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| Katie Schwarzmann is Maryland’s top scorer with 69 goals as the Terps present a differnet look from their 2011 NCAA championship matchup a year ago with Northwestern. © Brian Schneider |
Venue
Then: LaValle Stadium at Stony Brook, before 8,011 fans. The Terps had a 4-1 lead early in the first half, but the Wildcats clawed their way back to a win.
Now: Second verse, same as the first. Maryland and Northwestern will meet on the same field to decide who gets a berth in the 2012 final. In terms of home field advantage, the Wildcats have 14 New Yorkers on the roster; the Terps have three.
Leading Scorers
Then: Terp midfielder Beth Glaros, then a freshman, had a career-high four goals in the title game. Wildcat attacker Shannon Smith scored a team-high four goals in Northwestern’s win.
Now: Glaros scored 22 goals for Maryland this season before suffering a season-ending ACL tear in April. Tewaaraton finalist Katie Schwarzmann is now Maryland’s top scorer with 69g. She scored eight points (4g, 4a) in the Terps’ 17-11 quarterfinal win over Loyola. Smith leads the Wildcats with 61 goals. Stopping Smith will be a priority for the Terps, but Maryland head coach Cathy Reese was wary of overcommitting to her at the expense of Erin Fitzgerald, Kara Mupo and Taylor Thornton.
“Their offense isn’t just one player and that’s what makes them so dangerous,” said Reese. “We have to come up with a way to play really good team defense.”
Key Stat
Then: Draws. The stats across the board were pretty even in the 2011 championship, but Northwestern had a 10-7 edge in draw controls, thanks to Alyssa Leonard (5 DC). Draws were tough for the Terps last year after Karri Ellen Johnson suffered a season-ending concussion in March. Maryland midfielder Brandi Jones contributed three draw controls in the title game loss, as did Camilla Hayes. Jones has graduated and Hayes, a 5-foot-11 English player who transferred to Maryland from Cal, has been buried in the 2012 lineup by freshman stars Kelly McPartland and Brooke Griffin.
Now: Ground Balls. Ground balls have been a rough spot for the Terps. Maryland has a slim 292-248 ground ball advantage over its opponents. Northwestern has won its collective ground ball battle by a much healthier margin, 367-268. GBs were a key stat in Maryland’s regular season losses to North Carolina and Syracuse. Defender Iliana Sanza leads the Terps with 43 GBs; Thornton has 53 GBs for the Wildcats. The ground ball battle could be the key to victory for Northwestern. The Wildcats will be facing a healthy Johnson on the draw, so possession may not come as easily as it did in 2011.
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