Before Saturday’s thrilling 19-18 victory at Ludwig Field, no player on the No. 3-ranked Terrapin women’s lacrosse team had ever beaten Duke. The Terps had lost the last four meetings, and the Blue Devils were riding a 12-game road winning streak that dated back to 2005.
“It was really exciting to come out and be ahead, and even when they were close we knew we could win,” senior midfielder Becky Clipp said. “I don’t even think we played our best game. It’s very encouraging to know that people haven’t even seen the true Terps yet.”
With that milestone behind them, the Terps know they need to stay focused to avoid a letdown today at No. 12 Richmond, who has never beaten the Terps in 13 previous meetings.
“We can’t take any team for granted,” coach Cathy Reese said. “Our focus needs to be on playing our game and playing Maryland lacrosse.”
So far, that has been a good strategy for the Terps, who have set a team record for the first three games of the season by scoring 60 goals. The Terps have dominated their opponents in virtually every statistical category, including goals scored (60-34) and shots per game (46.3-27.3).
“It’s definitely a team effort,” senior attack Krista Pellizzi said. “Our offense is hooking each other up left and right.”
Pellizzi has been the Terps’ leader in goals, points and shots on goal through three games, and she credits her team’s offensive style of play for her early success.
The Terps have been featuring an up-tempo style in the early going, a stark contrast to the Spiders, who, being true to their nickname, like to slow the game down.
The drastic transition from the high-powered Blue Devils to the more methodical Spiders seems to be a potentially dangerous trap for the Terps, especially when coupled with the excitement from last weekend’s game in front of more than 1,000 fans.
“We expect them to try to slow the game down to take us out of our running game,” Clipp said. “But with our style of play this year, we’ll be successful against any style team we play.”
Under Reese, the Terps have focused on playing their own game and not worrying as much about the opponent, a strategy that has been emphasized again this week.
“We want to be the best team that we can be,” Reese said. “We want to improve and learn from each game and grow stronger as the season goes on. It’s all about Maryland.”
Richmond has also played well so far this season. The Spiders (3-2) were dealt their two losses at Duke and at Virginia, who were ranked No. 2 and No. 9 in the nation, respectively, at the time. Playing a defensive style, the Spiders are holding their opponents to just nine goals per game. Against the Terps and their 20-goal-per-game offense, something will have to give.
“Richmond is a strong team,” Reese said. “We expect them to go hard all game and we will need to be ready for anything.”
With today’s game being the second of a nine-game stretch in which the Terps play seven ranked opponents, Reese knows that it will take a total team effort to keep up the high level of play.
“We need big games from everyone,” Reese said. “We need everyone to step up all over the field. We want to play great defense and really execute on offense. I’d like to see a great team effort.”
Contact reporter Greg Schimmel at schimmeldbk@gmail.com.
