A little perspective
It’s a bit disconcerting to see the Maryland Terrapins and Northwestern Wildcats women’s lacrosse teams preparing to meet in an NCAA Tournament quarterfinal game. Why? Look back to 1995. Over the past 20 years, the two programs share 16 national championships (nine for the Terps and seven for the Wildcats). True, the teams have only four NCAA Tournament meetings over that span but all four have come either in the championship game or in the semifinals with the most recent being the Terps 9-6 win in 2014. Although they have occasionally been on opposite sides of the bracket, this will be the first time since 2009 that both teams have not played on the final weekend.
It’s a bit disconcerting to see the Maryland Terrapins and Northwestern Wildcats women’s lacrosse teams prepping to play a game in College Park. Now that the teams are in the same conference, it’s a contest we will see with regularity. However, the history between the schools – particularly the recent history – is spotty for two such storied programs.
Certainly if you look back to the mid-eighties and early nineties, the teams faced off regularly meeting at least once annually from 1985 through 1991. After the Terps routed the Wildcats 18-6 in 1991, the teams didn’t face each other for 15 years when Northwestern bested Maryland in a home and home series in 2006 and 2007. Their next meeting was Maryland’s stirring come from behind 13-11 win in the national championship game that ended the Wildcats’ string of five consecutive titles.
The first meeting
The Terps and the Wildcats met on a Thursday night in Evanston in the first ever B1G women’s lacrosse game. Pick any adjective applicable to a one-sided athletic win and apply it to the Terrapins’ 16-5 rout in the highly anticipated opener. It started with the draw where Maryland won 18 of 23 with reigning Tewaaraton winner Taylor Cummings capturing 13 of those.
Leading just 3-2 with 13:26 to play in the first half, Maryland put the game on ice with a stunning 9-0 run bookended by Megan Whittle’s score with 6:57 to play in the first half and Kelly McPartland’s goal with 26:14 to play in the second. Big Ten Freshman of the Year Selena Lasota finally ended Maryland’s blitz when she scored with 19:51 remaining in the game.
The Terps had a slight 8-6 edge in ground balls and dominated offensively taking 29 shots to the Wildcats’ 16. Alex Fitzpatrick was very strong in goal saving six of the 11 shots she faced.
But that was mid-season…
Listen to college coaches long enough and certain themes consistently emerge. One is the notion of a team evolving as their season progresses and discovering their “identity” as a team. Since that first meeting, the Terps have played nine games and the Wildcats have played a dozen. “We played them six or seven weeks ago and at that point in the season is was still mid-March and both of our teams were trying to figure out our identity for the season,” Maryland head coach Cathy Reese said before the game. “I think since then Northwestern has done a really nice job of taking things up on the draw. That’s been an area of improvement for them at least from what I’ve seen. We’ve seen them have some games where they’ve dictated the tempo a little more than they had early in the season,” she added.
I think the coach’s last statement will be a crucial point to follow on Sunday. Northwestern’s head coach Kelly Amonte-Hiller, one of the great players in Maryland history and a teammate of Reese’s for one year, is particularly adept at having her teams play at different tempos depending on the opponent. Amonte-Hiller won’t hesitate to push the pace if she believes she has the offensive firepower to keep up with an opponent.
In recent history, however, her approach against Maryland has been to try to slow the pace and generally hold the ball for long possessions launching an occasional quick attack if the defense seems to be settling back in anticipation of a long possession. It’s been successful for her and was successful for Alexis Venechanos in Ohio State’s upset of Maryland in the B1G Tournament semifinal.
Reese spoke about the areas of focus necessary for the Terps to succeed on Sunday.
“The draw is going to be a big deal. It’s nothing new. The reality is that possession’s key. It’s going to be key in a game like this. Northwestern tends to slow the ball down a fair bit. If we have the ball, we have the ability to execute our offense.
“Shooting percentage is another. We struggled a couple of games ago. I think we shot less than 30 percent. It’s really hard to be successful if that’s where you are. We want to make sure that we’re shooting the ball well and that we’re making smart decisions on the offensive end. Against a Northwestern who plays a very physical and aggressive style of defense, if you don’t make smart decisions, they will cause turnovers.
“Defensively we need to help each other out. We need to make sure our focus is on a team defense. We’ve kind of gotten away from that in our last couple of games and were helping a little late.”
Ready for prime time?
Perhaps you haven’t looked at the women’s lacrosse bracket but I have. Here are some noteworthy aspects. Two conferences dominate the final eight teams in the field – the ACC (expected especially with seven teams in the initial 26) and the B1G (unexpected – first year of conference play and only four teams in at the start of the Tournament). Also of note, three of the four games will be over before Maryland and Northwestern take the field on Sunday at noon. Maryland and Northwestern is the only women’s game scheduled for Sunday and fans may have the Terps new conference affiliation to thank (or curse for those who also want to be in Annapolis for the men’s quarterfinal game against North Carolina).
Just as they broadcast the first meeting between Maryland and Northwestern, the Big Ten Network will televise Sunday’s game. Said Reese, “Three games are going to happen on Saturday. Three people will know who’s advancing to the Final Four and we’re holding off and playing on Sunday because of the exposure we’re going to have from the Big Ten Network. I think it’s awesome. I think the network and the chance we have to spread our game and spread our Maryland brand around there is cool. I think it’s great for our sport and for our conference to be able to televise women’s lacrosse.”
In the end, this game and the title are Maryland’s for the taking. Sunday, the Terps have the advantage of playing on their home field where they have lost only twice since Reese assumed the reins as head coach. However, as Albany proved against Missy Meharg’s field hockey team in November, the home field is not impenetrable. The home team still has to play to a high standard. For Sunday and beyond, Maryland is the most talented team in NCAA women’s lacrosse. But, as Ohio State showed, desire mixed perhaps with a bit of good fortune, can sometimes triumph over talent.
In the end, this game and the title are Maryland’s for the taking. The Terps simply have to play well enough to take them.
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