After Maryland women’s lacrosse’s double-overtime win over North Carolina on Feb. 24, attacker Caroline Steele chuckled as she reflected on the grueling slate the team had ahead of it.

“It’s rehab, rehab, rehab,” Steele joked. “Since a lot of our players are seniors … our bodies are really struggling.”

Over a six-day span last week, the Terps played three games, two of them on the road. Now, they’re enjoying the six days they’ve had to prepare for their matchup against Syracuse, looking to use their extended recovery time to get ready for another top-five opponent.

The extra rest could be vital in surviving three home games against surging opponents. The Terps’ week-long push starts with the No. 4 Orange on Saturday and concludes with two in four days against No. 6 Penn and Ohio State.

“It was a good challenge for us,” coach Cathy Reese said. “After this week, we’re pretty much in it for the next five or six weeks.”

[Read more: Maryland lacrosse’s Grace Griffin is building on her standout freshman year]

While the Terps won all three of their games last week by an average margin of almost nine goals, there were numerous issues that they had little time to correct. Perhaps the most alarming was a high number of turnovers — 36 combined.

“Turnovers are a result of being sloppy and obviously careless,” Reese said. “There’s no excuse for it.”

The turnovers didn’t come in one specific area. Against UMBC, they were mostly in transition, with the defense trying to connect with an inexperienced midfield, especially in the second half. Versus Hofstra, many of the turnovers came in the offensive third, 11 coming from starters.

Maryland has used its week off to address the issue.

“We need to be mentally checked in and prepared so we can limit our turnovers, come up with extra possessions, come up with a draw control,” Reese said.

[Read more: Draw controls helped Maryland women’s lacrosse overcome sloppy play vs. Hofstra]

Despite imperfect play, the Terps had many positive takeaways from their packed week. Namely, they rotated starters, allowing underclassmen to gain some valuable experience.

And the younger players delivered. Freshmen players scored seven goals against UMBC. Numerous Terps saw their first appearances, and three players scored their first goals for Maryland.

“It was nice for us to see a lot of people contribute and to see a lot of combinations of people do some really good things,” Reese said.

Maryland also had success on draw controls as the week progressed, a point of weakness early in the season.

The Terps recovered just 7 of 28 draw controls against the Tar Heels, but behind the efforts of attacker Kali Hartshorn and defender Lizzie Colson, the Terps won the draw control battle by 11 against UMBC, and by seven against Hofstra.

“I think our circle people are definitely really, really strong,” Hartshorn said. “They fight really hard and make my job a lot easier.”

With that same energy and willingness to fix mistakes, the Terps hope they were prudent in their use of their last full week off until late April. With ample preparation, the team should be fresh for Saturday.

“Whatever the day will hold, I think our team will be ready to step up when their name is called,” Reese said.