Maryland women’s lacrosse coach Cathy Reese knew Florida played an aggressive style entering Wednesday’s game, but the opponent’s physicality may have exceeded her expectations. With 48 seconds to play in the Terps’ 18-8 win, she watched Gators midfielder Caroline Fitzgerald jog to the sideline with her team’s ninth yellow card raised in the air behind her.
Florida fouled the Terps more than anyone else has this season, as the whistle blew against the visitors 55 times. But the Terps remained poised amid all the extra contact en route to another victory over a top-five team.
“I’m just really proud of my team and how they stayed composed during the whole game,” Reese said. “It’s frustrating when you’re fouled a lot and consistently. For these girls to pick each other up and take care of each other on the field, it speaks volumes to their character.”
Reese told her team the same message in the locker room after the game, with “composure” being the key word that resonated with No. 1 Maryland.
In addition to Florida’s forceful play, there was plenty of protesting from the sidelines and in the stands throughout the game. Still, defender Nadine Hadnagy said the Terps (10-0) knew how to block out these distractions.
“Our coaches just say ‘stick to our game plan, don’t let the fans affect you. What they’re yelling, just ignore it, tune it out and play our game,'” Hadnagy said. “If we play our game, we’re going to capitalize on the opportunities.”
Maryland took advantage of the Gators’ fouls and converted seven free-position shots thanks to fouls in front of goal. Midfielder Zoe Stukenberg went 3-for-3 from the eight-meter arc, while attacker Taylor Hensh pitched in two goals from free-position attempts.
They also scored on seven out of their nine opportunities when Florida was a player short due to a yellow card. The aggressive defense continued, but the Terps exploited it.
“We did a great job keeping our composure and we were able to capitalize on man-up plays, and we just did a really great job of that,” attacker Brindi Griffin said. “When that [fouling] happens it’s really hard to keep your composure, but from the sidelines, our coaches, everybody on the field did a great job of picking each other up.”
While the Gators continued to foul, the Terps didn’t fall into the same negative habit. They only committed 19 fouls, and zero players received yellow cards.
When the Terps host Michigan (4-8) on Saturday, they will look achieve a similar result, regardless of the Wolverines’ style of play.
“For us and our team, we always want to make sure that we’re very disciplined all over the field and that’s something we’re big on as a staff,” Reese said. “Again, maintaining composure when other stuff is happening around us. That’s what we can control.”
