By Todd Carton –
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines inevitable as, “incapable of being avoided or evaded.” Becoming Maryland’s all-time career women’s lacrosse goal scorer might not have seemed inevitable from the moment a freshman Megan Whittle stepped on the field and scored two goals in a game at William and Mary – her first collegiate game in a Maryland uniform – but it certainly appeared to be just that when a senior Megan Whittle stepped on the field at Jesse Owens Stadium in Columbus against Ohio State needing just a single goal to pass Jen Adams. And so it proved to be when she scored a free position goal some five minutes and 44 seconds after the opening draw. The score prompted a timeout from Coach Cathy Reese to take a moment, embrace their star and recognize her accomplishment – a moment Whittle called one of the best of her career in a postgame interview with the Big Ten Networks.
In that interview, she noted that setting the record was a moment she’d always dreamed of but was quick to add, “I couldn’t have done it without my teammates.” She also expressed her love for Maryland saying, “Honestly, every chance I get to put on the Maryland jersey and represent this university and play along side my best friends in the world that’s the best goal.”
Since her arrival as the nation’s top rated recruit, both she and the Terrapins have been remarkably consistent. Whittle came to Maryland from the McDonogh School where her teams won four consecutive national championships while posting an unblemished 80-0 record. Fifteen games into her senior year, the Terps have posted a record of 80-3 with two national championships and an undefeated season – the fifth in program history and the first since 2001.
As for Whittle herself, she used her fearlessness, tenacity and explosive speed to score 67 goals in 22 games as a freshman, 76 goals in 23 games in her sophomore campaign and 71 in 2017’s 23-0 run to the national championship. Each season’s total led Maryland in goals and with 56 in the season’s first 15 games this season, she appears to be on track to lead the team all four years. While never scoring more than seven goals in a game – a feat she achieved once in her junior season – Whittle has averaged 3.25 goals per game for her career with a low of 3.04 as a freshman to this season’s high of 3.73.
But the senior captain has also adapted and expanded her game as her career has progressed and the needs of her team demanded it. In her freshman season, she added only five assists, two draw controls and nine caused turnovers to her 67 goals. By her junior year, she recorded 16 assists, 22 draw controls and 15 caused turnovers. Thus far this season she has 12 assists, 27 draw controls and seven caused turnovers.
While she stands atop Maryland’s all-time list with 270, Whittle is currently fourth in NCAA history in career goals and although it’s not inevitable, it possible that she will register the two goals she needs to pass Penn State’s Marsha Florio in the Terps’ next game against, you guessed it, Penn State. Whittle needs 20 goals to pass Temple’s Gail Cummings who was the all-time scorer until her record was broken by Stony Brook’s Courtney Murphy earlier this season. With Murphy still active and having already surpassed the 300 goal mark, it looks as though Whittle will do no better than second all-time.
In some ways, however, this should enhance rather than diminish her accomplishment. Unlike Stony Brook, against what is regularly the nation’s most challenging schedule. For example, this season Maryland has played five of their 15 games against teams in the top 11 RPI while Stony Brook has faced two in their 14 games. Additionally, Whittle played two seasons with three time Tewaaraton Trophy winner Taylor Cummings and Maryland has always been a team that widely spreads its scoring. Whittle has never played on a team with fewer than at least five other players who scored more than 20 goals.
Todd
Let’s add an exclamation point to Whittle’s accomplishment. She was named the Brine / US Lacrosse National Player of the Week. Good on ya, Meg.
· 11/12/2019