The Maryland women’s lacrosse team took their perfect 13-0 (2-0 B1G) on the road to Columbus to face the Ohio State Buckeyes. There’s a bit of history between the two programs with the Terps holding an 8-1 edge all time.
The game got off to a bit of a sloppy start with freshman Megan whittle turning the ball over after Taylor Cummings won the opening draw. The Terps returned the favor forcing a Buckeyes turnover after a patient Ohio State possession. The teams traded turnovers again with Maryland’s coming after Kelly McPartland took the ball too deep on a free position.
Cummings got Maryland on the board with a rocket from about 10 meters that caught Ohio State’s goalie unaware. The Terps needed just 23 seconds to double their lead to two. Brooke Griffin took a cross crease pass from Zoe Stukenberg.
After the Terps forced another Buckeyes turnover, Whittle took a long pass from Cummings in front of the goal. Ohio State goalie Tori Descenza made the kick save but the freshman picked up the ground ball and put it in the back of the net.
After the Buckeyes scratched the board on an impressive dodge by Rainey Hodgson, Maryland responded with five straight scores. The Terps began controlling the draws on some strong work from the thirty by Shanna Brady and Erin Collins.
The scores came from Kristen Lamon triggered by Griffin’s high pass from behind the goal. Griffin scored the next two one on a dodge from behind the goal and one on an assist from Cummings. Whittle scored her second on a free position and Cummings also added her second of the half on a dodge from the left side that split a double team.
The five goals came in a five minute span before the Buckeyes ended an eight minute scoreless drought on another one on one effort this one from the Buckeyes’ leading scorer Katie Chase.
With a comfortable working margin, Reese began working a number of younger players into her rotation. At the same time, Descenza, an experienced senior in goal locked in picking up three or four saves over the last third of the first half. Neither team scored over the last 11 minutes and Maryland held on to an 8-2 lead into the break.
The second half started with echoes of the first. The Terps won the opening draw and nearly turned the ball over but kept the Buckeyes from controlling the ball. The other echo of the first half came when Decenza saved Stukenberg’s shot. The sophomore then picked up a yellow card but Maryland’s defense and goalie Alex Fitzpatrick stepped up and prevented the Buckeyes from capitalizing on the player advantage.
Maryland’s offensive stagnation continued as did Decenza’s stout goalkeeping. A quick Ohio State counter after a Terps’ turnover, cut the lead to 8-3 with about 21 and a half minutes to play.
The Buckeyes controlled the draw and drew a free position attempt. However, Fitzpatrick made the save and, although OSU contained Maryland’s break, the Terps got on the board on a bouncer by Collins to go back up by six at 9-3.
After controlling the draw, the Buckeyes’ Chase scored her second on a bouncer to the far post as she got by Alice Mercer. Another draw control led to an apparent quick score by Chase that was immediately waved off and McPartland made the Buckeyes pay with her first goal of the game putting the Terps into double digits for the fourteenth consecutive game this season.
Some sloppy play and poor shot choices by Maryland led to another Ohio State possession and though Megan Douty forced a tough angle shot that Fitzpatrick saved but the Terps turned it right back to the Buckeyes on the attempted counter and Molly Wood made the Terps pay pulling Ohio State to 10-5 with just under 12 minutes to play.
Morgan Torggler picked up the contested ground ball on the draw leading to a long but unproductive Terrapins possession with several missed and anxious looking shots. Ohio State gathered up a ground ball on a Maryland miss and looked anything but impatient as Chase notched a hat trick narrowing the gap to four.
Stopping the Buckeyes’ momentum fell to Cummings. The junior won the draw and eventually drew a free position. The shot was on target and Maryland led 11-6. A Terps foul on the ensuing draw led to a fourth goal by Chase. With five minutes to play the Buckeyes again trailed by four.
Ohio State picked up a yellow card after Maryland controlled the the draw and, in this instance, the Terrapins were very patient running their offense with the player advantage. Eventually, Stukenberg, initiating the play from behind the goal, found a cutting Whittle and the fresheman picked up yet another hat trick.
With a 12-7 lead and just over two minutes to play, Maryland appeared content to run the clock out but Ohio State continued their aggressive gambling defense and garnered a fourth yellow card. That led to a free position shot and score by Stukenberg. Ohio State continued their physical play and forced a Maryland turnover. The Buckeyes scored a goal with one second to play to make the final score 13-8.
The Terps improve to 14-0 on the season and 3-0 in Big Ten play. They will face Johns Hopkins Wednesday night before hosting Michigan on Saturday.
Blog from Todd Carton
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