Maryland women’s lacrosse hadn’t scored a goal in the second quarter. With under a second left in the frame, Libby May changed that.
The senior found a soft spot in Drexel’s defense, received a pass from Hannah Leubecker and ripped a shot past goaltender Jenika Cuocco with a third of a second left in the first half.
The goal stopped a three-goal run for the Dragons and gave the Terps a four-goal halftime lead. Maryland rebounded from its loss to Syracuse Tuesday, defeating Drexel 15-9 in Philadelphia.
“Our goal this week was … to be more aggressive, more precise and just hungrier for the cage,” May said. “But I think what was what allowed for those opportunities was our offense collectively moving together as a whole.”
May scored six goals in the win, one of six Terps who scored in the victory. She scored the final goal in Maryland’s 5-0 outburst to start the game, giving the team an early lead. She raced in from the free position, closing the distance between her and the goalkeeper before lifting a shot over her head.
Maryland (2-1) got its first goal from Shaylan Ahearn, who took a slick feed from Clevenger and scored from in close while in mid-air. Ahearn drove much of Maryland’s possession success. She tied her career high with 14 draw controls.
“I trust my attackers once I get it over the line that they’re going to be able to kind of execute and finish on that end,” Ahearn said.
[Maryland women’s lacrosse’s attack struggled to coalesce in Syracuse loss]
The Terps scored on each of their first four shots. Each of their ten shots in the first half forced Cuocco to make a save and eight of them scored. For the entire game, Maryland notched eight more shots and eight more shots on goal than Drexel (2-2).
Leubecker and May combined for 16 of those shots, notching dominant performances. Leubecker scored four goals and added an assist. She embarked on a personal 3-0 run to kick off the third quarter, extending Maryland’s lead from four to seven.
The breakout performance came after Leubecker experienced a relatively slow start to the year, with two goals each in the first two games.
Her hat trick of goals proved essential, they were the only goals the Terps lodged in the frame. The teams played to a standstill to start the fourth. May started with a goal before Drexel’s Hayleigh Simpson and Saundral Godshall cut the Maryland advantage to just four.
[No. 2 Maryland women’s lacrosse dominated by No. 4 Syracuse, 20-11]
But there was May, back to keep her squad comfortably ahead. She notched back-to-back tallies in under half a minute, a flurry that extended Maryland’s lead and put it ahead comfortably.
Maryland had struggled early in the season with offensive efficiency. That wasn’t a problem Tuesday as it scored on just over 55 percent of its shots — the highest mark in each of its three games so far this year.
But coach Cathy Reese’s squad had just four players record assists and only one, Clevenger, with more than one helper.
Defensively, the Terps let Drexel’s Corinne Bednarik notch a hat-trick, and gave up 19 shots. Maryland goalkeeper Emily Sterlin saved six of the 15 shots that landed on goal, the same amount she made against the Orange.
Defensively, the Terps let Drexel’s Corinne Bednarik notch a hat-trick, and gave up 19 shots. Maryland goalkeeper Emily Sterling saved six of the 15 shots that landed on goal, the same amount she made against the Orange.
“Defensively we’re just continuing to work and make progress and grow as we’re really young defense and trying to get all of our different faces on the same page,” Reese said. “But nice to come out of Philly with the win.”
