Photo creds: Maryland Women’s Lacrosse Twitter
COLLEGE PARK, Md- The No. 3 Maryland Terrapins took on the Penn Quakers on a rainy Wednesday night, defeating them 15-11.
A dominant start to the game as Maryland scored two goals in 61 seconds. Maryland blew out Penn in the first period with a 7-1 score. Yet a defensive battle caused a comeback in the second period by the Quakers.
The Quakers held down by five turnovers in the first half caused them to shoot one for five on goal. However, a turnaround in the second period led to four of eight shots on goal, cutting down the Terrapins’ lead to three points.
The Terps scored three unanswered after Penn’s 3-0 run with 5:33 left in the second.
Maryland went on their own 3-0 run to end the half with the help of Eloise Clevenger and Hannah Leubecker both with hat tricks.
“Overall, I thought we came out strong, then I thought we got a little sloppy… we look great in transition and found some good openings,” Maryland’s head coach Cathy Reese said on their first-half performance.
With a combined 14 turnovers in the third period, Penn was held to no goals, and the Terrapins were able to capitalize on just one.
The Quakers in this matchup averaged just 10 goals a game, sixth in the conference, and Penn ranked last in the Ivy League with a .355 shot percentage. With seven turnovers in the third, the Quakers’ turnovers held their shots on goal to just two.
In the fourth period, Penn went on a 2-0 run, scoring both goals 25 seconds apart. Maryland answered back in the fourth as the early lead by Maryland in the game proved too steep for Penn late in the game.
Maryland has won 13-straight games against Penn since 2007, marking an undefeated run at home against the Quakers.
Maryland’s Offense Dominants in Rainstorm
A team that came into this game defeating three top 15 teams in Rutgers, Virginia, and Florida, did not let up their momentum on offense, making this the eighth straight game with 15 points or more.
The Terps came into the matchup top-three in the nation in scoring offense (17.71 goals per game).
Leubecker scored five points on five goals, Clevenger scored three goals, and Aurora Cordingley scored six points off two goals and four assists.
Fifth-year transfer Aurora Cordingley came into the game off to a record-breaking start as a Terrapin, currently leading the nation points per game (7.29 per game).
In this one, the Terrapins had seven different players score goals in a relentless effort totaling 23 shots on goal.
Defense Stifles Penn’s Comeback; Penn Never Gives Up
With a combined 35 turnovers (Quakers 18-Terps 17), Maryland shut out the Quakers in the third; however, they could only score one goal.
The turnovers held back the Quakers, as the high-powered Maryland offense continued to pile on the points, answer after answer.
Goalies Krissy Kowalski of Penn with eight saves and Emily Sterling of Maryland with 10 saves made it tough on both squads.
Yet even being down the whole game, the Quakers continued to fight back with Niki Miles, who had herself a hat trick along with six other players to score a goal.
Penn fought to the end, scoring two more goals with 35 seconds left in the game.
After the third period shutout, Penn scored six goals in the fourth off eight shots on goal.
Penn was resilient until the end, yet they could not dig themselves out of the deficit leading to Wednesday’s loss.
Coming Up
The Maryland Terrapins improve to a perfect 8-0 on the year remaining undefeated. The Terps will attempt to continue their perfect streak against No. 21 James Madison on Saturday, March 26. at noon EST.
The Penn Quakers fall to 3-5 on the season and will take on Yale on Saturday, March 26. at noon EST.
