No. 9 Maryland women’s lacrosse committed 19 turnovers against No. 12 James Madison on Saturday, the fourth time in five games this season it’s had double-digit giveaways.
The Terps allowed 10 or more goals in two of the previous contests, including in their lone loss this year to No. 10 Syracuse. But they gave up a season-low five goals to the Dukes.
Maryland’s stifling defense nearly matched the offensive total —the unit forced a season-high 18 turnovers to guide the Terps to a convincing win.
“Our defense played phenomenal,” coach Cathy Reese said. “JJ [Suriano] had some excellent saves in goal, and our defense came out with some fantastic stops, which allowed us to have possession.”
Maryland’s biggest defensive task entering the game was limiting attacker Maddie Epke. The junior represented Team USA in the 2024 U20 tournament over the summer in Hong Kong and was named to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List.
Epke dominated her previous three games, scoring a combined 13 points with 10 coming against ranked opponents. She was held to just two points on Saturday, her second-lowest total in a game this season.
[No. 9 Maryland women’s lacrosse gets first ranked win over No. 12 James Madison, 11-5]
In James Madison’s season opener against No. 2 North Carolina, the Tar Heels spread out the Dukes’ offense. The Terps ran a similar defense and produced near-identical results. They consistently used double teams to force the ball out of Epke’s stick and prevent her from getting to her cuts and dodges.
On James Madison’s first possession of the game, Epke tried to break the double team by throwing the ball to attacker Savannah Derey inside the eight-meter arc. But two Maryland defenders swarmed the senior, resulting in a loose ball pickup for senior defender Sophie Halus.
Epke eventually scored unassisted late in the first half, but it came on her fifth shot of the day and after being penalized with a green card midway through the opening quarter.
After Maryland controlled much of the first-half possession, James Madison secured every draw control — with Epke controlling a pair — to dominate the possession in the second half.
But the Terps’ defense, which only allowed four first-half goals, played even better in the second half with only one goal surrendered. They continued to prevent passes inside the eight-meter arc, forcing the Dukes to take outside shots that redshirt freshman goalkeeper JJ Suriano routinely saved.
[Strong third quarters aided Maryland women’s lacrosse in recent games]
“I think we were much more organized defensively and then when the ball was loose, we came up with it,” Reese said. “JJ made saves … if they fed it in and it was something that was knocked down, it needs to be Maryland ball and I think our defense did a really nice job. ”
Suriano, who bolstered a save percentage better than .400 just once entering the contest, sported a career-best 72.2 percent save rate on Saturday. The performance came close to matching North Carolina goalkeeper Betty Nelson’s mark against the Dukes.
Suriano made nine of her 13 saves in the second half, with four coming on shots by Epke. James Madison’s leading goal scorer didn’t score on any of her second-half chances, leading to the Dukes’ second-worst offensive output this season, and a bounce-back for Maryland’s young goalkeeper.
“I think that we executed everything that we set out to do,” Suriano said. “I think we stuck to our scout very well, and I think we kind of shut down their key players and were able to play as a unit.”
