four goals and an assist, while the Terps got hat tricks from midfielder Katie Schwarzmann and attackers Kristy Black and Brooke Griffin. Schwarzmann has now scored at least three goals in 12 games this season.

Saturday’s victory finalized the ACC Tournament seeding, setting up a rematch between the No. 3 seed Terps and No. 6 seed Virginia Tech in Durham, N.C., next weekend. Even though her team is undefeated all time against the Hokies, Reese is not taking them lightly, regardless of how one-sided Saturday was.

“They have girls that can go hard to goal,” Reese said. “I know they’re going to come out hard on Friday, and our team is going to be ready.”

McPartland echoed her coach’s sentiment. She and her teammates will have to, after all, especially with a chance at their fourth consecutive conference title on the line.

“We have to know that they’re just going to come out with a vengeance since we already played them and beat them by a good amount,” she said. “They’re going to come out a little bit angrier, so we have to be ready for that.”

munson@umdbk.com