Photo courtesy of Austin Desisto/Maryland Terrapin
No. 6 seed Maryland women’s lacrosse lost in the quarterfinals to Penn, 11-10, on Sunday in College Park, ending its season.
Both Maryland and Penn had a strong first quarter and played heavy defense on both ends, allowing only two goals from each team in the first period.
Players who haven’t seen much time on the field made appearances in the NCAA tournament. In the last game, freshman Ava Kitts scored her first goal of the season against Fairfield.
Sophomore Lexi Dupack followed, after a ground ball off a save from sophomore JJ Suriano, which allowed Dupack to score her second goal of the season, giving Maryland the lead and the first goal of the second period.
Both junior Kori Edmondson and freshman Devin Livingston followed with back-to-back scores, putting Maryland in a good position early in the quarter by finding gaps in Penn’s defense that allowed the Terps to build a strong lead.
The Quakers quickly caught up toward the end of the half with back-to-back goals in the last two minutes of the period, cutting the Terps’ three-point lead to just one heading into halftime.
It was an improved first half compared to the last time Maryland played Penn in the regular season back in March, when Penn had a three-point lead going into halftime, but the second half played out almost identically to the regular season game.
For the third quarter, Maryland had one goal, the only goal between both teams for the entire period. However, the Terps did rack up turnovers, seven to Penn’s two, yet they still maintained the lead by two points going into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth period, the Terps and Quakers almost mocked their last regular-season game, but roles switched as Penn got five goals and Maryland only three, the same thing that happened back in March in the fourth, except Penn received three goals and Maryland caught up with five.
Both teams ended the fourth tied 10-10, having to go into overtime after the Quakers scored a goal in the last two seconds of the game.
In overtime, Penn ultimately received the game-winning goal. Maryland’s defense held strong, but it wasn’t enough to defeat the Quakers.
