The Maryland women’s lacrosse team has played in four straight national title games, and the Terps’ hunt for a fifth appearance starts Saturday at William & Mary.
The Terps have opened the past two campaigns with wins over the Tribe, posting a combined 34-12 margin of victory. But some of this year’s expected contributors have yet to experience Maryland’s season-opening and postseason success.
Coach Cathy Reese plans to give multiple freshmen playing time this weekend, and she’s interested to see how her talented newcomers handle their college debuts.
“I don’t know much about William & Mary to be honest right now,” Reese said. “It’s our first game of the season, theirs as well, so we’ve been really focusing on us.”
“Us,” as Reese said, includes the nine freshmen who will make an immediate impact on the team. That class includes three of Inside Lacrosse‘s top five newcomers: midfielders Lizzie Colson and Hannah Warther and attacker Brindi Griffin.
The top overall class in the country includes four more players from Inside Lacrosse‘s top 50. Midfielder Kali Hartshorn is one, and Reese said she’ll take draws for the team against William & Mary.
That job previously belonged to Maryland star Taylor Cummings for four years, but Reese said Hartshorn and the rest of the freshmen are ready to contribute.
“We’re going to see a lot from a handful of freshmen,” Reese said. “We’ve already seen these guys in the preseason step up and rise up to the challenge. There’s definitely room to grow and improve overall as a team, but a lot of this stuff we’re going to learn as we go.”
Reese said she’s seen the team gel quickly, and senior captain Zoe Stukenberg agreed. However, the midfielder said it’s hard to gauge whether the young players are ready to go.
She added some may feel nerves in the first game, and some will feel nerves when they go up against a top opponent, but each one will eventually settle in, especially with leadership from the more experienced players in the program.
“I don’t think there’s a set amount of time where it’s like after six months a freshman is ready to play,” Stukenberg said. “Each class and each individual person needs something different. Some freshmen come in confident and ready to rumble, some need a pat on the back.”
With nine starters returning, the Terps won’t need to rely on the freshmen, and the core of “awesome” sophomores, juniors and seniors, as Stukenberg described them, will lead.
Reese is eager to get the season underway on Saturday and to see how her young players start the season.
“Our team has had a great preseason so far,” Reese said. “It’s such a wonderful and awesome group of student-athletes, and I’m just really excited to see where they can go this season.”
