A sea of white Maryland jerseys dogpiled onto Homewood Field after the Terps’ 2019 women’s lacrosse national championship victory.
Cayden Reese weaved through the stands to meet her mother, longtime Maryland coach Cathy Reese, and join the celebration as confetti poured onto the field.
The 12-year-old watched the Terps cut the nets and hoist the bronze and walnut trophy — the fifth title she saw Maryland win with her mother at the helm. Goalkeeper Megan Taylor embraced the younger Reese with the net draped around her neck and a black championship cap on her head.
“This could be you one day,” Reese recalled Taylor telling her.
Five years later, Reese is one step closer.
Her Sept. 1 commitment to Maryland fulfills a lifelong ambition. Inside Lacrosse’s top-ranked 2026 recruit follows a line of Terp family members, and she now has a chance to win a title with the team she grew up with.
“I’ve always known that I wanted to go to Maryland. It’s kind of been my dream since I was a little kid,” Reese said. “Just being able to wear that uniform, it’s something special since it runs in my family.”
Reese slid into the now-closed Bagel Place of College Park with the team nearly every morning before a home game when she was younger. The future Terp sipped her chocolate milk and enjoyed a chocolate chip muffin at the shop’s green tabletops with her mother’s players.
[Recruiting roundup: Maryland women’s lacrosse lands No. 1 2026 prospect]
Team outings, including game day breakfasts, were common for Reese. She watched practices by her mom’s side and fired shots during drills. Reese nestled into empty seats on the team bus next to her favorite players before and after games.
Reese traveled with the Terps on a few road trips each season and even visited Disney World with them in 2011. The 4-year-old strolled through the park with the team and went on the few rides she wasn’t too afraid of.
“She was around so many great role models, too,” Brian Reese, Cayden Reese’s father, said. “[She’d] always be around a group of fantastic women.”
Cathy Reese was named Maryland’s head coach in 2007. She played in College Park from 1994 to 1998 and spent the next five years as an assistant coach.
She met Brian Reese, also a former lacrosse player at Maryland, during one of their first days on campus. They began dating later in college and got married in 2003. They have four children together, including Riley, a junior defender for Maryland men’s lacrosse.
[Recruiting roundup: Maryland men’s basketball lands first commit of 2025 class]
“I hate to admit it, but she was much better than I was in high school. And she is, for sure, gonna do great here,” Riley Reese said. “She’s earned her way up here, and I’m really proud.”
Cayden Reese already knows what it’s like to play for a parent. Brian Reese coached her at Maryvale Preparatory School for the past two seasons. — an experience his daughter said she enjoyed. She appreciates how much her dad pushes her.
Even though her parents’ coaching styles differ, Reese added, she feels prepared to play under her mother, a more encouraging guide.
“I really like playing for my dad because I think he knows the game really well,” Cayden Reese said. “If I can get through my dad, I can definitely get through [playing for] my mom.”
As a child, the Terps chanted her name as she stomped into the locker room beside her mom. Players lined the walls of the square room, sitting at their lockers, preparing for their upcoming game and a pregame speech from Cayden.
“Cayden, Cayden, Cayden, Cayden.”
The younger Reese stood in the middle of the space on top of a rug with a large Maryland logo sprawled under her feet.
“There’s two things I’m good at: kicking butt and eating cookies,” Cayden declared to the team. “We’re all out of cookies, so it’s time to kick some butt.”
