The Terps improved to 4-1 on the season.
No. 9 Maryland women’s lacrosse continued its strong play Saturday in what has been a daunting early schedule to start the season, taking down No. 10 Denver on the road, 10-8.
Last year, the Pioneers handed Maryland an 8-7 defeat. This time around, the Terps edged the Pioneers in an ugly, yet hard-fought contest.
Where the Terps had a major advantage Saturday was in the center circle, where they took 16 of 26 draw controls. That allowed them to hold possession, and ultimately lead for over 54 minutes. Shaylan Ahearn was a force all afternoon long, corralling seven of the team’s 16 draw controls
What Ahearn didn’t get, defender Meghan Ball did, as she also won five draw controls.
The Pioneers got on the board first, but Victoria Hensh responded almost immediately with her first of three goals on the afternoon.
The first quarter was a fiery one, with both teams able to break high defensive pressure. The Terps scored three of the final four goals in the frame to take a 4-2 lead.
After both teams traded early goals in the second quarter, the Pioneers went on a scoring drought of nearly eight minutes, which should’ve allowed Maryland to extend its lead. Instead, the Pioneers scored back-to-back goals in the final 100 seconds to cut the deficit to one.
The quarter was a very aggressive one, with Maryland committing three costly fouls.
But with two seconds left on the clock, senior attacker Eloise Clevinger came up huge, finding the back of the net to give the Terps momentum back and replenish the two-goal advantage.
Both teams took an adamant amount of shots in the opening half, with Denver recording 19 and Maryland totaling 24.
Emily Sterling backstopped the Terps, making 10 saves on the contest.
“Our defense had some great plays,” head coach Cathy Reese said. “It just kind of springs the momentum”.
The third quarter began with high offensive energy for the Terps as they netted two early scores, Both teams had trouble keeping possession early in the quarter, each committing three turnovers.
While Maryland had six turnovers in the frame, its offense was able to get off seven shots on goal, scoring thrice to extend the lead to four.
Maggie Weisman thrived in the quarter with two of the goals. “The more she plays, the more confident she’s gonna get,” Reese said.
Capitalizing on the Pioneers’ 11 turnovers, the Terps were able to hold a steady lead throughout the game.
Maryland held strong in the fourth quarter to seal the positive result, allowing just one goal.
“We were able to execute and hold on at the end of the game to be able to leave here successfully,” Reese added.
Three things to know
1. Weisman is heating up. Only a sophomore, Weisman has scored four goals in the past two games.
2. A struggle for possession. Maryland forced 13 turnovers but surrendered 20 of its own. Neve O’Ferrall, Sophie Halus, Meghan Ball and Kennedy Major all forced at least one takeaway.
3. Ahearn was dominant. Ahearne dubbed twice as many draw controls than Denver record holder Abby Jenkins.