When the Terrapins women’s lacrosse team prepared to face then-No. 5 North Carolina in Chapel Hill, coach Cathy Reese challenged her defense, acknowledging anyone on the Tar Heels offense is capable of scoring.

And ahead of last weekend’s contest at No. 3 Syracuse, Reese said the offense would be tested facing goalkeeper Allie Murray and a stout Orange defense.

As the No. 1 Terps prepare for their second-ever game against No. 2 Florida on Saturday at the Donald R. Dizney Lacrosse Stadium, they will likely be tested on both sides of the ball.

Florida boasts the No. 8 offense in the country and allows just 7.67 goals per game, which ranks No. 17 in the nation. That balanced formula has helped the Gators top six ranked opponents already this season.

So though the Terps have topped both ranked foes they’ve faced this season — North Carolina and Syracuse — Florida may pose the stiffest test yet.

But the Terps are even stronger on both sides of the ball. Reese’s squad has the second-highest scoring attack matched with the 11th best defense in the country.

In order for the Terps to have success, Reese said they need to consistently field ground balls in transition against the Gators.

“Defensively, we need to do a better job of coming up with those loose balls,” Reese said March 12. “We need to do a better job of only giving up one opportunity so that we can transition the ball without turning it over into our offensive end.”

While the Terps were able to top Syracuse despite trailing multiple times, the Gators topped No. 17 Towson, 15-7, on Monday night.

Attacker Sammi Burgess, Terps midfielder Taylor Cummings’ high school teammate, and attacker Shayna Pirreca each scored three times in the victory. Midfielder Nicole Graziano, who is second on the team in goals, paced the way with four goals.

On the defensive end, defender Caroline Fitzgerald leads the unit with 17 ground balls on the season. Florida has only allowed 10 or more goals on three occasions this season.

Still, the Terps were able to exploit the Gators a season ago when they scored 16 times in a 16-6 blowout win in College Park.

This time around, sophomore midfielder Taylor Hensh, who scored four goals against Syracuse, said the Terps don’t have to change much against Florida.

“We need to just keep focusing on ourselves and improving on what we need to improve on,” Hensh said. “That’s how we’ll be successful.”