Cathy Reese

Cathy Reese wasn’t pleased earlier this month. After the Terrapins women’s lacrosse team allowed a season-high 11 goals in a March 3 victory over Hofstra, the sixth-year coach said her group needed to improve defensively.

The message resonated. The Terps, who will host Penn tomorrow, have held opponents to fewer than nine goals in each of their past five contests.

But ask Reese if she’s satisfied with her team’s improved efforts, and she’ll stand by her earlier statement.

“We’re never going to be content,” Reese said. “If we could just shut everyone out that played to zero goals, then maybe I’d be happy.”

Perhaps Reese’s reluctance to acknowledge the team’s improvement has been just what the squad needed. After all, it’s one of the nation’s two remaining undefeated teams through 12 games.

The Terps’ most impressive defensive performance came in a March 17 win at Stony Brook. The Seawolves entered the contest averaging a stellar 16.5 goals per game but mustered just three against Reese’s team.

And on Tuesday, the Terps limited Towson to just eight shots in the second half without the help of injured senior captain Iliana Sanza, who was replaced by defender Kristen McAfee in the starting lineup. A team spokesman said yesterday the Terps are hoping to have Sanza back tomorrow against Penn.

“Obviously Illy is a great player,” defender Mellisa Diepold said. “Kristen did a good job to step in. She’s a really good communicator.”

The team’s stout performance is a product of their exceptional depth as well as their coach’s persistence.

“A lot of our defenders could go in and you wouldn’t see much of a difference,” goalkeeper Kasey Howard said. “Having someone in there that communicates as well as Illy really helped.”

The Quakers, who are coming off a 12-11 upset of then-No. 10 Cornell, should pose a test for the Terps’ (12-0) defense with or without Sanza in the lineup. Penn (4-3) has won four straight games, averaging a solid 13 goals in that span.

Regardless of how many goals the Terps give up, though, Reese said it won’t matter unless they are the final team remaining on the sport’s final weekend.

“We just hope our best game is our last game,” Reese said. “We just keep working towards that. We’re looking to get better everyday. We’re never going to stop working on defense.”

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