I’m no sports maven but because I write about so many different sports, I often find myself engaged in conversations with people in which I casually mention some fact that they find unexpected. Recently, I surprised someone when I noted that some of Maryland’s best women’s lacrosse players, including probably the greatest of them all Jen Adams, have come to the Terrapins from Australia.
I mention this because about 10 days ago the U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT) announced its 2015-16 roster in the build up to the 2017 Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) Women’s World Cup to be played in Guildford, England. Current or former Terps make up nearly a fourth of the 36 player roster. Two current (defined as players who will graduate in 2016 or later) and six former Maryland players make up the eight player Maryland contingent. Of that group, six have previous National Team experience and one has played on a World Champion squad.
Two Attackers
Maryland contributes two of the 10 attackers on the squad – 2013 graduate Alex Aust and 2015 graduate Brooke Griffin. Interestingly, the two players have similar skill sets. They re both accurate shooters, with great shot fakes and wonderful field vision that allows them to launch pinpoint passes when initiating the offense from behind the goal.
Aust played on teams that reached the Final Four in all four seasons including being a member of a national championship squad as a freshman and was twice a member of national runners-up including the 2013 triple overtime heartbreaker to North Carolina. Statistically, 2013 was Aust’s most impressive season. As a senior, she scored 70 goal and added 55 assists both of which led the team. The 70 goals tie her for the eighth most in a season by a Terp and the 55 assists are the second highest total recorded in program history. Her 125 points are third best behind only the incomparable Jen Adams.
Griffin, whose career total of 198 goals nudged her into fifth place past Kelly Amonte (Hiller) on Maryland’s all-time list, finished just short of breaking into the top 10 in career assists with 81. Her total of 279 points actually gives her a slight edge on her teammate Aust. Griffin was also a member of four Championship Weekend teams and, of course, was on two title winners in 2014 and 2015. This is her first appearance on the USWNT.
Midfield
The Terps send three midfielders to the National Team all of whom have international team experience and who share the last four Tewaaraton Awards as the nation’s best collegiate player. The first two of those awards belong to Katie Schwarzmann who was a member of the 2013 World Champions and the last two have spots in the trophy case of Taylor Cummings. The third member is a player who garnered the nickname “Prodigy” as seventh-grader whose coach wanted her to compete on the varsity team, Kelly McPartland.
Where Schwarzmann and McPartland use their speed to stun opponents and create scoring opportunities, Cummings is a ferocious competitor who might be the best all-around player on the team. One of the two “current” Terps, the rising senior was second in goals scored but led the 2015 national championship team in every other statistical category.
Defenders
The math says that three players from Maryland’s defense remain to fill out the Terrapins’ contingent. And that’s how it works out with Megan Douty, Alice Mercer and Casey Pepperman joining the squad.
The contributions defenders make are harder to quantify than the players who compile goals and assists. However, as a group, they have played together for three years and have tightened their goals against average in each season from a high of 8.39 in 2013 to a mere 7.27 in 2015. Douty was a 2014 Tewaaraton finalist on a defense that held opponents to a mere .390 shooting percentage. The best shooting percentage against this trio also came in 2013 when they yielded goals on 41.2 percent of the shots they faced.
Pepperman joins Griffin in making her first USWNT roster while Mercer will return with Cummings to Maryland’s 2016 squad.
Denton5
8 out of 36 is a great showing. Love everyone of our former and current Terps on the Roster and can’t wait for the comp to begin. Thanks Todd!
· 11/12/2019