Maryland women’s lacrosse received the No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will host 8-11 Robert Morris in the first round on Friday, the Division I Women’s Lacrosse Committee announced Sunday. If the Terps win, they will face the winner of Penn State and James Madison on Sunday in College Park.
Maryland boasts a 3-5 record in home games this season, including a win over James Madison and a loss to Penn State. The Terps enter the tournament with four losses in their last seven games.
Maryland fell to James Madison in last year’s second round in a one-goal loss on the road.
Maryland began the 2024 season winning nine of its first 10 games. The Terps beat then-No. 5 Syracuse in overtime and then-No. 10 Denver in that stretch. Their only loss came in overtime to then-No. 16 Florida after blowing a five-goal halftime advantage.
But Maryland never won consecutive games in its final seven contests.
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The Terps lost their second nonconference game against Penn at home and only won three of their last five Big Ten matchups. They beat then-No. 2 Michigan and then-No. 8 Johns Hopkins — both on the road — but dropped games to Northwestern and Penn State. Maryland’s loss to the Nittany Lions denied it a share of the Big Ten regular season title.
Maryland concluded the regular season with a 16-12 win at Princeton and entered the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 3 seed. The Terps only lasted one game in the conference tournament, as they were upset by sixth-seeded Rutgers at the Maryland Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex.
Maryland’s attack may dictate how far it advances. In the Terps’ five losses this season, they shot over 40 percent just once. They shot a season-low 26 percent in its Big Ten Tournament loss to Rutgers. The Terps shot a conference-low 39 percent in 2024.
“You look at the postseason … it’s one and done,” coach Cathy Reese said after the Rutgers loss. “We need to make sure that we’re putting together all the tools that we’ve worked on and kind of accumulated over the course of the season, and be able to execute as we go.”