Maryland women’s lacrosse set to play Drexel in first round of 2023 NCAA tournament

Maryland women’s lacrosse (14-6) will take on Drexel (12-5) Friday at 5 p.m. in Harrisonburg, Virginia for the first round of the NCAA tournament, the governing body announced Sunday night.

The Terps took on the Dragons in their third game of the season, defeating them 15-9. Maryland jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the first quarter before coasting the rest of the way.

Drexel finished 5-2 in the Colonial Athletic Association, but fell in the conference semifinals to Towson. It dominated teams defensively, allowing the conference’s second-fewest goals per game behind only Stony Brook, who is Inside Lacrosse’s No. 11 team in the country.

The Terps did not receive a top-eight seed in the NCAA tournament for just the second time under Reese, whose tenure started in 2007. The Terps have made the tournament every year since 1990 — the longest active streak in the country  — and have advanced to at least the semifinals in 12 of the last 13 tournaments.

The Terps ended the year on a bit of a skid, losing three of their last five games. The two wins came against Rutgers and Ohio State, schools with a combined 13-21 record. But they earned their seed over a nine-game midseason win streak in which they played like one of the best teams in the country.

Maryland rattled off 15.7 goals a contest over the stretch, while only allowing 7.9 per game. And both sides of the ball seemed to get better every outing.

“I don’t know that we’ve had another year that we’ve grown as much as a team, as we have throughout the season,” Reese said.

Six losses is the second-most in a season during Reese’s tenure in College Park. But five of those defeats came to teams with top-seven seeds, and the last two — to No. 1 Northwestern in the regular season finale and Big Ten tournament championship — were games the Terps hung in until late.

“I said to the guys in the locker room afterwards ‘Shoot, we competed’,” Reese said after the conference title loss. “We competed really hard and this game should give us confidence as we head into the [NCAA tournament.]”

The victor between Maryland and Drexel will take on the winner of No. 7-seed James Madison and Army. The Dukes are heavy favorites, and if they come out on top, will present another rematch for the Terps in the second round.