Katie Schwarzmann
Before they can travel to Durham, N.C., to compete in the ACC Tournament next weekend, coach Cathy Reese and her No. 5 Terrapins women’s lacrosse team have one final obstacle in their way: Virginia Tech.
The contest, in theory, shouldn’t provide the team much difficulty. The Hokies currently sit in the ACC’s basement and have had troubles against league foes all season. The Terps, on the other hand, have already clinched the No. 3 seed in next weekend’s conference tournament.
But Virginia Tech (9-5, 1-3 ACC) has already shown itself capable of success in the spoiler role. On Saturday, the Hokies shocked No. 14 Virginia, 10-9, in overtime.
A Virginia Tech win tomorrow would hardly derail the Terps’ (12-3, 2-2) playoff standing. It would, however, cut any momentum they might have to a standstill right before the postseason starts.
“You never know in this conference,” Reese said. “Within the ACC, we’ve had Virginia Tech upset Virginia, our one-goal loss to Duke and Boston College’s one-goal games with Duke and Carolina – anything goes. You’ve got to show up, you’ve got to be ready to play for 60 minutes and you’ve got to play the best lacrosse you can.”
If they want to avoid that fate Reese said they’re going to have to play stronger and smarter defensively. In their loss to No. 3 North Carolina last weekend, the Terps allowed nine goals on 15 shots in the first half en route to a season-worst mark for goals conceded in any game this season (14).
It didn’t look much better for them at the start of Wednesday’s 15-9 victory over Princeton. After the Terps tallied the first score of the game, the Tigers scored three consecutive goals and held the Terps off the scoreboard for 10 minutes.
Even as order was restored – at one point in the second half, the Terps shut out Princeton for 15 minutes – the Tigers were still able to make a 5-2 run at the end of the game.
“I think we just need to focus on our communication and working together as a team,” midfielder Katie Schwarzmann said. “I think we’ve kind of gotten away from that in the past couple of games, and if we can just work together and play our Maryland defense, then we’ll be successful.”
Though the Terps normally play on the artificial turf surface at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex, tomorrow’s game will be played on the grass at Ludwig Field in preparation for the ACC Tournament. Duke’s Koskinen Stadium – the site of the tournament – is a grass field.
Whether the Terps win or lose tomorrow, their postseason position is already solidified. No matter the outcome of the rest of the season’s games, the team knows it can’t jump past North Carolina and Duke for the top two seeds.
What this game will determine, however, is the ordering at the bottom of the conference. With a loss to the Terps, the Hokies would fall to last in the ACC, setting up a quarterfinal rematch in Durham, N.C., next weekend.
“It would be interesting if we have to play them two games in a row,” Schwarzmann said of Virginia Tech. “Playing a team back to back is always hard – win, lose, whatever happens. So we’re going to have to come out there on fire for every game from here on out.”
munson@umdbk.com
