The Terps bounced back from Wednesday’s loss with a massive road victory.
Down 5-2 in the third quarter, No. 1 Maryland women’s lacrosse needed a player to step up against No. 2 Michigan’s top-ranked defense nationally.
Attacker Eloise Clevenger, usually the player dishing the ball to her teammates, found the back of the net three times in the second half, helping the Terps earn a crucial conference win against the Wolverines, 8-6.
“[Eloise] is a great feeder, but she’s also a great shooter,” head coach Cathy Reese said. “We try to put her into positions where she can take advantage of both. When she could shift and make that adjustment… we started to get a rhythm on offense.”
Going into the game, the stakes couldn’t have been higher for a regular-season match. Maryland needed a win to potentially stay atop of the sport, while the Wolverines were seeking their first-ever No. 1 ranking.
Before the game started, Michigan suffered a huge blow in net, with all-American goalie Erin O’Grady ruled out. That forced veteran Maya Santa-Maria to start in the cage.
The Terps took advantage of this almost immediately, as Shannon Smith drew first blood on the backhand. Victoria Hensh followed that up with a gorgeous spin move and score to give the Terps a two-goal advantage.
But the Terps’ attack then fell silent hey fell silent and Santa-Maria settled in.
The Terps went nearly two quarters without a goal, despite maintaining an advantage in possession and in the center circle. Hannah Leubecker struggled to finish, misfiring on her first five shots. Kori Edminson was also limited to one shot and committed two turnovers.
Maryland’s stagnant offense — a worrying theme of recent — allowed the Wolverines to go on a five-goal scoring run. They outshot the Terps by double figures, taking a two-goal lead into the half. They then scored 55 seconds into the second half to extend their lead to three.
Maryland goalie Emily Sterling refused to let the deficit blossom, though, finishing with nine saves, and the Terps’ defense forced eight turnovers in the second half.
“Our [defense] was awesome,” Reese said. “They were in the right spots, they communicated, they helped each other out well, they stuck with the gameplan.”
After falling behind 5-2, the Terps flipped the switch. Clevenger scored back-to-back goals to pull within one, and after a response from senior midfielder Ava Class, the Terps refound momentum. After Katie Sites scored her second goal of the season, O’Grady entered the game for the first time and was greeted by Leubecker’s first goal of the game to even score heading into the fourth quarter.
Leubecker scored early in the fourth quarter to give the Terps their first lead since the opening frame. After that, it was a defensive slugfest, with the teams combining for nine turnovers and seven fouls. After 10 minutes of scoreless lacrosse, Clevenger completed her hat trick to make it a two-goal game with four minutes left.
Three things to know
1. Turnovers galore. Both teams struggled to keep the ball to themselves, combining for 28 turnovers. While Maryland recorded its least amount of shots in a game this season, its defensive prowess led it to victory.
2. Second-half comeback. Down by three in the second half, the Terps showed off their skill and resilience to score six of the game’s final seven goals.
“We could have crumbled, we could have continued on that same path, but we didn’t,” Reese said. “We found ways to just be resilient and to keep fighting.”
3. No. 1 debate. Wednesday’s loss to Penn put the Terps in position to lose their No. 1 ranking, but a win against the second-ranked Wolverines opens back up the case for them to stay at No. 1.